Pickax, county seat of Moose County, is bracing itself for The Big One, and the first snowstorm of the year cannot come soon enough! The area has been suffering from the worst drought in decades, and brush fires have been threatening the area’s historic old mine shafts. Native city dweller, and ex police reporter, Qwill, smells an arsonist, but why would anyone want to destroy the shaft houses?

When a volunteer of the fire watch patrol gets shot near the Big B mine, and the roof gets blown off of one of downtown’s most beloved shops, Qwill’s mustache starts twitching, and he’s not the only one who is suspicious - Koko has a sudden interest in apples, robins, and an old fashioned glove box. Will Qwill and Koko be able to stop the fire-starting rat before the whole county goes up in flames?

Braun has a light-hearted, folksy style that has won her a legion of devoted followers over the years. The continued popularity of this series that helped to launch the “pet cozy” sub genre is still alive and kicking after 23 installments. While fans will no doubt gobble this one up, newcomers will likely be trying to figure out what all the fuss is.

For a 229-page novel, things get off to a slow start. Over the years, the focus has been less on the mystery and more on amusing anecdotes of small town eccentricities. The enjoyment of this book really hinges on the reader’s relationship with the main characters. Long time fans, with a stake, will dive right in. After 23 books, Braun and her publisher are really relying on the fact that readers KNOW these characters already. Very little detail is rehashed, making this book unlikely to win Braun any new fans.

Old timers will find something a bit different in this latest entry, and frankly, I was pleasantly surprised. Braun mixes things up a bit; by making some long time, secondary characters a large part of the crime. Readers have gotten used to outsiders being main culprits, or natives that were introduced only for that sole book. While Braun does rework a bit of history, I really liked the crime and the choice of bad guys.

A quick read sure to have fans flipping the pages, The Cat Who Smelled A Rat is a worthy addition to Braun’s catalog. Here’s hoping that Pickax has more crime sprees, and Koko plenty of lives left.

--Wendy Crutcher