The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (U)

More than thirty years ago, Lilian Jackson Braun wrote The Cat Who Could Read Backwards and launched the phenomenally successful Cat Who... mystery series. In it we are introduced to the extraordinary detective team of prize-winning reporter Jim Qwilleran and Koko, the brilliant Siamese cat. Jim Qwilleran is somewhat disgruntled when his assignment for the Daily Fluxion is to cover the art beat. For a hard-nosed crime reporter it's like being put out to pasture. Little does he suspect that this "fluff" assignment will lead down the path to murder. A stabbing in an art gallery, vandalized paintings, a fatal fall from a scaffold are not at all what Qwilleran expects. Even less, he could not possibly predict that the solution to these crimes wouldn't come from his newfound partner, Koko the Siamese with exceptional abilities for sniffing out clues.Publishers WeeklyFans of this popular series will surely relish this reissue of its 1966 debut and the reminder that former newsman Jim Qwilleran, whose two prescient Siamese are the heart and soul of the stories, starts out with no cats and, in fact, is reluctant at first to become a sitter for the talented Koko. The series' other feline star, Yum Yum, is not yet on the scene. Qwill takes a job as a feature writer at a newspaper whose controversial art reviewer, George Mountclemens, owns Koko. Renting the downstairs apartment in Mountclemens's building, Qwill is soon coerced into performing small favors, including cat-sitting. The killing of a gallery owner rocks the town. When the critic is murdered, Qwill becomes more personally involved. By the time the story winds down, Koko has managed to help save Qwill's life and point out the murderer. Braun's witty investigation of the 1960s art scene is as entertaining as her depiction of crusty Qwill's growing admiration for Koko's extraordinary talents. (June)