The cat who played Brahms.

It's vacation time for Qwill and the cats as they head up to Moose County, 400 miles from anywhere, to stay in Aunt Fanny's cabin for some R&R. Qwill's apartment building has been sold and it is the perfect time to take a few months off, relax, and start writing that novel. But things don't go as planned. Of course they don't, otherwise we wouldn't have a cozy to read, would we?

I think this book is where the series takes a fun turn. We get Qwill out of the city and away from the crazy newspaper beat, and we see a different side of him here. The first three books in the series were written by Braun in the late 60s, and she returned to it in the book before this one in the mid 80s. Her decision to change things up is apparent starting with this book. With age comes wisdom, I guess, and it works here.

Koko is still in charge and solving crimes, while Yum Yum sits there and looks pretty. Qwill makes several comments in this book about his penchant for young career women in their 30s while creepily stroking his mustache like a villain. He has never been written as an appealing character to me so this made me chuckle. And the ending gives the series new direction and completely new ways to grow and change the characters. Here's to new beginnings!