Mystery/Thriller Reviews

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The Cat Who Smelled a Rat by Lilian Jackson Braun
Jove, January, 2002
Paperback, 293 pages
ISBN: 0515132268
Ordering information:
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The Cat Who Smelled a Rat
by Lilian Jackson Braun

Snow still hasn't arrived in Moose County -- that charming and eccentric place which is 400 miles north of everywhere. And snow is certainly needed; a series of arson fires has been exacerbated by the dry weather. Journalist and philanthropist Jim Qwilleran sets out to investigate the fires, with the help of his famous Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, who have a rare talent for nosing out the truth. A mysterious disappearance and the arrival of a new rare book dealer in town make Qwilleran wonder if the disparate events are connected. This is Moose County, after all, and almost everything here seems connected to everything else.

The lovable and eccentric inhabitants of the town of Pickax are all back in this latest entry in the long-running and beloved series which is the standard-bearer for the classic cat-cozy-type mystery. Qwilleran and his library lady love, Polly, are comfortably ensconced in unmarried bliss and the cats provide all the clues to the mystery right on schedule. Lilian Jackson Braun fans will not be disappointed.

Evans to Betsy by Rhys Bowen
St. Martin's Minotaur, March, 2002
Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN: 0312286457
Ordering information:
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Evans to Betsy
by Elizabeth Peters

Constable Evan Evans of the Welsh town of Llanfair has many challenges ahead of him in his latest adventure. At the urging of his girlfriend, Bronwyn, Evan has moved out of his comfortable apartment and away from the fabulous meals prepared by his landlady into a depressing cottage that he can call his own. Unfortunately, he couldn't even boil water without a catastrophe ensuing. But eating his own cooking is just the beginning of his trials. When an attractive American graduate student blows into town looking for subjects to be tested at a new New Age psychic/druid retreat, barmaid Betsy Edwards decides to take her up on her offer. So Betsy heads off to take a job at the Sacred Grove New Age Center, where there are some very odd goings on indeed -- including murder. Evan begins to investigate and finds that under the New Age façade of tranquility there lurks a sense of real evil.

Rhys Bowen has penned another excellent installment in the popular Evan Evans mystery series. The beautiful Welsh scenery and the marvelously drawn characters provide the backdrop for a puzzling who-done-it. Rhys Bowen perfectly captures the essence of the psychic guru Randy Wunderlich and his older, wealthy and titled wife, as well as a host of other characters who are suspects in the murder. And it's impossible not to like Evan himself, the long-suffering constable who must adapt to being overlooked for a promotion, living on his own and being forced to ride the county-issued motorbike, but does so with marked good humor. Let's hope that he gets that promotion soon. Highly recommended.

--Claire E. White

Mystery Reviews
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Mystery/Thriller Reviews

The Cat Who Smelled a Rat by Lilian Jackson Braun

Evans to Betsy by Rhys Bowen