The description of Archibald the cat sleeping on the painstakingly assembled meringues made me cringe and laugh. Then I howled when Archibald appears to Mortimer covered with sticky crumbs and feathers and they proceed to have a friendly tussle followed by an ecstatic grooming session. Tears of joy. ( )

The fourth collection of stories about the adventures of a young girl named Arabel Jones, and her raven companion, Mortimer. In Mortimer Says Nothing, Mrs. Jones is thrown into a tizzy by the selection of her kitchen as the meeting place for the Rumbury Ladies' Kitchen Club. Needless to say, having Mortimer underfoot doesn't help matters... In Arabel's Birthday, Arabel's obnoxious cousin Annie comes to stay with the Jones family. In Mr. Jones's Rest Cure, a family trip to Wales provides Mortimer with the opportunity to help capture a vandal. And in A Call at the Joneses', Arabel puts an end to a series of crank calls.

This was the final collection of stories about Arabel and Mortimer published in the United States, although I believe that there were some further adventures published in Britain, and co-written with the author's daughter, Lizza Aiken. I also believe that there was a television series in Britain, based upon these stories. Like the preceding three collections, Mortimer Says Nothing is illustrated by Quentin Blake, and provides a wonderful reading series for the beginning chapter-book reader. There were some moments of real hilarity in this one, as when a foreign ornithologist fails to tempt Mortimer to croak his habitual "Nevermore" into a recorder. ( )