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Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who… series
The Cat Who… series is available at Diesel Ebooks and at Amazon.com.
A few years ago, the Mystery Guild Book Club polled members with the question “Which mystery writer would you rather be stranded on a desert island with?” The winner: Lillian Jackson Braun. The book club didn’t ask why readers voted for her, but anyone who has read Ms. Braun’s novels knows why.
With the exception of the first three novels, which set the stage for the series, each novel is a vacation for the reader to a quirky, arts-loving, small town where the most important edifice is the library. Each novel in the series is a murder mystery, but the violence is off-screen, and the murder presents itself early in the story as a problem to be solved. While solving the murder, the protagonist and the reader learn something about the arts such as painting, ceramics or spinning and weaving, along with drama, history, literature and geography.
As far as I can count, Lillian Jackson Braun has written twenty eight novels in The Cat Who… series starting with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, published in 1966, and continuing through The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers, published in 2007.
The series starts with the story of Jim Qwilleran, an unemployed journalist who had once been great but whose alcoholism and divorce had derailed his career. Now alone and on the wagon, he hopes to get any job he can, just to pay the rent. Mortified by the fact that he is forced to accept an insignificant column in the features section, he accepts, and in his research he ends up solving a murder. He adopts the victim’s now homeless cat, Koko, who proves to be the most intelligent and entertaining, if not the most well-behaved cat in literature.
The series gets interesting when Jim suddenly finds himself heir to one of the largest fortunes in America, providing that he move to the town of Pickax described as “400 miles north of everywhere.” For Qwilleran, moving to Pickax isn’t near as much of a problem as figuring out what to do with all that money.
The Girlebooks reading list recommends this series for the sheer fun of reading. The beauty of this series is that when you get that lost feeling after reading a really good book you can always pick up the next one.
Discussion
14 comments for “Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who… series”
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SPOILERS AHEAD:
I just finished The Cat Who HAd Sixty Whiskers. I was devastated and little P.O’d at Polly for leaving Qwill. I also could not believe Ms. Braun burned the barn down. I just loved to read his description of the house. I also loved his little quirks with POlly. There was always the mystery of would they get married? I feel so bad for Qwill. I am really upset at Ms. Braun for finishing this book like this. I doubt I will read anymore of books with the enthusiasm that I always have. She made a bad move and I don’t know why.
I’m only just starting to read “The Cat Who Had Sixty Whiskers” so this was a bit of a spoiler. However, the joy of reading LJB’s books is that the ending doesn’t matter as much as the journey. This isn’t the first fire Mr. Q has endured (remember the K mansion?) Nor is it his first love lost (for example, his wife, a girlfriend Rosemary, and the love of his life, Joy, who was murdered shortly after their reunion.) “The Cat Who Saw Red” where Joy was murdered was, because of its vivid descriptions of making and firing pottery, one of my favorite “Cat Who” books in spite of the love lost. I liked Polly, but LJB always seems to dream up something better to replace that which is lost. And besides, he could get her back…
What happened to the “The Cat who Smelled Smoke”? I thought it was due out in June but the publisher pulled it.
I have to say that I am glad Polly is gone. Quill really needs someone to respond to him. And someone who really loves the cats and finds them cleaver and exciting.
You’re right, Sheila, “The Cat Who Smelled Smoke” is still not available, at least anywhere that I can find it. I have been reading about Lilian Jackson Braun, what there is to find out about her–which is not much–and she is nearing if not past 90. I began to wonder how long she can keep up the series. How can we live without it?
I have every book in this series. I read and kept all of my copies of “The Cat Who” books and have read them over and over again until the last one came out (Cat With 60 Wiskers). I haven’t picked one up since. I was VERY unhappy & disappointed in the last 3 books in the series and really felt as if someone else was writing the books for Ms.Braun. The writing is not her style. Questions remained unanswered when the books ended and it just seemed as if they weren’t being thought out correctly. I do hope Ms. Braun is ok but if she’s going to retire the series then she should announce it and stop the series. Putting out books like the last 3 or so is not being fair to her many many readers and fans.
I agree with C. S. Phillips that the last three books were not as good as the earlier ones. I just finished reading the first five books in the series, and they are much better than the later ones. However, Ms. Braun, if Wikipedia is accurate, is about 93 years old, and any writing she does at all is close to a miracle. I notice that “The Cat Who Smelled Smoke” is still not available, although it will be the next in the series. Yes, I will buy it and read it, if for no other reason than curiosity. The trajectory of the series, however, has something to do with the tired themes of the last three books. In the early books, it was all Qwilleran could do to keep a roof over his head and caviar for the cats in the pantry. Now with a fortune at his disposal, plot lines are more limited, even if the fantasy factor is a draw for the reader. Who wouldn’t like to live in a friendly town with bags of money and a part time job?
I am sure we all want Ms Braun to continue to write The Cat Who…series, as she has given us so many wonderful hours of reading.
I too wondered why she burned the barn. I loved picturing all the nooks and crannies with the cats.
Let us hope she is just teasing us before a great knew book comes out.
I agree with Sheila. I hated losing the barn. Owning four cats, I have coveted the ramp that the cats scamper up and down, in addition to the lingering smell of apples. The shoddily, build, prefab Ittibittiwasse Estates just can’t replace it! I also miss the Klingenshoen mansion.
I couldn’t believe Polly leaving her beloved Brutus & Catta. She loved them to excess previously.
I hope the find out who burned down the barn. Maybe it can be rebuilt. All those wonderful things he had inside.
I got to here because I was trying to find out if “The Cat Who Smelled Smoke” is out yet. I have all the other books & loved them. I agree the last 3 were not quite as good, but will buy the last one if it comes out. The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers seem to kind of jump around-didn’t flow smoothly. Things just seemed thrown in. She has given us a lot of pleasure over the years-hate for it to end, but the years catch up with all of us.
I am wondering if the holders of the copyrights for the “Cat Who…” series intend to carry on the when Ms. Braun retires. There is always the question of whether the new author or group of authors will live up to the original standard. On the other hand, different Cat Who books might be better than no Cat Who books. For readers hankering for good “man and his cat” stories while we wait for “The Cat Who Smelled Smoke” Cleveland Amory and Peter Gethers have written some charming non-fiction books that start with a “The Cat Who” title. (”The Cat Who Came for Christmas” and “The Cat Who Went to Paris.”) [Note: if this post has any typos, my cat apologizes. She was licking my hand while I typed. At least she didn't walk across the keyboard this time. Uh oh--here she comes...]
I’m from the Philippines and I am a fan of the Cat Who series. Right now I’m reading The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare. I like the series because the suspense is just enough for me to bear. Last week I was reading John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief — a version for children in fact — and the suspense nearly killed me. Since I write for magazines, I enjoy — and try to learn from — how Qwill asks his questions and gets ideas for his column. Of course his good fortune and how he can always beat the deadline makes me green with envy.
Myra has a point. Reading John Grisham, or Dan Brown, or Robert Ludlum is grueling. Lilian Jackson Braun’s style harks back to the more leisurely styles of Agatha Christie, Daphne Du Maurier and Vera Caspary. You stroll through the book rather than rush through it. I said before that I thought reading LJB is more like taking a vacation in Pickax. Perhaps this is why.
I love the Cat Who books and listen to them on tape at least ten times. The last book really upset me as I could visualize the barn and the lovely surrounding area. I hope someone with Ms. Brauns love of mystery and country folk picks up the series because I feel like I have lost some very close and wonderful friends!!!!!!!!