The affluent owner of a historic steam locomotive and private railcar disappears with millions of dollars belonging to Moose county investors. Journalist-detective Jim Quill probes the embezzlement with the aid of his Siamese sleuths, Koko and Yum Yum. The case is complicated by a train wreck and a murder in a railroad tavern. By the author of The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, the book which launched the 17-volume series in 1966.

Qwilleran and the cats are visiting an island known by many names. Qwill has always called it Breakfast Island, but to the taciturn natives, it's Providence Island. To the rich summer residents it's Grand Island--and to the developers and tourists who are turning this once-peaceful place upside down, it's Pear Island. But when some odd "accidents" occur, including a fatal boat explosion, Qwill suspects sabotage and sets out to investigate--because...

Jim Qwilleran is not exactly thrilled by his new assignment for the Daily Fluxion--a weekly magazine on interior design. But Qwilleran finds himself on familiar territory when a murder is committed, and he and Koko, the brilliant Siamese, take the case.