Get that sinking feeling in Lilian Jackson Braun novel

I was surprised to see that I’d missed reading Lilian Jackson Braun’s “The Cat Who Saw Stars.”

It is summer in the far north, and journalist Jim Qwilleran moves from his home in Pickax to Mooseville and the lovely Klingenschoen cabin on the lake.

Cabin owner Polly Duncan is traveling in Canada, so he planned to spend the month reading, writing and relaxing, while Qwill’s cats, Koko and Yum-Yum, enjoy lounging on the screened porches. As Robert Burns said, things don’t always go as planned.

Within days, Koko insists on a “walk” on the sandy dunes. He soon leads Qwill to the body of a missing hiker. The subsequent secretive investigation puts the town in a frenzy of gossip and speculation. Some insist the death was caused by UFOs as many residents insist they’ve seen them many times. Qwill doesn’t believe in UFOs or any other such nonsense, but he is curious about the hiker and his strange death.

Mooseville is a popular tourist town that caters to visitors. There’s a lot going on. The local acting group is staging “Visitor to a Small Planet.” There’ll be a big Fourth of July parade and rousing dog-cart races.

Owen and Ernestine Bowen have opened an upscale restaurant and hired Derek Cuttlebrink as day manager. His ideas plus personality have made the restaurant a hit. Ernestine is a dedicated chef, but Owen spends much of his time on his boat, the Suncatcher.

Qwill can’t help feeling that there is something “fishy” about Owen, but before he can learn more, Owen disappears while he and Ernie are having a picnic on the boat. Qwill doesn’t have much time to dwell on the deaths or Koko’s intuition about them.

As he moves around Mooseville, he meets many interesting people with stories he can use in either his Qwill Pen column or a planned book on local tales. Among them is talented knitter Barb Olgivie, the elderly ladies of Safe Harbor Home, crow specialist Tess Bunker and the iconic Unc at the local hardware store. Unc tells Qwill the tale of the Sand Giant and what it might do if angered.

Qwill enjoys “soaking up” the local gossip, intrigues and histories and takes every opportunity to offer ideas for events or encouragement. He’s scheduled to spend the month at the cabin, but all the activity has been too much, so Qwill resolves to move home before Polly’s return. Instead, she shows up a day early just before a terrific summer storm.

It is two long days before the skies clear. Locals and vacationers are reveling in the great weather when the ground begins to shake. When it stops, most of the new restaurant has disappeared into a massive sink hole, and much of the famed Great Dune has collapsed. Sadly, Ernie Bowen was killed in the collapse.

Now Qwill is truly eager to get out of Mooseville, but Koko manages to thwart their departure for another day. That puts Qwill in the right place to listen as someone who knows the facts shares what she knows about Owen and his death, thus unofficially closing the case so Koko allows them to return home.

Summer is over here, but we can continue our adventures through books of all kinds. Your public library can supply all your favorites. Plan a visit to check it out.

 

AT A GLANCE
BOOK: “The Cat Who Saw Stars”
AUTHOR: Lilian Jackson Braun
PUBLISHER: Berkley
PUBLISHED: Jan. 11, 1999
PAGES: 228

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