James Qwilleran and his famous felines, Koko and Yum Yum, are back for another mystery-solving stint in the beloved bestselling Cat Who . . . series. 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 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.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PROLOGUE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
RECIPES
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Cat Who Talked Turkey
A
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ISBN:
A
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
Electronic edition: February, 2005
Titles by Lilian Jackson Braun
THE CAT WHO COULD READ BACKWARDS
THE CAT WHO ATE DANISH MODERN
THE CAT WHO TURNED ON AND OFF
THE CAT WHO SAW RED
THE CAT WHO PLAYED BRAHMS
THE CAT WHO PLAYED POST OFFICE
THE CAT WHO KNEW SHAKESPEARE
THE CAT WHO SNIFFED GLUE
THE CAT WHO WENT UNDERGROUND
THE CAT WHO TALKED TO GHOSTS
THE CAT WHO LIVED HIGH
THE CAT WHO KNEW A CARDINAL
THE CAT WHO MOVED A MOUNTAIN
THE CAT WHO WASN’T THERE
THE CAT WHO WENT INTO THE CLOSET
THE CAT WHO CAME TO BREAKFAST
THE CAT WHO BLEW THE WHISTLE
THE CAT WHO SAID CHEESE
THE CAT WHO TAILED A THIEF
THE CAT WHO SANG FOR THE BIRDS
THE CAT WHO SAW STARS
THE CAT WHO ROBBED A BANK
THE CAT WHO SMELLED A RAT
THE CAT WHO WENT UP THE CREEK
THE CAT WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE HOUSE
THE CAT WHO TALKED TURKEY
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS:
THE CAT WHO HAD 14 TALES
SHORT & TALL TALES
THE PRIVATE LIFE OF THE CAT WHO . . .
Dedicated to Earl Bettinger,
The Husband Who . . .
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Earl, my other half—for his husbandly love, encouragement, and help in a hundred ways.
To my research assistant, Shirley Bradley—for her expertise and enthusiasm.
To my editor, Natalee Rosenstein—for her faith in
To my literary agent, Blanche C. Gregory, Inc.—for a lifetime of agreeable partnership.
To the real-life Kokos and Yum Yums—for their fifty years of inspiration.
PROLOGUE
In Moose County, 400 miles north of everywhere, everyone likes Jim Qwilleran. Not only because he’s a rich bachelor who likes to give his money away. Not only because he writes a lively column for the local newspaper. Not only because he dares to be different. (He lives alone, in a barn, with two cats.) True, he cuts a commanding figure: tall, well built, middle-aged, and adorned with a luxuriant moustache that is admired by men and adored by women. But the good folk of Moose County like Qwilleran because he listens!
As a journalist, he is trained to listen, and he never leaves home without a tape recorder in his pocket. Then, too, a sobering crisis in midlife has given him a sympathetic understanding reflected in his brooding gaze and his knack for saying the right thing.
According to his driver’s license, he is James Mackintosh Qwilleran, spelled with a
Since relocating in Moose County, where the early settlers had been Scots, Qwilleran became aware of his Scottish heritage. (His mother had been a Mackintosh.) He wore a kilt on occasion, warmed to the sound of bagpipes, and quoted Robert Burns: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.” And he would explain, “It means the plans go haywire.”
One particular summer his own plans were ambitious. Besides writing the twice-weekly “Qwill Pen” column for the
Then everything went haywire.
ONE
One of Qwilleran’s “Qwill Pen” columns recently made this statement: “A town without a bookstore is like a chicken with one leg.”
His devoted readers agreed—even those who had never bought a book in their life. And the Klingenschoen Foundation in Chicago, which managed Qwilleran’s inheritance, considered a new bookstore a worthwhile investment.
