The Cat Who Came to Breakfast

In the 16th Cat Who . . . adventure, Pickax City's Jim Qwilleran and his intuitive Siamese cats, Yum Yum and Koko, investigate odd accidents plaguing a glitzy resort recently built on a nearby island in Moose County, ``400 miles north of everywhere.'' As Breakfast Island undergoes development which highlights its possible pirate past, retired reporter Qwill and others bemoan the spoiling of its natural beauty. After an episode of food poisoning and an accidental drowning at the resort hotel, the owners of the Domino Inn, an already established bed-and-breakfast, ask Qwill to find out whether disgruntled locals are trying to discourage tourism. On the day that Qwill moves himself and the cats into one of the Inn's cottages, another guest is injured on the Inn's front steps and an explosion in the resort's marina kills a yacht owner. Questioning reticent natives and resort employees, Qwill enlists an informant to speak with witnesses of the accidents. He himself talks with the vague proprietor of a resort antique shop filled with overpriced items. But it is Yum Yum's domino playing that sets the former newsman on the right track. Braun ( The Cat Who Went into the Closet ) gives fans what they crave in this latest meandering tale about the skeptical, lovable Qwill on an island full of cats. Literary Guild alternate; Mystery Guild main selection. (Feb.)