“The Cat Who Turned On and Off” by Lilian Jackson Braun

Jim Qwilleran is an American reporter – formerly well off, famous and married – now divorced and struggling to make ends meet. When he hears about Junktown, he naturally assumes that “junk” refers to narcotics and volunteers to write a series of articles about Christmas in Junktown. When he finds out that “junk” actually means antiques, it’s too late: he’s received an assignment.

With his two Siamese cats – Koko and Yum Yum – he rents a cheap apartment in Junktown and gets to work.

Jim Qwilleran used to be a crime reporter, and old habits die hard. When he hears about a supposedly accidental death of one of the junk dealers that happened a couple of month ago, he decides it looks all wrong and undertakes to prove it was a murder.

The whole population of Junktown wants him to stop digging into the matter, but Qwill is a stubborn fellow. And he has an ally: his cat Koko apparently possesses psychic abilities.

There is a lot of mysterous stuff going on: things falling down and breaking all by themselves during an auction; a ghost haunting the house where Qwill settles; money appearing on the floor of his room out of nowhere. But Koko beats it all: it’s he who turns a tape recorder on just in time to record an incriminating conversation between the murderer and the future second victim.

I must admit that, having read three books from the series, I’m finding Koko’s supernatural abilities somewhat unconvincing, but the books are well written and amusing. Qwill is a dear; he always meets interesting women (usually more than one per a book); and while Koko might look a little fantastic, Qwill himself is an extraordinarily good amateur sleuth.

It turns out his original interpretation of the word “junk” wasn’t totally wrong, after all.

Speaking about the rest of the cast, Mrs. Cobb is one of the most charming housewives the world’s literature has, if a little plump, and her husband is rude but definitely attractive in a brutal, manly way. When he starts being nasty, we know he doesn’t mean it and does it for fun – or for business purposes. Mary Duckworth (Duxbury) is admirable in every way and certainly a lady. Cluthra is, perhaps, not exactly nice, but I feel sorry for her because she is allergic to cat hair, and I know what it is like to be allergic! I know Koko had to protect his master, but it was a dirty trick! Weirdly, I rather like Cluthra’s youngest sister Ivy, a rebellious teenager “going through a stage”. She overdoes on it, but I like her all the same.

The other reason why I like the book is because I like cats. Have to do that at a distance, for an obvious reason, but I really like them very much. The author, I’m told, keeps cats herself, so her descriptions of Yum Yum and Koko – when she doesn’t go into the domain of the supernatural – are precise and loving. Being forever deprived of such pleasures, I envy Qwill greatly when he wakes up with Yum Yum curled up in his armpit.