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Summary
Summary
The Cat Who Went Underground
Author Notes
Lilian Jackson Braun was born on June 20, 1913. After starting out as a copywriter for Detroit department stores, she worked for The Detroit Free Press for nearly 30 years. In the 1960s, her cat died in a fall from a 10th-floor window in Detroit. Neighbors later told her that someone pushed the cat. To work through her feelings, she wrote a short story based on the incident. The result was her first three novels, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, and The Cat Who Turned On and Off. After an 18-year break, she published The Cat Who Saw Red. During her lifetime, she wrote 29 titles in The Cat Who... series. She died on June 4, 2011 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the age of 97.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
While the 10th entry in the ``Cat Who'' series is enjoyable and has its charms, it is less a mystery than a recital of how veteran reporter and millionaire Jim Qwilleran and his feline companions, Koko and Yum Yum, spent their vacation, and an account of the people they encountered. Moreover, most of the plot development occurs near the end, so the denouement appears contrived. Fiftyish bachelor ``Qwill'' decides to spend the summer at a lakefront cottage near the resort town of Mooseville. His vision of an idyllic respite is shattered from the moment he arrives. Almost everything in the house needs repair and Qwill could use more space; adding a wing is the logical solution, but he learns that most such jobs are done by itinerant builders. Fortunately, Clem Cottle, a local handyman, accepts the project, but he soon disappears, the third carpenter in recent months to vanish; two others met with fatal freak accidents. When Clem's replacement, Iggy Small, misses work, and his corpse is found in Qwill's basement, our vacationing hero suspects a serial killer and begins to investigate. Of course, the intelligent Koko helps solve the crime. For inveterate Braun ( The Cat Who Sniffed Glue ) fans only. Mystery Guild main selection, Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternate selections. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
The ninth appearance of ""purrfect"" detectives Koko and Yum Yum and their doting housemate, millionaire newsman Jim Qwilleran, finds their sedentary summer plans--rusticating in a summer cabin in Mooseville--upset when the old place proceeds to fall apart and the carpenters who are hired to fix it disappear. The first to go is Clem Cottle, a reliable, soon-to-be-married sort. Next: the stupidly amiable, slothlike Iggy. Qwill's plumber, the lipstick-losing Joanna, admits that her dad, a carpenter, died peculiarly, as did a couple of other home-repairers. Meanwhile, Koko is tearing up certain articles in the newspaper and hovering over a trapdoor, while Qwill interviews octogenarian Emma Wimsey for his column and is left her diaries, stories, letters, etc., when she passes away. Eventually, Koko scampers through the trapdoor--locating Iggy--and Qwill finds an itemized list of carpenter victims. Emma's old diaries will reveal the murderer's motives, which--while psychologically plausible--seem deep indeed for this generally lightweight story. Mrs. Clinko, the maintainence dispatcher, is a chortling treasure; the cats are their usual magnificent selves. Overall: wonderful ambiance, so-so mystery. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Koko and Yum Yum, Braun's famous Siamese cats, play detective once again as they lead their guardian, Jim ("Qwill") Qwilleran, on a subterranean chase for a psychotic plumber. When Qwill decides to spend a restful summer at his cabin in Mooseville, he does not anticipate endless home-repair crises. But he is genuinely astonished when Koko reveals why the carpenter never finished the room addition. Anyone who has ever tangled with the difficulties of finding a reliable repairman will relish the humor and adventure in Braun's latest mystery. Her previous work was The Cat Who Sniffed Glue [BKL S 15 88]. --Denise Perry Donavin
