The Cat Who Robbed a Bank (Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunnit) (Hardcover)

I normally would not read a book about this subject, but perhaps if I had read the prior 22 novels I would want to read this one for continuity.

The book opens with the town's hotel about to be relaunched with a new name after its bombing the prior year. A centerpiece of this period is one of the sometimes visits of Mr. Delachamp, a jeweler who favors expensive pieces and buys and sells for cash. As usual, he is accompanied by a young "niece" who assists him.

Local columnist Qwilleran (Qwill) wants to know more. He spends a boring afternoon pretending to be a security guard, and only learns that the women in town have some pretty silly hats.

Soon, Koko awakens Qwill in the middle of the night, and the time matches that of a horrendous crime.

The rest of the novel exposes the background of those involved in the crime, and provides an unexpected look into Qwill's life through some letters his mother wrote before and just after he was born.

The book's charm mostly comes in informing you about obscure items such as mechanical safes, Scottish games, and old perfume bottles.

The book's originality comes in the acts that Koko takes to foreshadow the plot's development. These are quite imaginative, and supersede the human drama by a wide margin. Without these interesting clues, the book would be a one or two star effort at best.

The character development of Qwilleran is pretty well done, but many aspects are still kept hidden. All I can assume is that Ms. Braun plans to have many more sequels and wants to hold back a bit for those.

After you read this book, think about what your life would be like if you could anticipate the future. How would that change what you would do? How would it change your enjoyment of life?

Stay connected to everyone and everything around you!

The story centres around the newly rebuilt hotel, its new manager, staff and a particular guest, a jewellery dealer who comes to town every 5 years or so to buy and sell jewels to the rich of Moose County.

It was hard to develop any real feelings towards the new characters introduced, they seemed very one dimensional, and I didn't feel Qwill or the rest of the familiar cast did anything very interesting this time either. I'm not usually very good at picking up Kokos hints, but this time it was all very obvious.

And I'm worried about Qwill's job - the choice of topics for his column seems to have gone seriously off the boil. Mind you, the other characters seem to find huge charm and humour in his terrible articles, maybe the humour doesn't really cross the Atlantic, but maybe they are more sycophantic than we realised before...

So back to the plot, someone dies, but we don't really care about this death very much. The news of the murderer's identity sort of trickles out, and its so unexciting that you have to wonder whether they really got it right... at least that keeps you reading to the end, which has never been a problem before, but this time I'm afraid it was.

If you haven't read a Cat Who book before, don't start here, try The Cat Who Could Read Backwards and work forward from there. The earlier ones are charming, but this is a disappointment.

Those already familiar with Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum will perhaps find the plot a little predictable and the outcome rather tame, while those who are new to the stories will find the book simply an easy, undemanding read. Whether or not you are disappointed by this depends upon your reasons for reading the book. I have read and enjoyed all of the "Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunnits"; I began with "The Cat who Talked to Ghosts", as I enjoy mysteries, but ended up reading them to follow the progress of Qwill's life in Moose County, rather than out of a sense of intrigue.

Reading "The Cat who Robbed a Bank" is like enjoying a few hours in the company of an old and trusted friend; it is safe, cosy, undemanding and pleasant. It won't exactly set the world (or Pickax!) alight, (just as well in the case of Pickax, which has suffered enough!), but all in all, it was an enjoyable read.