Cat Who... Mysteries – serie

When Jim Qwilleran is sent to 'Maus Haus' on a gastronomical quest, he takes Koko and Yum Yum along for company and steps into a house of curiosities. There's restaurateur Robert Maus, elbow-deep in saucepans; cuddly Hixie with her daily calorie count; and Joy Graham, the red-headed flame from Qwilleran's past and a talented potter to boot. Then strange things occur as a startling scream pierces the night air and Joy disappears without trace. Koko, Yum Yum and their all-providing mentor, Qwilleran, are determined to solve the mystery...

Jim Qwilleran's latest commission is a piece on Junktown - a ghetto of antique dealers and collectors living in genteel decay. Enchanted by Junktown and its delightfully bohemian inhabitants, Qwill finds himself digs in the area, renting two rooms to share with his sleuthing Siamese companions Koko and Yum Yum. When his landlord C.C. Cobb, one of Junktown's leading citizens, falls mysteriously to his death, Qwill's famous whiskers begin to twitch. It's only when Koko develops a passion for tape-recorders, to rival even that of his journalist mentor, that the vital clues begin to drop into place...

Pickax's sedate calm is occasionally disturbed by random acts of vandalism, but nothing more serious than paint daubed on civic property. Until, that is, the cold-blooded murder of young banker Harley Fitch and his new bride Bella, which is altogether more shattering. Qwilleran's moustache twitches in anticipation of mystery and Koko develops a fascination for all things glutinous. Just what is the attraction of the musty old books under the guardianship of the softly-spoken Edd Smith; of Harley Fitch and his intricately detailed marine models; of Wally the taxidermist? Koko is sure to sniff something out ...

Late one night, Jim Qwilleran is disturbed by the shrill ringing of the telephone. His erstwhile landlady, Iris Cobb, now resident manager of the Goodwinter Farm Museum, is distraught. Knowing her frail state of health Qwill is concerned and becomes even more so when a piercing scream severs their connection.Arriving at the museum he finds Iris slumped on the kitchen floor. But what at first looks like a natural demise from heart disease proves to be much more sinister. Once more the detective talents of Koko and Yum Yum, Qwill's sleuthing Siamese companions, are in demand in Pickax City.

For amateur sleuth Jim Qwilleran and his two Siamese detective companions, Koko and Yum Yum, a trip to the city 'down below' brings not only rosy memories of good times, but also a whole heap of trouble . . . A plea for help from SOCK, a tenants' organisation determined to save the decaying art deco glory of the Casablanca apartment building from the philistine attentions of the developers, is no strain on the trio's talents. But macabre bloodstains beneath Qwill's penthouse rug prove to be a telling message from SOCK's former leading light. It appears that Dianne Bessinger was stabbed to death in a lovers' tiff, but the combined twitching of Qwill's and Koko's curious whiskers proves that all is not what it seems. Only when Qwill begins to investigate the suicide of Dianne's killer do the strands of the mystery unravel . . . but will Koko sniff out the truth in time to return the Casablanca to it's original glory?

Back home in sleepy Pickax, Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese companions, Koko and Yum Yum, are looking forward to country peace and quiet. But their newly converted apple barn home turns out to be not quite the refuge they were hoping for when a corpse turns up in the orchard outside . . . No one in Pickax is sorry to learn that the local headmaster is dead. Though reputedly brilliant, Hilary Van Brook was also arrogant and manipulative, an outsider who managed to offend teachers, pupils and parents alike - just about everybody in town has a motive for murder. Only when a good friend becomes a chief suspect does Qwilleran's instinct for mystery overtake his desire for privacy - and Koko's obsession with a set of antique printing blocks is the first clue to a mystery which takes Qwill and his Siamese sleuths on a day out to the races . . .

After five years of legal formalities in gossip-ridden Pickax, Jim Qwilleran has officially inherited the Klingenschoen fortune. In search of a summer's peace, Qwill and his two Siamese cats head for the Potato Mountains. But Qwill finds controversy - one side of the valley is a haven for the descendants of Prohibition Moonshiners, the other home to developers eager to turn the Potatoes into a giant tourist trap. One of the Taters, as the locals are nicknamed, has been imprisoned for the murder of a millionaire developer, but Qwill is convinced the wrong man is in jail. Koko, Yum Yum and Qwill sniff out treachery amidst the pines...

Persuaded by his beloved companion to join her in a group tour of Scotland, Jim Qwilleran expects to revel in his Scottish heritage while keeping Polly Duncan safe from the Pickax Prowler. Instead, his trip is cut short when a thief swipes a suitcase, the bus driver disappears, and a fellow tourist is found dead - all in the same day. The distraught tour members return to Pickax, only to find the town in a tizz. And when village scuttlebut focuses on the bizarre behaviour of one of the tour's surviving members, Qwill's sensitive moustache tells him that more trouble is on the way.

Jim Qwilleran and his sleuthing Siamese companions, Koko and Yum Yum, up sticks from their converted apple-barn home for the snowy winter months and move into the old Gage mansion. The house belongs to Junior Goodwinter's grandma, Euphonia, and is full of commonplace treasures hidden in dusty closets - a curious cat's heaven. Everything goes well until the phone rings announcing that Euphonia has been found dead at her new Florida home. The strange thing is that the apparently happy and healthy 88-year-old seems to have committed suicide.

When Jim Qwilleran's friend Polly decides to spend two weeks on vacation with an old girlfriend in Oregon, he finds himself at a loose end. But not for long - a visit from Nick Bamba brings news of a hotbed of mystery. Nick and his wife, Lori, fear that their new venture, the Domino Inn on recently developed Breakfast Island, won't see out one summer season let alone a lifetime. A series of fatal accidents is beginning to deter further visitors...

When the residents of Moose County, including the reclusive millionaire, Jim Qwilleran, board the old steam locomotive - the celebrated Engine No. 9 - on its inaugural journey, little do they know that this first trip will also be the last. By next morning, Qwill discovers that the affluent owner of Engine No. 9, Floyd Trevelyn, has disappeared, along with his glamorous secretary and millions of dollars belonging to Moose County investors.While the search is on for the fugitive, Qwill stays in Pickax and probes another mystery - why has Koko developed a sudden interest in certain works of literature and started to steal black pens?

The Great Food Explo is scheduled to open in Pickax with a bang, introducing new restaurants, country inns and food speciality shops. Unfortunately the 'bang' takes the form of a bomb which wrecks a hotel, killing the housekeeper and causing extensive damage. Enter Qwill and his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, whose instincts tell them that the murderous bomb was meant as something stronger than a warning to someone.While Qwill searches for clues, a possible witness to the bombing surfaces - who is shot to death before he can be questioned. But Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum are on the case...

The world of modern art is a mystery to many. But for Jim Qwilleran it turns into a mystery of another sort when his assignment to cover the art beat for the Daily Fluxion leads down the path to murder. A stabbing in an art gallery, vandalised paintings, a fatal fall from a scaffolding - this is not at all what Qwilleran expects when he turns his reporting talents to art. But now Qwilleran and his newly found partner, Koko the brilliant Siamese, are in their element - sniffing out clues and confounding criminals intent on mayhem and murder.

Jim Qwilleran is not exactly overwhelmed by his new assignment for the Daily Fluxion. Interior design has never been one of his specialities and now he's supposed to turn out an entire magazine on the same subject. But the first issue of Gracious Abodes is barely off the presses when Qwilleran finds himself back on more familiar territory - the exclusive residence featured on the cover has been burglarised and the lady of the house found dead...Now Qwilleran, with the help of Koko and Yum Yum, the brilliant Siamese cats, have their respective moustache and whiskers twitching, and when Koko starts pawing clues in the dictionary and sniffing designer furniture, Qwilleran finds himself doing a feature on a very clever murderer.

Is it just a case of summertime blues or a full-blown career crisis? Newspaper reporter Jim Qwilleran isn't sure, but he's hoping a few days in the country will help him sort out his life. With cats Koko and Yum Yum for company, Qwill heads for a cabin owned by a family friend. But from the moment he arrives, things turn strange. Eerie footsteps cross the roof at midnight. Local townsfolk become oddly secretive. And then, while fishing, Qwill hooks on to a murder mystery while Koko develops a sudden and uncanny fondness for classical music...

Inheriting unexpected millions has left reporter Jim Qwilleran looking like the cat who swallowed the canary. While his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, adjust to being fat cats in an enormous mansion, Qwilleran samples the life-styles of the rich and famous by hiring a staff of eccentric servants. A missing housemaid and a shocking murder soon show him the unsavoury side of the upper crust. But it's Koko's purr-fect propensity for clues amid the caviar and champagne that gives Qwilleran pause to evaluate the most unlikely suspects...before his taste for the good life turns into his last meal.

In the small town of Pickax an accident has claimed the life of the local paper's eccentric publisher, but to Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum it smells like murder. They soon sniff out a shocking secret - but Koko's snooping into an unusual edition of Shakespeare may prove catastrophic. Because somewhere in Pickax a lady loves not wisely but too well, a widow is scandalously merry, and a stranger has a lean and hungry look. The stage is set for Qwilleran, Koko, Yum Yum and the second act of murder most meow...

Jim Qwilleran packs up his old kit bag and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, for a sun-and-fun summer at his log cabin in Moose County. Their vacation starts off ominously with the disappearance of a handyman hired to patch up Qwilleran's cabin. But the felines really start throwing catfits when they come across a dead body or two... A serial killer may be right under Koko's nose, and now this ingenious Siamese must dig deeper to clear poor Qwilleran of suspicion - and dig up the buried motive for a catastrophic crime.

A spate of petty thefts threatens the holiday spirit in Pickax. First it's just a pair of sunglasses and gloves that disappear - but then the entire charity collection of the Indian Village Bridge Club is found missing. And unfortunately the worst is yet to come...Ironically, the small items begin to disappear when banker Willard Carmichael moves to Pickax. Willard has come accompanied by his flashy young wife, Danielle, and plans to restore a few Victorian homes. But when he's found murdered in an apparent mugging, his wife's cousin appears a bit too eager to pick up where Willard tragically had to leave off.

On the surface, things appear tranquil in Moose County. Jim Qwilleran, newspaper columnist and the county's richest resident, has moved back in to the remodelled apple barn with his two remarkable felines, Koko and Yum Yum. And the newly built gazebo is providing an idyllic opportunity for all three to commune with nature.But then an elderly woman dies in a suspicious fire. Next, the newly opened art centre falls victim to a mysterious break-in. Throw in a scandal involving an unscrupulous local politician and an anti-computer uprising at the town library and life in Pickax is anything but peaceful ...

Jim Qwilleran, newspaper columnist and Moose County's richest resident, is intrigued to hear about the mysterious disappearance of an unidentified backpacker somewhere in Fishport, a village near Mooseville where he has a log cabin. With its hundred miles of lake for a vista and its great dome of sky, Mooseville is just the place to spend a short summer vacation. Rest and relaxation, however, are out of the question, for Qwill finds himself dragged into some hightly innovative plans for this year's fourth of July parade.Above all, he is determined to dispel the rumours circulating that extraterrestrial beings may be responsible for the missing backpacker...

Pickax City is not only about to celebrate its first Mark Twain Festival, but is also hosting the tri-country Scottish Gathering and Highland Games. And most exciting of all, the distinguished celebrity Mr Delacamp is coming to visit, setting female hearts aflutter.Delacamp is a charming and gallant gentleman: a dealer in estate jewelry, he makes periodic visits with his young, blonde niece to remote and affluent areas. So when, following a tea party with the wealthiest womenfolk of Pickax, Delacamp is murdered, everyone is devastated ...

October arrives in Moose County on the heels of a long drought, and the citizens of Pickax worry about wildfires. Their fears are realised in an unexpected manner, with a case of arson - and the shooting of a volunteer fire-watcher as he is reporting the blaze. The crime wave continues as the president of the curling club is pushed to his death down a flight of stairs, and it's up to Qwilleran and Co. to sniff out the rat who is responsible for it all.

There's a lot going on in Pickax these days - a new film club has been founded, showing old films from the early days of cinema; Koko the Siamese cat is making his stage debut in a musical revue to benefit animal rescue; and five Amazon parrots have been abducted. To say nothing of a suspicious compulsive gambler lurking in the background...

In Qwill's opinion, 'A town without a bookstore is like a chicken with one leg,' and since the late Eddington Smith's bookstore burned down, the town of Pickax has been somewhat off balance. To the rescue comes the Klingenschoen Foundation, manager of Qwill's estate, which considers a new bookstore a worthy investment. Delighted by their good fortune, the people of Moose County prepare to celebrate the gala groundbreaking of the new store on the site of the old. But no one is prepared for the discovery of the body of a man shot execution-style in a wooded area on the very same day. Now Qwill and his clever cats have their work cut out for them...

The good people of Pickax are agog with anticipation. Not only is the new bookstore, The Pirate's Chest, about to open, but the Theatre Club is set to perform Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. The play does not continue past opening night, however, for a member of the cast is killed in a car accident...or was it an accident? Koko seems to suspect otherwise, and Qwill and his clever cats have their work cut out for them.

While the town of Pickax is swept up in its sesquicentennial celebrations, Koko has developed a strange new hobby: he drops himself from balconies, occasionally landing in the oddest of places. When a young man comes to visit his wealthy relatives, Koko plummets straight on to his head! Meanwhile, a hurricane is brewing, and the visitor's family members soon fall deathly ill. Qwill has his work cut out for him because Pickax - as foreshadowed by Koko - is about to be hit by a bombshell.