ivianese 's review for:

The Cat Who Blew the Whistle by Lilian Jackson Braun

3.0

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A pretty solid entry in the series. There's quite a bit of intrigue in this one--financial scandal, a runaway train, and mysterious disappearances and deaths. At this point, Braun still paced the mysteries fairly well; there's a lot of cozy sidebars, but they are balanced with mystery and light investigation. Having Celia as an assistant sleuth greatly aided this book as well. That said, there is a surprise reveal at the end of the novel that has not aged well; because it is under-explored, it could be construed as insensitive to trans people. I don't think Braun is cruel or ill-intentioned here, but there are so few details given about the surprise that it feels like it should have been excluded from the novel all together. Overall, a book with a lot of satisfying elements, and a slightly fumbled conclusion in the last few pages.