Customer Reviews

The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Cat Who is the best serries ever full of humor wit and complexity,

James Macentosh Qwilerin is a off beat repoter/Billion air with his 2 cats Koko and Yumyum who are no shorter than extra ordinary.

This is the best book serries I have ever read and would recomend it to any one over 10.

Trevor Oliver

12 Years old

I enjoy listening to the Cat Who...series on my way to work by audio. I recommend them because they very light and enjoyable. Koko and Yum-Yum have typical cat personalities and are very whimsical. The end always has a neat twist, although many story-lines in this series are very much alike...

In this episode, Koko becomes fascinated with Qwilleran's antique and rare books, especially the Shakespeare plays. He regularly throws them on the floor of the library. Qwilleran soon realizes that Koko's antics will help him solve a mystery...

. . .investigate the death (was it murder?) of the local newspaper publisher.

Alas, Qwill's doctor girlfriend has moved to Boston to specialize, leaving him without the benefit of female companionship. But not to worry! In "Shakespeare" we are introducted to Polly -- a widow about Qwill's age who manages the local library. In Polly, Qwill seems to have found a soul mate.

Also, Mrs. Cobb, Qwill's landlady from Down Below (see "The Cat Who Turned On and Off") and his new cook and housekeeper (see "The Cat Who Played Post Office") decided to re-marry. Will the third time prove the charm for Mrs. Cobb?

This mystery, set once again in Pickax (pop. 3,000) while not the best of the series is certainly an entertaining read. I enjoyed it.

Once again KoKo the cat solves another crime, but this book was not an exciting page-turner as some of her previous books. It was a good story and definitely gives you more character development as the series continues, but the exciting mystery hardly seemed there. I found myself not even caring whether Qwill solved the crime or not.

If you are interested in reading the entire series by Braun, then I would suggest reading this book just for the smooth flow of the series. But if you are just looking for a good mystery to read, I would suggest skipping this one and finding one of her other books, such as "The Cat Who Saw Red."

In the 7th book in The Cat Who...series, James Qwilleran aka "Qwill", is becoming acclimated to his new life as a millionaire in Pickaxe City (400 miles north of everywhere). He has moved his two beautiful Siamese cats (KoKo and Yum Yum) into the old Klingenschoen mansion and has settled in for a five year stay to fulfill the requirements of Aunt Fanny's will.

As the book begins, Qwill is awaiting the arrival of "the big one", a huge snow fall, as predicted every day on the weather report on WPKX. He is starting to adapt to life as the richest man in Moose County, and has started dating the local librarian, Polly Duncan. He begins to get acquainted with the various families in town, and develops an easy friendship with Junior Goodwinter, the young, energetic editor of the Pickax Picayune. When Junior's father dies suddenly in an accident, Qwill sympathizes with his friend, and looks for ways to save the centuries' old newspaper run for years without profit. Qwill begins to become suspicious of Junior's mother, and her reaction to her husband's death. It seems the widow is ready to sell all of her possessions and has been seen around town with a new man. Could the death of Senior Goodwinter have been anything more than a bad car accident? Distracting Qwill from the suspicious death is the upcoming marriage of his beloved housekeeper, Mrs. Iris Cobb. Qwill brought Mrs. Cobb up from "Down Below" to manage his household and the new museum that is being created in the Klingenschoen mansion. But the man she is marrying is highly disliked in town, and Qwill works hard to insure that Mrs. Cobb is marrying the right man for her.

This is my favorite cozy mystery series! I had read all of the books in the past, and wanted to read them again for a second time. This time around, I have chosen to listen to them on CD, as I love the voice of George Guidall. I am happily rediscovering how Qwill became a resident of Moose County, and how many of the series regulars join him from "down below". In this installment, Qwill brings Hixie Rice to town, and begins to talk about having old friend, Arch Riker, join him in Moose County. Also in this book, Qwill's long-time romance begins with librarian, Polly Duncan.

This is a great series by my favorite author!

The first book in the series is called "The Cat who Could Read Backwards". Enjoy!

I loved this book! I won't say too much because I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't read it yet, but I thought it was an excellent plot. I like how it involves an important family like the Goodwinters, and how Polly was introduced into the series. I always thought Qwill needed a steady girl.

This 7th book in the popular Cat Who series opens in November as all of Moose County waits for the arrival of 'the Big One' the first snow fall of the season. Jim Qwilleran, known as Qwill or Mr. Q, has recently inherited a fortune contingent on his residence in Moose County for 5 years. He has decided to leave his career as a journalist 'Down Below' and stay in Moose County, '400 miles North of everywhere'. Qwill has begun to use his fortune to help the people of Moose County by various contributions channeled through the 'K fund'.

His largest planned project is setting up a museum in the mansion full of antiques he has inherited but the one possibly nearest his heart is luring a decent cook into one of the local restaurants. The cook has arrived accompanied by a friend of Qwill's from down below, Hixie Rice, and is a bit of a mystery.

Other matters that concern Qwill are the romance of his housekeeper, Iris Cobb and his own budding romance with the local librarian, Polly Duncan. Qwill has also taken an interest in the local newspaper and the family that runs it. His companion, Koko, a Siamese cat has taken an interest in pushing valuable volumes of Shakespeare plays off the bookshelves. As always by the end of the book Qwill has resolved all issues and realizes that Koko was ahead of him all the way.

The emphasis in the series has always been more on the characters, the cozy element and less on the mystery aspect. This is particularly true in this one. If you are a Moose County fan you MUST read this book as it moves the series along on serveral important fronts but if you are looking for a mystery this probably isn't the book for you. The resolution is rather contrived and frankly by the time you get to it you may have forgotten half of the questions it was supposed to answer.

As we join the soap opera that is Pickax City in this the seventh book of this series we find that all is quiet, at least in the beginning. The people of Moose County are bracing for the first snow of the year, which they refer to as "the big one" and Jim Qwilleran has lost another love interest. Of course anybody who has read any of the other books knows that before long somebody is going to die and that usually the deaths just keep right on coming. With only 4000 people in Pickax City the author is eventually going to have to bring in new people or quit killing off so many in each book. This series can be just a little morbid but I have found that once one begins reading these books the marvelous characters and backdrop become addictive.

Right on schedule there is a death that looks like an accident but Qwilleran isn't so sure that it wasn't murder or even suicide. The first death to occur throws things into an uproar that particularly affects one of Qwilleran's close friends and he jumps into action to solve the problem. He also finds a new love interest and his housekeeper is hinting that she may be close to getting a proposal from her new beau. Along the way he opens a museum in his new palatial home and is suspicious of his old friend Hixie Rice's new boyfriend. Qwilleran also learns that the local radio station predicts snow every day in November until they are finally right and he learns a hard lesson about "the big one" after he starts to ignore the weather forecast. All the while Koko, the cat in the title, is trying to tell the former ace reporter something but somehow Qwilleran misses all of the signals. Koko, for his part learns to use the new elevator in the house and rides up and down a lot.

Like the previous books in the series, the mystery in this book becomes secondary to the antics of the people and cats of Moose County. Lilian Jackson Braun has an uncanny ability when it comes to character creation and the reader will get attached to these people, which makes it all the more sad when she kills somebody off. I have even developed a desire to visit Moose County, even though it is a figment of the author's imagination. I would particularly like to visit the town of Brr where it is always colder than it is anywhere else in Moose County. This is just the kind of extra touch that makes these wonderful books so addictive.

I realize one person's pet is another one's annoyance, so not everybody loves cats ... or dogs or birds or fish for that matter. But if you do love cats, the Cat Who books are a delight. The mystery story, while part of the fun, is really a sidebar to the story of Mr. Q and his two cats, their travels and their adventures. Jorge Luis Borges said he wasn't sure he believed in the Hound of the Baskervilles, but he believed in Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. That is the way the Cat Who books are. You believe in Jim Qwilleran and his two cats, Koko and Yum Yum. They are characters that live in your heart.

If you have read any of this series you will enjoy this book also. The Cat Who is a delight to read-keeps you guessing what will happen next. I highly recommend.