The Cat Who...

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There are over two dozen books in The Cat Who. . . series. Cat who series.jpg
There are over two dozen books in The Cat Who. . . series.

The Cat Who... is a series of twenty-nine mystery novels and three related collections by Lilian Jackson Braun and published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, featuring a reporter named Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats, Kao K'o-Kung (Koko for short) and Yum Yum. The first was written in 1966, with two more following in 1967 and 1968. The fourth appeared eighteen years later, after which at least one new novel was published every year until 2007. A thirtieth novel, originally announced for 2008, was postponed indefinitely by its publisher and then canceled after the author's death in 2011. It remains unpublished. [1]

Contents

Main characters

James Mackintosh Qwilleran is the main human character in the books. Qwilleran (Qwill to his friends) is a man who goes from late forties to mid fifties over the course of the series. He is often described as looking melancholy or brooding, but he is witty and enjoyable company. His most distinguishing feature is his "luxuriant moustache."

"Kao K’o-Kung" is the full name of the Siamese cat who is almost always referred to as Koko. [2] He is named after a 13th-century Chinese artist whose name is usually written in modern Pinyin as Gao Kegong. He has the appearance of a prize-winning show-cat and an obstinate attitude toward anything he does not like.

Yum Yum is also Siamese, and had a troubled past. Yum Yum is named after a character in the opera The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan who is also the ward of a man named Ko-Ko. Yum Yum is described as being smaller than Koko, and far more affectionate. Her beautiful violet-blue eyes are slightly crossed. [3]

Novels

Order NumberRelease YearTitleISBNPeak on NY Times Best Seller ListSummary
11966 The Cat Who Could Read Backwards 0-515-09017-4--Qwilleran and Koko's first meeting.
21967 The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern 0-515-08712-2--Qwill is given the interior design beat for his newspaper. He also meets Yum Yum.
31968 The Cat Who Turned On and Off 0-515-08794-7--Qwill goes to Junktown to write a Christmas feature series.
41986 The Cat Who Saw Red 0-515-09016-6--Qwill gets assigned to the culinary beat and reunites with an old flame.
51987 The Cat Who Played Brahms 0-515-09050-6--A contemplative Qwill withdraws from the big city to visit his Aunt Fanny in Moose County.
61988 The Cat Who Played Post Office 0-515-09320-3--A bicycling mishap and a brightly painted room have Qwill's mustache twitching.
71988 The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare 0-515-09582-6--Fire and death at the newspaper offices.
81988 The Cat Who Sniffed Glue 0-515-09954-6--Vandalism appears in Pickax and a couple is murdered.
91989 The Cat Who Went Underground 0-515-10123-0--Qwill goes on vacation and carpenters in the area start dying.
101990The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts0-515-10265-2--One of Qwill's friends is found scared to death in her own home.
111990 The Cat Who Lived High 0-515-10566-X--Qwill returns to Junktown to try to restore an old apartment building.
121991 The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal 0-515-10786-711Pickax's principal is found fatally shot after a party at Qwill's barn.
131991The Cat Who Moved a Mountain0-515-10950-99Qwill and the cats go on retreat in the Potatoes.
141992The Cat Who Wasn't There0-515-11127-911Sixteen Moose County residents go on group tour to Scotland.
151993The Cat Who Went Into the Closet0-515-11332-815Qwill attempts to solve a murder mystery long distance.
161994 The Cat Who Came to Breakfast 0-515-11564-96Qwill and his felines take a trip to Breakfast Island resort.
171995The Cat Who Blew the Whistle0-515-11824-98A railroad buff and president of a local bank disappears.
181996The Cat Who Said Cheese0-515-12027-85A stranger checks into the New Pickax Hotel. Not too long after, the hotel is bombed.
191997 The Cat Who Tailed a Thief 0-515-12240-89Small actions of theft are occurring in Pickax and a few people are found dead.
201998The Cat Who Sang for the Birds0-515-12463-X5An old barn across from the new art center burns down.
211999The Cat Who Saw Stars0-515-12739-66Qwill takes a vacation in Mooseville.
222000The Cat Who Robbed a Bank0-515-12994-19A jewelry dealer from Chicago comes to visit and is murdered.
232001The Cat Who Smelled a Rat0-399-14665-22A very dry year and concerns about wildfires have everyone praying for snow.
242002The Cat Who Went Up The Creek0-515-13438-44Qwill and the cats stay at a riverside inn in Black Creek.
252003 The Cat Who Brought Down the House 0-515-13655-73An aging film star retires to Pickax.
262004 The Cat Who Talked Turkey 0-399-15107-94The long-absent turkey population begins to return to Pickax.
272005 The Cat Who Went Bananas 0-399-15224-514A new bookstore opens.
282006The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell0-399-15307-13Moose County prepares for its 150th anniversary.
292007 The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers 978-039915390710Polly unexpectedly takes a library job in Paris, leaving without even saying goodbye to Qwill, and a gardener's so-called accidental death does not seem so accidental.
30--The Cat Who Smelled Smoke978-0399154744Unpublished. Title supposedly a reference to events in the previous book.
  1. The Cat Who Had 14 Tales, 1988 ( ISBN   0-515-09497-8): an anthology of unrelated short stories involving various cats. Note that Qwilleran, Koko and Yum Yum do not appear in these tales.
  2. Short and Tall Tales: Moose County Legends Collected by James Mackintosh Qwilleran, 2002 ( ISBN   0-515-13635-2): collected anecdotes and regional folklore from residents of Pickax & environs
  3. The Private Life of the Cat Who ...: Tales of Koko and Yum Yum (from the Journals of James Mackintosh Qwilleran), 2004 ( ISBN   0-515-13832-0): collection of extracts from several previous works with limited new material

See also

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Lilian Jackson Braun was an American writer known for her light-hearted series of The Cat Who... mystery novels. The Cat Who books features newspaper journalist Jim Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, first in an unnamed midwestern American city and then in the fictitious small town of Pickax located in Moose County "400 miles north of everywhere". Although never explicitly located in the books, the towns, counties, and lifestyles portrayed in the series are generally accepted to be modeled after Bad Axe, Michigan, where Braun resided with her husband until the mid-1980s.

Koko or KOKO may refer to:

<i>The Cat Who Turned On and Off</i>

The Cat Who Turned On and Off is the third novel in a series of murder mystery novels by Lilian Jackson Braun.

<i>The Cat Who Came to Breakfast</i>

The Cat Who Came to Breakfast (1994) is the sixteenth mystery novel by Lilian Jackson Braun, one of The Cat Who series.

<i>The Cat Who Could Read Backwards</i>

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards is the first novel in Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who... series, published in 1966.

<i>The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern</i>

The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern is the second novel in Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who... series, published in 1967. This book introduces Yum Yum, who became a permanent character in the series.

<i>The Cat Who Went Underground</i>

The Cat Who Went Underground is the ninth novel in The Cat Who series of murder mystery novels by Lilian Jackson Braun.

<i>The Cat Who Saw Red</i>

The Cat Who Saw Red is a mystery novel by Lilian Jackson Braun, published as a Jove Books paperback original in 1986. It is the fourth story in The Cat Who... series featuring journalist Jim Qwilleran and Siamese cat Koko, which it resumed eighteen years after a 1960s trilogy. Reissues of the first three stories were promoted on its back cover: "Watch for these other Lilian Jackson Braun mysteries:". 25 further sequels were published from 1987 to 2007.

<i>The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare</i>

The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare is the seventh book in The Cat Who series by Lilian Jackson Braun, published in 1988.

<i>The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal</i>

The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal is the twelfth book in The Cat Who series of mystery novels by Lilian Jackson Braun, published in 1991.

<i>The Cat Who Tailed a Thief</i>

The Cat Who Tailed a Thief is the nineteenth book in The Cat Who series of mystery novels by Lilian Jackson Braun, published in 1997.

<i>The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers</i> 2007 novel by Lilian Jackson Braun

The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers is the 29th book in The Cat Who series. It was released in 2007 and is written by Lilian Jackson Braun.

<i>The Cat Who Talked Turkey</i> 2003 novel by Lilian Jackson Braun

The Cat Who Talked Turkey is the 26th novel in The Cat Who series written by Lilian Jackson Braun.

<i>The Cat Who Went Bananas</i> 2005 book by Lilian Jackson Braun

The Cat Who Went Bananas is the 2005 novel in The Cat Who... series by Lilian Jackson Braun.

<i>The Mars Project</i> 1952 non-fiction scientific book by Wernher von Braun

The Mars Project is a 1952 non-fiction scientific book by the German rocket physicist, astronautics engineer and space architect, Wernher von Braun. It was translated from the original German by Henry J. White and first published in English by the University of Illinois Press in 1953.

References

  1. Schulman, Mark (June 6, 2011). "Reprint of Times-News Online Obituary "Best-selling author Lilian Jackson Braun of Tryon dies at 97"" . Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  2. Braun, Lilian Jackson, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966).
  3. Pg 191, The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern