Amazon.com (ISBN 0399145702, Hardcover)

Qwilleran and his crime-solving Siamese cats KoKo and Yum Yum are back on the case in Pickax, the biggest little city in Moose County, which is 400 miles north of everywhere but still boasts a remarkably sophisticated social and cultural scene. Hardly a day or a night goes by without a tea, dinner party, crafts fair, play, or pageant, all of which are attended and described in great detail by Qwilleran, a former crime reporter whose not very onerous duties entail writing a feature column for the local newspaper as well as overseeing the civic philanthropy made possible by an inheritance from a wealthy friend of his deceased mother. Fans of this long-running and immensely popular series will delight in this 23rd installment, in which the matrons of Pickax are buying French perfume and blueing their hair for the annual visit of Mr. Delacamp, a jeweler from Down Under (Chicago), whose arrival will coincide with the reopening of the town's fabulously refurbished grand hotel. When the mysterious Mr. Delacamp is found dead in the presidential suite, and his "niece" goes missing along with the jewels and the cash, Qwilleran and his curious cats investigate. As usual, it takes a couple of Siamese with extraordinary powers (even for cats) and a current preoccupation with pennies, gum wrappers, and paper towels to point their owner toward the solution; Qwilleran may not be the quickest sleuth in Moose County, but with KoKo and Yum Yum on the case, he doesn't need to be. This is the coziest of cozies, a particular niche in the mystery subcategory of crime-solving felines of which Braun is the acknowledged mistress, and once again she delivers the goods. --Jane Adams