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The Cat Who Sang for the Birds
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Plot Summary of The Cat Who Sang for the Birds
"James Mackintosh Qwilleran is at it again. This time the K Fund has built a County Art House and across the street is the ugly, ramshackled house of Maude Coggins, much to the dismay of Beverly Forfar, the director. When Coggin's house burns down with her in it shortly after selling it, Qwill's mustache starts twitching. Distinctively absent at the furneral is Forfar, but is that only because the sophisticated city girl cannot deal with living in a small town? And who now owns the land where Maude used to live? It seems the illustrious Mayor Chester Ramsbottom's wife owns the land. Why would she own the land?

Also looking suspicious is the Art Center and the people who are using the movie room. With no signs of breaking in, this is definitely an inside job. Jasper, a parrot with foul language, provides clues for Qwill. With help of Rollo McBee and his spelling-champion son, and as always Koko and Yum Yum, Qwilleran will get to the bottom of who killed Maude Coggins and who is breaking into the Art Center."

Abby White, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Cat Who Sang for the Birds
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - very humorous
How difficult to spot villain? - Moderately Challenging
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 40%
Kind of investigator - dog/cat investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - arson
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - journalist
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - politician/elected ruler
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
Motive of antagonist - power
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - quite fatty

Setting
Small town? Yes

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to The Cat Who Sang for the Birds
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Burn by Sean Doolittle
Cat to the Dogs by Shirley Rousseau Murphy


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Lilian Jackson Braun Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Christy Maurer  

SCHOLARS:
Jóhanna  roktman75  Abby White  Harry Armstrong  Stefanie Haag  Di Bingham  Carrie Doyon  Jane Van Fossan  Sharon Grealis  


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