Customer Reviews

The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(217)

 

 

As one of many dedicated fans, and one who has been intimately involved with this series previously, I must confess that this was the single most disappointing read of them all!! I finished the book, and then spent a few minutes attempting to reflect in my own mind about what I read, what I learned, and what I felt. Sadly, I decided I read a book that was unfortunately so disconnected, so disjointed, so unlike previous ones in the series (even counting the last four which have been questionable in so many ways)that I was forced to attempt to answer many unanswered questions. Further, I learned in reading this, the latest book in the series, that there was absolutely no relationship between this one and the early books in the series (primarly any that predate "The Cat Who Went Up the Creek"). This one was disjointed, disconnected, unfortunately lacking in depth, devoid of any character development and/or plot, and lacking in the very qualities that brought readers to the series annually! There are more unanswered questions in this book than in many of the previous ones combined! Gone are the meals enjoyed by Qwill and guests (including Polly)--to be replaced by a catering service that we don't even know. Gone are the antics of the cats--many of the redeeming characteristics that caused many of us to look forward to each new book. Gone are the "characters" we've grown to love and eagerly visit with each year in a new book. Truly, this was the first book in which I can honestly say I didn't feel as though I'd spent a "bit" of time in Pickax visiting old friends. Indeed, this one left me feeling quite sad--maybe that was the intent! Certainly, Qwill's journaling and the stress placed on it, must suggest that we can anticipate some sort of "Qwill's Journal" in the future, but although I'd like to think there is yet another "Cat Who..." in the future, I have to think I speak for many of the most dedicated fans when I say that perhaps now is the time to end the series--let us take fond memories of the cast of characters away while we still remember them and why we loved the series to begin with!! Don't attempt something that apparently isn't working or isn't possible to resurrect!

Too many misuses of punctuation! I don't know why... And many sentence fragments.

With strange wording and unusual paragraph breaks.

Whoever was paid to write this book (everyone knows it's not Lilian Jackson Braun) made too many changes and wrote it very badly to boot. I highlighted the consistently annoying bits above but there are many more for you to find if you are extremely bored & brave.

I don't recommend this book to anyone for any reason. *If you are or were a fan of the Cat Who series, please do not read this book.* It will ruin your happy memories.

Welcome to "The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers" --- the latest installment in the continuing saga of "Port Moose County" --- the sad soap-opera saga that's replaced a once well-respected-and-loved mystery series.

In "The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers," nothing happens. Well, okay, some things happen. They're largely boring, but fortunately the book is short --- only 190 pages. One of the "chapters" is actually only a page long. Let's give it a shot here...

There's a fire. And somebody gets murdered --- eventually. It's more than halfway into the book and Qwill and the cats have really no involvement in it whatsoever, other than the obligatory and actually starting to get a bit tiresome Koko sniffing and death howls. Qwilleran launches about a dozen new book projects (or maybe it just seems like it) and interviews a bunch of nice people, all while also writing a largely uninspired play.

This edition of "The Cat Who..." gets two stars from me for one reason only --- a development in the romance department I find much to my liking. I won't spoil it here, not that it's anything especially thrilling or exciting anyway. But it's certainly welcome.


I got this from the library. I didn't spend a red cent on it. I won't be getting the audiobook version either. George Guidall does an admirable job on the audiobooks, but his muted performance on the previous "novel" in this series convinces me that he too is beginning to see the futility of it all. And Koko would be ashamed.

This book was HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would have given this book zero stars if I could have. I have been following this series now for over twenty years and will most likely never buy another book from Braun again--and this is coming from a devout fan. This book made no sense. It doesn't follow the form or the rhythm that fans have come to expect and love. (SPOILER ALERT!!!)The mystery never gets solved. Polly takes off on a two week vacation and with no reason decides to abandon Moose County, Qwill AND HER CATS! This makes no sense and is completely false to the character. Now maybe she would dump Qwill and left Moose County, but she would never so casually desert her cats--not as devoted to them as she has always been. She doesn't even make sure they have a home! Her "Dear John" note to Qwill was so unreal, I would have expected Qwill to jump on a plane and see what villian had brainwashed Polly rather than accept it so casually. He doesn't even seem to care that this woman he has cherished for years is gone. And then there is the whole situation with the barn!

My biggest heartbreak is how Braun has destroyed the fantasy world she has created for those of us who are her loyal fans. Her books are not the greatest mystery novels in the world, but that is not why folks read them. Moose County is that warm and fuzzy place you go when the world gets you down. You care more about what is going on at Lois' Lunchenette or at the Booze Hotel then the murder. Qwill and Polly were the perfect couple. They were independent individuals who respected each other and shared each others' lives on their own terms. You would love to read the books just to see how they were doing. I can't understand why Braun would destroy what she has taken so long to build.

It is like she is tired of writing the series and try to burn it to the ground (in some situations--literally).

If this is the case, I wish she'd just stop writing rather then ruin the series the way she has in this book.

And if there is a ghost-writer(s) who has taken over the series, they need to be fired! They are TERRIBLE!!!

Over the last few years, I have noticed that the quality of the novels in this series has declined. I thought that the decline was, perhaps, my own perception as I unknowingly compared The Cat Who mysteries to other books I was reading that were more involved or literary. So, when the new book came out this year, I decided to start reading the series over again. No, the decline was not because of unknowing comparisons with other books. The series has, unfortunately, declined tremendously.

Yes, everything other reviewers here have said about this novel is true, but the decline began several years ago, about 2001 to be exact. I noticed each year the stories were less satisfying, that the plots were thinner, that the cats were more and more in the background. I'm not sure who blame. Is it the author or the publisher?

Perhaps, Ms. Braun has simply lost interest in her characters. It happens. For example, the 2006 book's ending reads like the ending of story whose writer has lost interest...no well-developed resolution, just one sentence summaries of how everything was resolved. The 2007 book takes up the story thread (I can hardly call it a plot) where the 2006 book left off, and its plot is even thinner (though I can hardly believe that is possible). As with other reviewers, if this has to be the end of the series, Ms. Braun (or whoever is really writing these books) should have given fans a strong ending, like with Qwill and Polly finally deciding their cats ARE compatible and tying the knot, and let us mourn the end of a wonderful series. It is absolutely painful to watch it fizzle out like this.

Then, of course, there's the publisher. Since I have all the books sitting in my library, I've compared production quality. The paper has been heavy and continues to be. While I tend to like a heavier paper in a book, it looks like the heavy paper is meant to hide the true size of the novel. 60 Whiskers is not even 200 pages long on HEAVY paper. Imagine how much shorter it would be on paper more like that used for other Putnam novels. But, that's not all. Instead of single-spacing the text, the text has changed over the years to something that looks like double-spacing. Why? To fill up space? To justify the price? To cover the thin plot?

I don't expect to be back next year, even if the threads of this volume are carried over (as has happened in the last few years), even if his mustache starts to twitch over Polly's unlikely decision to stay in Paris and abandon her kitties to their fate, even if Qwill comes to his senses and jumps a plane to Paris to find Polly (he can afford a last minute ticket, right?), even if he comes out of shock and mourns the loss of his apple barn,. Hey, maybe, I should be writing these books!

Many other readers have commented on the disappointments to be found in this book: the lack of any effort to investigate, let alone solve, the crimes that are committed; Qwilleran's strange emotional unresponsiveness; the disjointed elements that are never brought together to form any kind of cohesive plot. Some have said that, from now on, they will just enjoy reading the past "Cat Who" installments that were sharply plotted, well-written mysteries. I have done that since the books' quality began to slide, but it won't be as easy any more. Every time I read about Qwill's beautiful barn-home, his comfortable relationship with Polly, or Polly's devotion to her cats, I will take less joy in it because I will remember the senseless ways in which all of them ended. If this was a way of ending the series by bringing some kind of closure to various plot lines, it was a brutal way to do it. If this is to be some kind of new beginning for Qwill, it isn't going to work, not with this caliber of writing. As far as I am concerned, the series is over.
The publisher should not have allowed this to happen. The editor should not have allowed this to happen. Ms. Braun and her readers deserved better.

I have read all of the "Cat Who" series by Lillian Jackson Braun, and this is the worst book of the series. Obviously the ghost writer has been changed, and the new one must be on drugs--the wrong kind. The story-line was absurd and there is no "mystery" in the tale. Characters were even more superficial than usual. It was as if someone read a few "Cat Who" books and copied parts. I kept wondering when Bobby Ewing would appear in the shower, telling Pam (and all of us) that this was just a bad dream.

The other reviews outline all of the problems, which are many.

Please, Ms. Braun, come out with a statement telling us you no longer write these books and that you'll find a suitable ghost writer who knows what the "Cat Who" series has meant to your many loyal, dedicated fans.

Skip this book!

"His Qwill Pen column had to come from the `trash barrel', meaning bits and pieces of this and that that could appear fascinating to his readers." (p 124). This overestimation of reader's interest sums it all nicely. This sentiment appears elsewhere in the book. "He had to resort to his "trash barrel"...postcards from readers, clippings, notes could always be made into a chatty Qwill Pen column..." (p 57). A theme in the book is Qwilleran's difficulty writing and reflects he starts several "no-stories" and "another Good Idea That Didn't Work" all of which he throws out. Poor Braun, I surmise this theme is autobiographical for her.

I agree with the other reviewers for the most part. From their reviews I checked the book out from the library and am glad I saved the money. I lowered my expectations so much that in some ways the book was enjoyable as merely a visit to Moose County, but nothing more. It isn't a mystery novel at all and I hope no one who reads this book is a first time visitor to Moose County as s/he would never return. But I'm not angry, just sad. Read it knowing that Qwilleran and Braun are both having difficulties producing worthwhile narrative, and read it only because you have a soft spot in your heart for both.

I have thought, when reading previous books in this series, that characters were removed (i.e. died) in very abrupt manners, and that the deaths were never truly noted by the community. For someone who develops characters so well, this was a strange phenomenon. At least the story lines were clear, well developed, and came to an understandable conclusion.

With this latest book, my advice to Lilian Jackson Braun is to retire gracefully. For those of us who have followed your books, this was a major letdown. The characters were not well developed, the plot was (relatively) non-existent, there was no discernable ending, and one major character (Polly Duncan), and one major landmark (Qwilleran's extragavent, multi-story barn) were abruptly removed from the picture!

Polly write's from Paris (France!) and asks that Brutus and Catta go (together) to a loving home, and asks that her furniture be sold (it was old, anyway) is over the top and not in line with this character at all! And Polly ... can we say antique?

Do yourself a favor - do not purchase this book, and do not go to the library to read it. You will be very, very disappointed!

SPOILER WARNING [if you can actually spoil the plot of a book that doesn't have one!]

I sincerely wish I could've these reviews before I purchased this book. What a waste of money as well as a disappointment for anyone that really likes the series. This book seems more like a bad parody of the series than a new installment.

I should have taken a hint from the title--if the only title anyone could come up with was the fact that Koko has 60 whiskers, there's certainly not much inside. But I made the mistake of pre-ordering it, because I have been an avid reader of this series for years and frequently re-read the books.

There are so many problems with the plot, continuity, and the general characterization of the inhabitants of Moose County I don't know where to start. I hoped this book would clear up at least a few of the loose ends from '...Bombshell', like the funerals of Liz Hart and Homer Tibbit and the town's reactions. Qwill didn't seem to notice that either of them were gone. He didn't seem to notice much of anything, for that matter.

As for the new book, since when is he skeptical of Koko's unique abilities? That's been the basis of the last 20 books or so. Why did the villain get away scot-free? They always get either caught and punished, or die during the getaway, or in an appropriately ironic matter. Why was the girl murdered? Just saying the murderer was jealous of her is hardly a plotline. Why weren't the cats featured more and Qwill's journal less? And most importantly, HOW ON EARTH COULD THE APPLE BARN BURN DOWN AND POLLY MOVE AWAY with barely a comment from Qwill??!??!? The rest of the town was more upset on his behalf than he was.

Seriously, if you really want to read it, borrow it from the library, or one of us poor suckers that paid good money for it thinking they were getting a quality story.