A dashing British feline spy is dismayed to find himself stranded in New Jersey and adopted by a typical suburban family, until he puts his skills to good use for his new human. - (Baker & Taylor)

While cat detective Edward James Bristlefur is out on one of his assignments, he is mistakenly marked as lost luggage and soon adopted by a family who treats him like one very ordinary cat, but while planning his escape, this highly intelligent feline discovers that his skills are very much needed right where he is. - (Baker & Taylor)

James Edward Bristlefur is having a very bad time.Raised in London by a British secret agent, this international cat of mystery has traveled the world, foiled conspiracies thicker than cream, and rooted out evildoers wherever he and his human found them. But when he tries to follow the trail of a mysterious assassin to Norway, things go horribly, horribly wrong.

To James's shock, a baggage mix-up delivers him to an animal shelter . . . in New Jersey! Even worse, an ordinary suburban boy takes him home and names him Mr. Stink. Oh, the humiliation!At first his only goal is to escape and return to the world of top-secret intrigue. But soon he finds that the long paw of evil reaches all the way to America. As every spy knows, things are rarely what they seem. . . .

Booklist Reviews

Gr. 3-5. The subtitle won't resonate with kids, but the jacket, a shadowy picture of a cat and two mice in "don't-mess-with-me" mode, will entice them into the first in a series of cat-sleuth adventures. More caring than his supercilious narrative sounds, James Edward Bristlefur is a privileged London feline whose life changes when his beloved owner, director of a secret counterspy agency, is poisoned. Before the intrepid cat can unearth the villain, he's packed off to the U.S., where he winds up in a middle-class household as a substitute for the dog that the children, a sad boy and a whiney girl, really seem to want. Bristlefur plans his escape, but before leaving, he helps the beleaguered little boy deal with a bully, thereby making a friend. This is more background and bullies than actual mystery, but the resolute feline hero, occasional clever word play ("the long paw of the law"), and a situation kids can relate to have a certain winning charm. Perhaps succeeding volumes will be more suspenseful. ((Reviewed May 1, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

When the head of Britain's counterspy agency is murdered, his uppity cat is adopted by a New Jersey family. The feline narrator uses his investigative skills to help his young owner defeat a neighborhood bully. This new series—an odd mix of the urbane British spy, hard-boiled detective, and talking-animal genres—gets off to a slow and rather pedestrian start. Copyright 2004 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

Writing as "Holm & Hamel," the authors open the case files of a feline James Bond. Following the assassination of his beloved human counterpart in the hideously secret MI9, well-bred James Edward Bristlefur finds himself shanghaied from London to New Jersey where, after a miserable spell in a cat shelter, he's adopted by a family and dubbed, to his disgust, Mr. Stink. Though eager to escape in order to track down the agents of his erstwhile companion's demise, Stink finds himself drawn to his new caregiver Aaron, a smart and sensitive fifth-grader with a major bully problem. So he puts his larger plans on hold in order to put paid to Aaron's tormenter with the help of a quickly assembled network of local mice. The inside drawings don't quite fulfill the promise of the noir cover illustration, but resourceful, self-assured Stink makes a beguiling narrator, against whom Bad Guys, two-legged or four-, plainly stand no chance. The closing revelation that his transatlantic flight was no accident makes a tantalizing lead-in to the next episode, due in October. (Fiction. 10-12) Copyright Kirkus 2004 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 3-5-James Edward Bristlefur, feline companion of British master spy Sir Archibald, vows revenge when his human is murdered. However, before he can trace the killer, he is shanghaied to New Jersey. After a dismal incarceration in a bleak animal shelter, the cat is adopted by a family he considers way below his standards. It's not just the grape-colored minivan or the middle-class furniture, or even the insulting name that fifth-grader Aaron calls him. James considers the whole New World experience far beneath him. Even American mice fail to understand proper etiquette. The urbane cat plots to escape and return to England to continue his investigation, but reluctantly becomes involved with his new humans. When he discovers that Aaron is the victim of a neighborhood bully, the Feline Code of Honor obliges the furry agent to intervene. In addition, James gradually begins to suspect his presence in America is no coincidence and that the answer to Sir Archibald's death might be on this side of the water. The cat's upper-class, James Bond-style narration provides a humorous contrast to the Jersey accent of the local dogs and mice and the everyday American English of the humans. The black-and-white illustrations emphasize this class contrast as well. The question of Sir Archibald's murderer is left for another volume, but mystery fans will find plenty to enjoy in this first adventure.-Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.