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“The Cat Who Had Sixty Whiskers” by Lilian Jackson Braun

The Cat Who Had Sixty Whiskers is available at Diesel Ebooks and Amazon.com.

After tiptoeing quietly through The Cat Who Went Bananas and The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, Lillian Jackson Braun really shakes things up in The Cat Who Had Sixty Whiskers. After my review of The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell one of our commentators dropped a bombshell of her own: Polly left Jim! My first reaction was concern that this might be a spoiler to those (like me) who had not yet read the book. However, this knowledge actually served to enhance the reading of the story. That is the reason I mention it here.

Those of us who have faithfully read the entire “Cat Who…” series have seen Jim Qwilleran put his life back together after hitting rock bottom, as a result of his alcoholism, divorce and the inability to hold onto a job. We have seen him pull himself up by his bootstraps to become the man in control—the one others come to for comfort and advice, and filthy rich to boot. Now we see his idyllic universe begin to unravel. He and the reader realize that his universe may have been getting a little stagnant. Is Jim paying for his failure to make personal commitments? Will another woman take up where Polly left off? Will she be reserved and erudite like Polly, or outgoing and outrageous like Hixie Rice? Knowing that the Polly bombshell is coming, the reader can look for clues to explain why she (and Lillian) did this! I wasn’t devastated by Polly’s desertion. She, like Jim, had begun to stagnate, and her reserve had made her into an Ice Queen. I was, however, annoyed by her abandoning her cats. Perhaps Ms. Braun made her do this so that we wouldn’t miss her so much.

The story ended with a hint of a romance, or at least friendship, with Barbara, the woman who rented Polly’s abandoned condo and brought her own cat, Molasses. What happens now if Polly comes back? Whatever once can say about 60 Whiskers, it did leave one eager for the next installment. We won’t have to wait too long. The Cat Who Smelled Smoke is scheduled to be out in April (2008). It can be preordered from Amazon, although they don’t have a synopsis or a cover shot yet available (as of mid-March, 2008.)

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