The Yellow Cat Mystery

he Yellow Cat Mystery (1952)

Djuna visits his friend Tommy in Florida. His yellow cat has a sore tooth and they set of to see the dentist. The dentist is new to the town at doesn't seem to be able to help them. They do however notice two persons who came from a mysterious black-lacquered ship at sea...
A normal beginning to a unusual adventure...
On vacation in Florida, Djuna meets a cat with a peculiar secret.

Djuna steps off the bus and into the Florida heat, ready for a few weeks of slow-paced Southern living with his friend Tommy, whose father recently moved to Dolphin Beach. After spending the whole summer solving mysteries, Djuna is looking forward to some peace and quiet.

But trouble has a way of finding Djuna. While Tommy gives him a tour of the town, Djuna spies two men sneaking away from a strange black boat. Inspecting the ship, Djuna discovers that it has been freshly painted and that the name has recently been changed. Is it possible that smugglers are operating in Dolphin Beach? There is something about this boat that tells Djuna he’s not on vacation anymore—he’s on an adventure.

''Another adventure of young sleuth Djuna and his friend Tommy Williams will find a ready audience among the young mystery addicts.'' New York Times

The Yellow Cat Mystery - dust cover Little,Brown and Company edition, 1952 (Artwork by Barbara Corrigan)

The Yellow Cat Mystery - cover Little,Brown and Company edition, 1952 (first edition) (Artwork by Barbara Corrigan)

The Yellow Cat Mystery - hardcover (confirmation needed)

The Yellow Cat Mystery - cover eBook publication, Open Road Media Teen & Tween (March 10, 2015)

The Yellow Cat Mystery - cover audiobook Blackstone Audio, Inc., read by Traber Burns, September 1. 2015

Above: dust and 4 hard cover variations for Little, Brown & co.; cover Open Road Media Teen & Tween (2015); cover audiobook Blackstone Audio, Inc. (2015) . (Click on the covers to see the differences) *

Samuel (Duff) McCoy (1882-1964) had a contract with the Queens for the first eight juveniles from The Black Dog Mystery until The Blue Herring Mystery. But he didn't actually write the stories ... Whilst researching his new book on Ellery Queen, Jeffrey Marks found a first edition of The Red Chipmunk Mystery with the following inscription "Rhinebeck, N.Y. Aug. 31/48 For Karen Rose from the only real ghost who had anything to do with this book - Harold Montanye". He looked into this and found proof in correspondence between McCoy and Montanye that all final six books before 1954 beginning with The Green Turtle Mystery were written by Montanye. Harold had some difficulties getting his stake in the half share McCoy had. (More on the authorship can be read here...)

Above: Frontipiece from Japanese edition, Hayakawa.

The Yellow Cat Mystery Translations:
Chinese: 牙医诊所黄猫谜案
German: Milo und die Gelbe Katze
Japanese: 黄色い猫の秘密 (kiiroi neko no himitsu)

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