What is it about? Well, for one, it's about Qwilleran adjusting to his new life. Qwill has clearly become more of a native since we last saw him - he has developed a small interest in local history; he's getting a handle on the local weather lingo; even though I haven't broken the habit, he no longer heaves sighs of of incredulity and exasperation at crazy Moose County customs. He's firmly enough entrenched on the former side of the Up Here vs. Down Below debate that he takes to baiting a man whom, now knowledgeable of the differences between Us and Them, he identifies as "obviously foreign" just to see his exasperation. He has also cultivated a network of friends (even if half of them are imported from the city) in Moose County, which is a quite long overdue development; if you're going to strand your main character for five whole years in one place, you had better create a world and a cast of characters that is gonna keep the audience entertained and enrapt. Brahms and Post Office didn't do their homework and failed to lay a good foundation in this respect, and both (especially the latter, where the errors compounded) suffered for its absence. Shakespeare recognizes this weakness and compensates - it restricts its focus to just a few folks - Iris Cobb, Junior Goodwinter, and Hixie Rice. All three are going through periods of change and tough times in their lives. Each of them deal with them in his or her own way. And we see their struggles detailed in minutiae through their contact with Qwilleran - we get to know them, we empathize with them, they're not just background noise anymore, and we have a few anchors for the country episodes to come. An excellent way to battle the homogenity so pervasive in the local folk we met in the last two installments.
And Harry Noyton! Harry Noyton is back! It's great to see the man back from Danish Modern, his old over-gregarious, enthusiastic self, though I think that he gets a (unnecessarily) raw deal in the end. All right, short, stupid paragraph, I know, but I just had to say acknowledge this little windfall. An extra note, though: Qwilleran, since becoming accustomed to having buckets of money, has gotten...hmmm...comfy enough to throw his weight around a little bit, as per the scene where he bosses Noyton around after he (Noyton) kicks around a few (amusingly) ridiculous ideas for Moose County development projects (enough to make Noyton joke, "Okay, General. Yes sir, General"). Qwill's realization of the power that his fortune has afforded him has caused him to lose that occupational sense of diplomacy. Interesting to see how that will affect his investigational finesse. Anyhow, moving on.
Note that I have not said that The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare is about any sort of mystery plot. There are crimes committed, yes, crimes of great heinousness indeed, but there is practically no investigation - Qwilleran never seriously expects foul play, the solution (uncorked a couple of pages before the end of a novel) is a sheer gift, and the punishment of the perpertrators takes care of itself. An odd paradox - Qwill devoted an unworldly amount of time to snooping and prying in Brahms and Post Office, in which he had little ground for concern and whose criminal plots were uninvolving at best, but here neglects an overtly suspicious situation with an emotional impact that really hits home. Even odder - I didn't consider this an egregious fault. A conspicuous oversight, yes, but it is far from fatal, because Qwilleran is nothing if not busy this book - listening to his friends, helping them cope, and trying to haul them out of scrapes when necessary, shooting a TV commercial with Hixie and Koko, interviewing old timers, engaging in a bidding war with an antiques dealer at an auction, getting lost in a blizzard, hosting a wedding... The mystery of Senior Goodwinter's demise doesn't pervade the plot, but the story of the book itself (wisely) doesn't hinge on it, and the other proceedings prove competently entertaining nonetheless.
I suppose that, after a little bit of a slump, Braun can't hit on all 8 cylinders yet, but she certainly tried. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare isn't a complete restoration, but it'll do, and it's a encouraging promise of things to come.
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