Isnt that one of the early books? I may have read it.

This is the 29th Cat Who title. I think you are not alone in your feelings about the book.

Here is part of a review from Book List:

" The twenty-ninth in the immensely popular Cat Who series won't win the series any new fans.

Unfortunately, the story threads tend to peter out with no resolution, and the cat characterizations, usually a strong point, seem a bit forced, making it difficult to see them as real felines, albeit sentient ones. None of this will matter all that much to the series faithful, however, who bring fully formed senses of the characters to each adventure."

Just finished TCW Had 60 Whiskers and, like April, I was very disappointed. The murder was very tame (someone dies from a bee sting because her eppy (sp?) pen was hidden). Qwill does next to no sleuthing to solve the mystery, so that element in the book is missing. The characters of Archie, his wife, Hixie, etc. - who added so much "seasoning" to the previous books -are very much on the periphery of this one. But my biggest beef is that Qwill has two major changes in his life in this book (I won't give them away) and his reaction to both is unrealistically flat.

I agree completely with the other readers. I love this series and always look forward to a new release. I was so disappointed with The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers. I would like to know why all the history of Qwill's barn and love of Polly was thrown away without any real reasons. Also,if anyone is going to write another book to straighten up this mess and leave the series on a high note.

I have just found out that THE CAT WHO SMELLED SMOKE will be out April, 2008. I hope all our questions will be answered. I will impatiently wait for this next book. Let's hope we love this book and much as we did the older ones.

I can't believe it! I thought she was done writing this series & I hope that you are right about Koko and Yum Yum continuing to help Qwill. Rose Brayd, seeing your post has made my day!

I often think that authors who are prolific on one character may need to take a break from them until they can recapture the qualities that made us love them in the first place. A good example of this is Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series. The last couple of those books have been flat too.

I have been in contact with Penguin Books who was to have published the latest Cat Who book, The Cat Who Smelled Smoke, but is now saying that it will not be published and the reason is confidential.

I have been wondering about The Cat Who Smelled Smoke, after pre-ordering in November. The previous book seemed to wipe the slate clean for a new beginning.... I think there won't be any more Cat Who books since Lilian is over 90-maybe her health isn't so good.

It seems that book websites are still accepting advance orders. The most current info I could find was a release date of 2009. Maybe she is changing publishers?