This book has all of the ingredients that have made the other books in the 'Cat Who' series so successful, the suave humour of Qwill, the psychic clues from Koko, a big event in Pickax (in this case the 'Pickax Now' festival), and a big supporting cast of quirky characters and cats. Yet somehow, this story does not mesh as well as the previous books. The end was a particular disappotment, with the death of a recurring character being overshadowed by other plotlines, and therefore barely touched upon. It seems odd that the main characters (especially Qwill and Polly) should display so little emotion towards this tragedy, and this really should have been the focus of another novel. One can only assume that Ms. Braun plans to further address this subject next time, but rather than leave us with a gripping cliffhanger, we are left only with an empty void where the ending of this book should have been.
This is still essential reading for any devotee of the series, but one can't help but feel that these books would be better ending sooner rather than later, with quality in tact, rather that being dragged out through several more books with the quality degrading each time. Having said this, I sincerely hope that the next book can pull this otherwise engaging series back to its peak.
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