Customer Reviews

The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern

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This is a pleasant, well-written book that is interesting enough to keep you reading without being such a pageturner that you're up all night finishing it. It reads quickly because of the writing style and the characters are engaging and interesting -- particularly the cats, KoKo and YumYum. Given how long ago this book was written (it's the second in a long series), it has held up very well.

The "detective" is newspaper journalist Qwilleran, who has been given the unwelcome task of editing a weekly "magazine" section centered around interior design and showcase homes. Through this, he enters the world of interior designers and some of their wealthy customers. The day after the first issue of the magazine hits the stands, the homeowner whose home was featured is burglarized, losing a very valuable jade collection and a wife. Each attempt to photograph a designer home seems to be equally jinxed, and Qwilleran decides he must solve the first burglary to save the magazine (he has decided he likes his new assignment). With the help of his astonishingly intelligent Siamese cat Ko-Ko, he eventually solves all of the crimes that have taken place in the homes he has showcased in his magazine.

The elapse of thirty plus years since this book was first published have made this book seem perhaps like a little time capsule of life in the late 60s, and there is a certain leisureliness and gentleness about the book. This is not a suspense thriller, and I didn't finding myself caring all that much who did it, but rather enjoyed spending time with Qwilleran, his cats, and his friends.

. . .is taken off the Art beat, and assigned to the task of edition a color supplement for the "Daily Fluxion". The subject? Decorating!

In this tightly written mystery, Qwilleran, with the help of Koko the brilliant Siamese cat, solves the mystery of two murders and the apparent theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in collectible jade. By the end, he also acquires a second cat, the delightful female Siamese Yum Yum.

One of the better of the series and a good rainy day read.

Qwilleran, the middle-aged editor, is assigned to a new upscale decorating magazine called "Gracious Abodes" in this 2nd in the series of "Cat Who" books. Qwilleran relunctantly takes his new assignment and struggles to make it a success. Unfortuately, he stumbles into several crime scenes that are linked to the magazine's publication and they threaten his job security. He does not give up, but tries to solve the murders. With the assistance of his Siamese cat Koko, he is able to piece together the puzzle to solve the mystery!

Great light-reading book for mystery and cat lovers. Koko comes to life on the pages and you can't put it down!

As the second book of this popular series opens Qwill is trying to work up the nerve to ask for a different writing assignment. The former crime reporter has spent the past six months, since The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, covering the art scene and is anxious to get back to something more in keeping with his background. His assignment is changed but to writing features for the new weekly supplement on interior design. Since he cannot afford to quit he gamely decides to tackle the project.

Within a short period of time he is immersed into a new world filled with characters every bit as strange and colorful as the arts crowd he has just left. Life seems to be looking up for Qwill, the writing assignment is going well and one of his new friends asks Qwill and Koko to housesit his apartment while he is away on business. After the new magazine hits the stands problems begin, thefts and bodies begin to pile up. Pointed in the right direction by Koko's hints Qwill solves the mysteries. Along the way both Koko and Qwill acquire new ladies in their lives, Koko has found his Yum-Yum and Qwill begins a romance with 'Cokey' Wright, a designer who shares is taste for modern decor.

This mystery was originally published in 1967 but has worn well. The fans of this series need to be aware that this is not set in Moose County but instead covers Qwill earlier life in the Big City 'down below'. The characters that Qwill meets are, however, every bit as charming and quirky as those in Moose County, and like those in the later books do seem to turn up in subsequent novels. Unlike the later additions to this series the emphasis is more on murder and less on cozy although there is no profanitiy, graphic violence or explicit sex.

This book was better than the first. Braun lets you guess what the solution to the mystery is, then eliminates the possibility by adding more clues. This is the second book in the series, after The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, for those who want to know. I'm hooked!

This is another one of the early Cat Who...books so that means it was written in the 60's. All of Braun's early novels are excellent and so is this one. I love how Braun describes that decor of the apartments and the food and things like that. No other author has got that technique down as well as Braun. This book introduces the third member of the Qwilleran family Yum-Yum. A female feline to keep Qwill and Koko in line. She doesn't have Koko's sleuth powers but she is special none theless.

Lilian Jackson Braun's second novel in the "Cat Who" series is not only a worthy successor to it's predecessor it is even better. Even though the writing was quite good in the first book the story seems to flow better in this book and there are less jerky movements in the story. And a very good story it is!

When we last left veteran newspaper reporter Jim Qwilleran he was reporting on the art scene for the Daily Fluxion, an assignment that he wasn't thrilled with at first but one that he had warmed up to. Suddenly he finds himself with an assignment that he knows even less about than art, he will be covering interior design. He was, in fact, placed in charge of putting out a weekly magazine insert called "Gracious Abodes", an assignment that would lead him into another adventure with his faithful cat Koko.

Since most decorators could use the publicity a newspaper spread on their work would provide Qwilleran has no trouble in getting help finding houses to profile. He first hooks up with decorator David Lyke who gets permission for the Daily Fluxion to do a photo shoot in a home occupied by an old money family that has more than the normal old money quirks. Just after the first edition of " Gracious Abodes" hits the streets the home in question is robbed of a valuable Jade collection. What's more, the lady of the house is found dead of an apparent heart attack, which police theorize was caused be fear during the burglary. Of course this incident makes the Daily Fluxion look bad, especially since the rival paper plays up the burglary. Qwilleran immediately suspects a set-up and even begins to suspect that his new girlfriend whom he found in another decorator's office is part of the plot. He gets really suspicious after the second edition of his magazine comes out and the next day the police raid the place. It turns out that his second featured home is a cat house, pun intended.

Things get even more bizarre for the ace reporter when his neighbor and prime decorating contact David Lyke is murdered. The more Qwilleran sniffs around, the more he is convinced that he is being set-up but he can't quite put all of the pieces together. Once again, Koko saves the day by both pointing out the solution to the jade heist and also the key piece of evidence in the murder. Along the way, Koko manages to save Qwilleran's life and personally capture one of the suspects. This is one amazing cat!

This is also the book that introduces the reader to Qwilleran's second cat, Yum Yum who enters the picture to keep Koko from engaging in the behavior that led to the title of the book. We only get a short glance at Yum Yum in this book but I feel sure that she will turn out to be just as clever as Koko which will make for even more interesting reading in the next installment.

Altogether this book is whimsical, light and very fun to read. Also, as in the first book of the series the characters the reader will meet in this book are fantastic and colorful to say the least. Give this book a try and see what Koko can cough up for your enjoyment.

What more can be said about this book that hasn't been said below. I will say that the shinanigans are in full swing this time with KoKo and Qwill and things are sure to get even crazier with the edition of Yum Yum.

In this second installment in The Cat Who... series we find Qwill on a new beat journaling the many different and eccentric people of the designing world. With each additional Gracious Abodes hot off the press comes a hot crime. Does someone have it in for Qwill and the Daily Fluxion or is it merily coincidence. Find out and more in this latest backstabing and fun addition of the Cat Who....series. With this one in the bag you will surely want to get your claws on the next in the series The Cat Who Turned On and Off and find out what Qwill, KoKo and the newest addition Yum Yum are up to.....

This is the second in The Cat Who ... series and introduces Jim Qwilleran's second cat, Yum Yum. We see Qwill's growing awareness of the talents of his first cat, Koko. A great book although a little dated (first written in the sixties).

In this, the second in 'The Cat Who...' series, Lilian Braun draws us further into the zany world of reporter Jim Qwilleran and his fearless sidekick, Koko the Siamese cat.

Jim is quite upset when the managing editor of the Daily Fluxion pulls him off his job as art writer and assigns him the special task of bringing out a weekly home decorating guide. While leading the 'Gracious Abodes' effort is a step up, it's not a step to what Qwill really wants to do - return to crime reporting.

Fortunately, Qwill connects with decorator David Lyke who manages to get Qwill and photographer Odd Bunsen into the Muggy Swamp mansion of G. Verning Tait, who has a fabulous jade collection. But Qwill's efforts seem ill-fated when, no sooner was the weekly out in print, but the Tait mansion was broken into, and the jade collection stolen. Paolo, the missing house boy is blamed, but Qwill's moustache keeps twitching, making him suspect that the theft was something else entirely.

Each issue of 'Gracious Abodes' seems similarly cursed. The robbery first, then Quill's subject for the second issue turns out to be a house of ill repute, and finally David Lyke is murdered. If Qwill hadn't become involved with Cokey, an attractive designer with an unusual approach to clothing, he would had quickly have become depressed. But he struggles on, despite the rising paranoia of his managing editor, trying to convince someone that something even fishier than theft and murder is going on.

Koko in the meantime is showing some strange behaviors. He seems to be irritated at Cokey, and has taken to eating Qwill's few wool ties. Perplexed, Qwill is driven to visit a 'psycatatrist,' who provides explanations even stranger than Koko's behavior. As you might expect, Koko has already solved the crime and is having trouble getting the message through to Qwilleran.

Will the mystery be solved? Will Qwill read the message hidden in the hairballs? This is the mystery. And will Koko recover from meeting his future roommate, Princess Yum Yum? Whatever the resolution, the reader can count on more cat hijinks in Lilian Braun's whimsical, enjoyable style.