Lilian Jackson Braun

Book Review: The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers

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The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers
Book #29
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

I’m not sure I have the motivation to write an actual review for this book. It’s feeling like deja vu anymore, since I don’t have much different to say than I did for the last few books in this series. I’ll get to a few specifics from this book in a little bit, but first I just want to say what an overall pleasure it’s been reading through this series. Though the last few weren’t spectacular, and overall, there were some duds (for me), in a series of 29 books, one thing Braun did well throughout this series is give me a sense of community. Once Qwilleran arrives in Moose County for the first time in book #5, the county and especially the town of Pickax becomes a character unto itself, growing and changing, going through tragedy and triumph, like a well-rounded addition to the family. After almost 30 books, I feel connected to the county and its people and am sad to bid them farewell.

My biggest issue with this book isn’t that the mystery was light or that Qwilleran again has the solution sort of handed to him. It’s the way Braun seemed to thumb her nose at long-standing institutions from her series. (Warning, spoilers ahead.) It feels like the intentional end of a series, but evidence shows that she had a 30th book planned to follow this one. So why did she destroy both Qwilleran’s relationship and home, to start anew in the next book, this late in the series? If she was bored with them, then considering her advanced age, a better solution would have been to call this the end, and leave us happy, knowing that Qwilleran would continue with his life as we have known it. And even worse, Qwilleran doesn’t seem particularly bothered by either of these losses. I kinda get the barn being almost a relief, since he expressed frustration in this book at having a home that people always wanted to tour and gape at. But minimal effort is given to make it believable that he not only didn’t care that Polly was moving to Paris but also was ready to move on within days.

After all is said and done, I do recommend the overall series to fans of mystery, especially with a somewhat old-fashioned mindset, but definitely start at or near the beginning. I can see myself re-reading this series again someday, but I’ll probably stop at about #24, the last one I remember liking much at all. After that, even the love of the community around Qwilleran isn’t enough to sustain me through lackluster mysteries.

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Book Review: The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell

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The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell
Book #28
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 2.5 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

The possible murder of an out-of-towner kicks off a season of deaths, as Pickax City’s summer-long sesquicentennial celebration is underway. Former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran is distracted by the various ways he’s asked to be part of the festivities, but that doesn’t stop him from noting Koko’s odd behavior.

The fact that I have almost the same thing to say about every book in this series anymore is probably telling in itself. I feel like we’re just limping to the end now, which maybe how others felt as these were being written and published. Considering Braun’s age at the time these last books came out, I can’t help but wonder if they were just pushing to get to a nice round number for the series. This book does have the benefit of including some enjoyable goings-on in Pickax, a town that practically has its own personality. I do like the way this county 400 miles north of everywhere has grown and developed over the nebulous period of time since Qwilleran first came to it, enticing other transplants from “Down Below” over time as well. That makes is all the more sad, though, when one of those transplants dies needlessly in this book. It’s not part of the mystery, and in fact, it’s sort of thrown in near the end amongst major happenings that are part of the mystery, which makes the whole thing seem completely senseless.

The mystery itself is…well, I can’t say it’s non-existent. But it’s really in the background for much of the story. It’s there if you can look for it. But to really confuse us, the first death in the book turns out to be completely unrelated to the mystery and apparently nothing more than the initial assumption made by the police. I kept expecting it to come into play again, but it doesn’t. I guess that’s kind of a spoiler, but really, I think it’s helpful for people to know what they’re getting at this point in the series. I’d say it feels like lazy writing, but it could have more to do with Braun’s advanced age. I don’t recommend jumping into any series at/near the end, especially this one, but I do still recommend the overall series to fans of mystery, especially with a somewhat old-fashioned mindset.

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Book Review: The Cat Who Went Bananas

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The Cat Who Went Bananas
Book #27
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

The death of an actor from a neighboring county and the sudden, unusual marriage of a wealthy local woman invite intrigue during the excitement surrounding the opening of a new book store in Pickax. Former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats are on the case.

After the last few books in this series greatly disappointed me with lackluster mysteries, I enjoyed most of this book a lot more. Though there were still some repetitive sections that could have been edited out, Qwilleran was more involved in investigating. I appreciated the remembrance of the late bookseller that once recurred in the series, and I took note of a special moment in which Qwilleran gets recognition for something other than his twice-weekly column, questionable books he’s published since moving to Moose County, or simply being a wealthy philanthropist.

Sadly, though, the book ends without the mystery really being solved. Multiple deaths and even a robbery have potential solutions, but nothing is solidly stated. Qwilleran muses over his suspicions at the end of the book, but, for some reason, the author isn’t willing to give us any real closure. I still have my doubts about the series using a ghostwriter at this point, because some specific points of Braun’s style are still intact. I suppose a good ghostwriter could mimic style, but I just don’t buy it. Whatever the situation, though, I don’t anticipate the last 2 books of the series being any better than this one, but I will definitely still give them a try.

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Book Review: The Cat Who Talked Turkey

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The Cat Who Talked Turkey
Book #26
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

The last few books of this series have had lighter mysteries that take a backseat to the greater happenings in the community and to the main character, former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran, getting content for his collection of short stories or his twice-weekly newspaper column. In this book, the mystery is almost non-existent. An unnamed man is murdered on Qwilleran’s summer cabin property, and he tells a visiting retired police officer that maybe they should investigate together, but any actual investigation that happens is lackluster. Koko, Qwilleran’s Siamese who usually unearths some clues and spends the duration of the book doing something oddball to try to communicate that info to Qwilleran, mostly took this mystery off. He knocked a few books down that were sort of related, performed his uncanny death howl a couple of times, and that’s about it. Overall, this story felt short and quick (several pages were even devoted to a short story for Qwilleran’s collection that had been published in a previous book in the series!) and was definitely my least favorite of the series so far.

Others have guessed that the series switched to a ghostwriter a few books before this. I think it could just as easily be chalked up to Braun’s age. Whatever the cause, though, the series has taken a severe dip, and I’m not sure it’s likely to come back. However, my respect for the series as a whole pushes me to finish it out, with only 3 books to go. I don’t recommend this book to anyone, but I do still recommend the overall series to fans of mystery, especially with a somewhat old-fashioned mindset.

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Book Review: The Cat Who Brought Down the House

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The Cat Who Brought Down the House
Book #25
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

When a glamorous Hollywood resident, though former resident of Moose County, moves back to Pickaxe City in her retirement, it gets all the small-town residents in a tizzy. But things don’t seem quite right to former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran and his uncanny Siamese, Koko, who cries foul at a murder in the county over.

I could easily just copy half of my review for the book before this for this review too. In fact, I’ll save myself some time and do just that: “I kinda feel like the author is putting more page time into Qwilleran getting content for his collection of short stories or his twice-weekly newspaper column than into the episodic mysteries. The mystery in this book takes leaps forward that don’t allow for much intrigue or suspense. Still, I do generally enjoy the happenings in Moose County, as well as the characters.” The mystery in this book was even more of an off-to-the-side kind of deal than normal, and then it’s tied up almost too nicely.

It’s funny to me that one particular scene in this book was one I’ve remembered for years, so though I didn’t remember this particular book from when I was younger and read several of these, I definitely did. Yet, apparently this mystery-lite story didn’t leave me feeling like this series isn’t worth caring about. And it still doesn’t now. Because the truth is, 25 books into the series, the everyday happenings and special events of Moose County do interest me. So I still gave the book 3 stars, even though it probably doesn’t deserve it, because the primary reason I read these books is for the mystery, not the slice-of-life views of the locals. But as for whether or not I’d recommend this book to others, I would definitely not suggest that you pick up this book as your introduction to the series. Definitely start closer to the beginning.

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Book Review: The Cat Who Went Up the Creek

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The Cat Who Smelled a Rat
Book #24
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

Former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran travels to a nearby town to investigate a “dark cloud” over a newly re-opened inn, using the guise of a vacation. As his vacations often go, a dead body leads to more intrigue than he anticipated.

I kinda feel like the author is putting more page time into Qwilleran getting content for his collection of short stories or his twice-weekly newspaper column than into the episodic mysteries. The mystery in this book takes leaps forward that don’t allow for much intrigue or suspense. Still, I do generally enjoy the happenings in Moose County, as well as the characters. What I did not enjoy in this book, though, was the side plot where Polly is on vacation with her sister and sends postcards back to Qwilleran hinting at a guy she met and is spending a lot of time with. Qwilleran and Polly’s long-term relationship has started to wear on me, since they tend to go back and forth being jealous of each other, and in between, are just super happy to be in this not-fully committed relationship. 

Twenty-four books into the series, there is not much that hasn’t been done. And to be fair, when a book takes us away from Moose County and its citizens, I usually like it even less. But because of how many of these I’ve read, it’s also often easy to guess who’s going to be involved in the murder, whether victim or killer. Though in this case, I did have one guy pegged as being on the side of the bad guys, and instead he ended up being a victim, so I can’t say there isn’t still some unpredictability now and then. In the end, though, this installment in the series was okay, but not a stand-out.

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Book Review: The Cat Who Smelled a Rat

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The Cat Who Smelled a Rat
Book #23
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

When a series of brush fires threaten the safety of everyone in Moose County, is it due to drought conditions? Or is it arson? Then there’s an explosion in town and a pair of deaths, some of which could have been accidents, but former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran begins to look for threads between all of these events.

After the last couple of books seeming to have less and less of Qwilleran doing any real investigating, he shows us here what he’s capable of, digging into matters, asking questions, and getting to the truth of the various calamities. Though this book brings yet another weather extremity, it doesn’t affect the residents of Moose County as much as some of the previous ones did and adds suspense to the story in a way I enjoyed. And it’s always more interesting when one of the locals is heavily involved in the mystery, especially as the culprit! I felt like this one was a long time coming, though I won’t say any more to avoid spoilers.

What baffles me, though, is that there is a series of haikus included in the book, and not only do none of them follow the 5 syllables-7 syllables-5 syllables pattern, they don’t even have 17 syllables in any format! I guess Braun is better at prose than she is at poetry, though it’s certainly majorly out of character for Qwilleran to not make note of this or for Polly and the other judges to choose winners that aren’t correct at all. Still, that’s a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things. I can’t believe I’m down to 6 books left in the series! I hope to find some more gems in those final books!

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Book Review: The Cat Who Robbed a Bank

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The Cat Who Robbed a Bank
Book #22
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

When a jewel dealer from Down Below visits, it has the attention of all of Pickax City 400 miles north of everywhere. Then the jewel dealer is murdered, and former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran pays extra attention. 

Sometimes it can seem that Qwilleran rarely solves the mysteries in these books—that answers simply fall into his lap. But usually, much of the book is spent with him making connections, asking just the right questions, and sort of lining things up to work out so that he gets to the solution in the end. Not so in this book. He truly didn’t solve much of anything. Speculations early in the mystery turned out to be correct with little in the way of deviation. Yes, he was kind of caught up in the climax, but it was really only because of a friendship that he’d been cultivating for a while, nothing to do with his suspicions about the case. The community surrounding the mystery wasn’t as interesting as it has been in other books, maybe because it was more disjointed.

There was one interesting development. Anyone who has read many of these books knows that Qwilleran is basically devoid of all family and does tend to long for a connection. This was dangled in front of him—and us—in this book, and I’m not really sure how I feel about the way that turned out. Maybe it would have seemed to fake if it had gone a different way, but I really hope to see more in this line in the future. Overall, though, I’m hoping the next book is better.

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Book Review: The Cat Who Saw Stars

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The Cat Who Saw Stars
Book #21
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

Former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran attempts to spend a two-week vacation in his cabin on the lake, but it turns out to be less restful than staying home would have been. Besides still writing his column and doing favors for friends, he becomes entangled in a couple of mysteries that locals attribute to extraterrestrial “visitors,” though he’s certain there’s an answer closer to home.

Not one of my favorites in the series (though not my least favorite either). The solution to the main mystery came more out of nowhere than it normally does in these books, so it was anti-climactic. Braun seemed to forgo much of the investigating this time, in favor of yet another weather-related local disaster. Add to that the frustration that a death in the book had no resolution of any kind, not even speculation or a mention of the fact that it would have to remain a mystery. It was just dropped. I do like that Qwilleran was able to compare his tendency to half-believe that Koko’s antics helping him solve mysteries could be compared to the locals who firmly believe in UFOs, though he always leaves room for the possibility that everything Koko does is just a coincidence. I’m still enjoying my trip through this series of fairly quick reads and hope the next will be better.

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Book Review: The Cat Who Sang for the Birds

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The Cat Who Sang for the Birds
Book #20
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

Former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran is certain something fishy is going on when an elderly woman’s home is vandalized and then burned down. With an early spring in the offing, birds and butterflies provide some distraction for both man and cat, but that won’t keep him off the trail of a killer.

While Qwilleran spends a lot of his time suspecting a certain person/company of dirty dealings, I had a different culprit in mind, and even fingered a henchman for that culprit, for reasons that I thought were rather obvious. But where in the previous book, I thought that the predictability of the stories in this series were beginning to make it less enjoyable for me, I didn’t mind figuring a lot of the mystery out early this time. I think that’s because the story itself—the plot and even the characters—was all more engaging and enjoyable this time. Plus, Qwilleran’s reason for suspecting who he did makes perfect sense in the context of the rest of the series, and I actually enjoyed the way he ranted ineffectually against the perceived villain. Overall, I felt that it was one of the better books in the series.

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