Customer Reviews

The Cat Who Talked Turkey

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

I'm not sure what is more embarrassing. Admitting that I like Lilian Brown's the Cat Who... stories or confessing that I actually own all of them. They really are pleasant reading - as long as you never try to read several in a row. But we are long past the moment in time when a new reader is going to come into the series and feel the least bit of a connection. To quote the prophet, 'You had to have been there...'

One of the more glaring problems with the latest novels it that they have become parodies of the cozy genre in which the belong. They are sooo cozy that the books are hardly mysteries. Instead, they are little pastiches of the adventures and foibles of their hero Qwilleran and his two dainty cats, the dainty Yum Yum and her psychic companion Ko Ko. So the entire mystery here, which is about bodies cropping up and suspicious relatives, occupies a maximum of 30 of the book's 181 pages.

The rest is Qwill eating, feeding the cats, Qwill flirting with his steady Polly, feeding the cats, Qwill acting or writing, feeding the cats, calling wild turkeys, feeding the cats... Well, you get what I mean. Occasionally Ko Ko issues his death yowl and another unfortunate dies. After which, Ko Ko pulls a book off the shelves as a clue. And then even more feeding of the cats.

Obviously, you don't read these books because of their compelling, dark crimes or meaningful character development. You read them to munch popcorn with or to lose an hour or two in a world even sillier than the one we live in. Even so, I continue to like them in small doses. I'm not sure if I can really explain why. Now I have to go feed the cats...

I have wanted to write for a long time that Ms. Jackson-Braun, or whoever is now ghostwriting for her, or her editor, should realize that Polly Duncan would make a far more interesting murder victim than Qwilleran paramour. That comment could apply to almost all the mysteries set in Moose County, not just this latest. Polly is tedious, boring, annoying, predictable, rigid and humorless; her jealousy isn't interesting, it just cramps Qwill's style. I am sick to death of her diet hangups, her endless tuna fish sandwich lunches and every other part of her. The earlier Cat Who.. books, in which he gets involved with an assortment of interesting younger women connected to the various mysteries, were more fun than the latter ones where his love life is dominated by that staid, hyperconventional librarian. (Since I am writing about a fictional character, not a real life human being, I don't feel evil in stating that I was sorely disappointed that Polly's heart attack of a few books ago didn't kill her.) A mystery surrounding her fervantly-yearned-for murder could combine Qwill, wracked by grief, confronting his old alcohol demons, perhaps unearthing a secret double life Polly leads, perhaps a new love interest working with or against him as he struggles to find out who bumped off his lady love. It would make a far more interesting mystery than The Cat Who Talked Turkey turned out to be. But I digress....

As a mystery, the Cat Who Talked Turkey is a very frustrating experience. I am still not clear WHY the stiff found on Qwill's property, or the other stiff in Northern Michigan were killed, although it was pretty obvious from the onset who-dun-it. A clear motive would have helped. I will probably continue to buy this series because I am fond of the whole Moose County scene,but I wish ... if Ms. Jackson-Braun is still really writing these, the publisher would hire a good ghostwriter and put her out to pasture. If the publisher is now using a ghostwriter to keep this lucrative series alive, surely it could find a better one! I mean, seriously, with all the hungry and TALENTED writers out there, surely the publisher could find just ONE willing to prostitute her talents to take over this rather lovable series.

I almost didn't bother to write a review on this book since the last couple of reviews were so in tune with the way I felt. But I do have a couple of things to add which may hopefully help other would-be readers. Some years ago my mother-in-law mentioned a series of books which featured a man who wrote for a newspaper & solved mysteries with his cats. These books were passed around among the other 70-something women in her circle. I love animals-5 cats & 2 rabbits dwell under our roof-but this sounded just a little cutesy for me, fodder for the gray-haired set. A couple of weeks later a box arrived with the first 10 "Cat Who..." books. Curious in spite of myself, I read the first & then proceeded to barrel through all 10, eagerly waiting for the next "installment". I was hooked. No, Ms. Braun did not exhibit Dickens's beautiful prose or Mary Higgins Clark's (then) power to hold you to the edge of your seat. They were just fun. It must be difficult to maintain a series for a long period of time. That may be why some authors have more than one series going at a time.

For me, the books lost something when Qwill inherited the Klingenschoen fortune & moved with KoKo & Yum Yum to PickAx, but they were still enjoyable. When he got involved with Polly, the debonair Qwill was no longer "available" to other female characters-Polly was a bit jealous you see-and this erased an element of the books that I had enjoyed. I found myself liking the books more when her character was somewhere else. She was so insufferably proper & well, boring. Yes, Qwill found her companionship gratifying. I almost felt guilty about not liking her...almost. I love the converted apple barn & enjoyed his visits to the cabin on the lake. Unfortunately, the visits to the cabin became less & less frequent. Qwill, the wealthy benefactor, was no longer the struggling journalist divorcee with the alcoholic past. The last few books have drifted into nothing less than aimlessness. In The Cat Who Talked Turkey, one character was killed in a car accident (or was it an accident?). We didn't know the character, so it wasn't a personal loss. The second murder was almost thrown into all of the socializing-visiting, going to dinner, the opening of the new book store-in order to retain its mystery genre.

I will still read the "Cat Who..." books because I like most of the characters. I like Qwill & I love the cats. Most of the other characters are pretty corny, but I like them too. It is like going home to old friends. They're easy to read without a lot of concentration at the end of a busy day when my brain is ready to shut down for the night. But if Ms. Braun is going to continue with this series, she is going to have to rescue it from the tedium that has crept into it. Otherwise, she'll eventually lose this reader.

I admit that I have read every single one of Lilian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who" books. I used to relish every single one, but I agree with the other reviewers: Lately the books have been getting lamer and lamer.

I, too, think the books are now being ghost-written by someone else. I think the ghost-writing began about five or six books ago. It's not just that the mystery, never central, is now utterly an afterthought in these books. Nor is it that the resolution relies not on accute detective work on the part of Qwilleran or KoKo, but on deus ex machina. (Qwill and KoKo used to really sniff around, so to speak.) Nor is it that the style is much coyer than what Ms. Jackson Braun used to use. (I've had it with the endless references to the salt-and-pepper mustache already! It's getting to be a parody of itself!) No, the clincher is the many errors and inconsistencies in "The Cat Who Talked Turkey."

Someone has already pointed out that the Siamese take a car trip in perfect harmony in "The Cat Who Talked Turkey." We all remember that Yum-Yum howls whenever she's in the car. And what happened to taking KoKo out on the leash? And the last time we were privy to the love life of Gary Pratt, owner of the Black Bear Cafe, he was mourning a dead girlfriend. When did he pick up the wife who plays such a big role in this book?

The ghost writer not only hasn't read all the "Cat Who" books, s/he hasn't even done much research. In the book, Qwilleran wonders how KoKo could know something if he can't read. But the very first book posits that KoKo can read backwards. Remember the title of the very first book in this series? The ghost writer clearly doesn't!

Also, Eddington Smith's great-grandfather or grandfather is described as a pirate. But, in the original story, wasn't he a highwayman, instead?

The change in tone comes in the very first sentence when there's a quote from the "Qwill Pen": "A town without a bookstore is like a chicken with one leg." Now, the "Qwill Pen," while not exactly Art Buchwald, has never been this ridiculous.

I've been a faithful reader until now, but this book is the last straw. I suspect that there's not one ghost writer, but more than one, and that's why the books aren't just inconsistent with the real "Cat Who" books, but they don't really match each other, either. I hate to say it, but I'm finished with this series.

I have read every single Cat Who book and, in fact, own them all. Some are better than others, but none even come close to being the "turkey" this one is. Where was the author's editor? Asleep at the wheel? Where was the publisher's input? Obviously non existant. If this author didn't have so many books to her name, this one would never have made it into print. I wanted to give it a zero, but one star was the lowest allowed. I suggest you save your money--and a trip to the library. The book is badly written, has no plot, wanders from one subject to another, and is so boring I had a hard time even getting myself to finish reading it. The only reason I did finish is because I kept telling myself that maybe it would get better. It didn't.

For long time cat who fans, this book will be a disappointment! The prologue and first 15-20 pages does not follow Braun's writing style at all. We all know that the Cat whos start in a certain way, they've started the same way for 25 books and this one is completely different. There are obvious errors in character development. There is a passage where Qwill takes the cats up to the lake, and Yum Yum and Koko snuggle contentedly during the ride. As well all know Yum Yum travels at a rate of 40 yowls an hour. Then later Qwill heads up again this time he grabs Yum Yum before she can protest and stuffs her into the cat basket.
The voice of the narrative changes again again, from what we all recognize as Braun's style to some strange style that reminds me of a twelve year old summarizing a text. I honestly think braun was not the only author on this text, if she needs help or his preparing the cat whos to transfer over to a new writer, she needs to get a new coauthor because this one isn't working. Take a page from Joanne Walsh who is writing the new Lord Peter Mysteries and is doing an excellent job. This is a truly poor text with bad writing a pointless plot. I cannot consider this book a mystery as it is page 105 before any hint of mystery starts to come through the text and as others state the murder does actually walk up to Qwill and confess literally! As for the parts about Brrr and pickax while entertaining doth not a mystery make!

since there is little to no mystery involved in the story. I should have expected this, since this has been the trend for the last 4 or 5 books in the series. I had put off reading this one for precisely that reason but needed something to read for the weekend so I decided to give it a try. The best thing that can be said about this "Turkey" is that it's a quick read, so it's good for a plane ride, but if you want something that remotely resembles a mystery pass this one up and read one of the first books by this author which really were engaging and satisfying mysteries.

Even as a glimpse into the small town life of Moose County this one falls flat. It used to be that one of the charms of the series was the way Braun had developed the world of Moose County and all the foibles of its inhabitants and if tragedy struck one you really felt for them. In this book, characters from previous books are randomly introduced and they wander around aimlessly and there is no emotional depth to Qwill's relationship with any of them.

The other problem that has happened to the series is that Braun fell in love with her own character. Qwill started the series as a flawed charcter. In "Turkey" there is even more rapturous description of Qwill's mustache and wonderful voice than usual, not to mention the ovations for the ridiculous Big Storm production. We are supposed to believe that it is so well received that there are to be several performances a week throughout the summer - how big is the population of Moose county?

SPOILER ALERT: But to cap off the ridiculousness of this book, Qwill leaves his beloved Koko out in the gazebo with a confessed murderer who is strung out on drugs. The Qwill of past books would never have intentionally put either cat in danger like this.

According to her fan club web page, she was born in 1916 so now she's pushing 90. It's possible she's in poor health. Because of this I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and agree with those who suggest this book was ghost-written based on notes she made. That would account for inconsistencies in plot and style.

The only good part of this book - the only reason it deserves even one star - is the description of YumYum playing with her thimble (but even it is taken from another of Braun's books). It's on page 72 - read it, then find something else to read.

This book is similar to other recent entries in the series-- disappointing. I agree with the other reviewers- the plot is lame, the "mystery" nearly non-existent. Once again, the main characters don't do anything to solve the mystery.
How many clues does Koko find? None!

This book is not worth adding to my collection. If you want to read it, get it from the library.

First, I will tell you that I am a BIG Cat Who... fan. I have read all the books in the series, many of them more than once. Going to Moose County is like taking a trip home to visit friends and family. So I am very sad to say that this book should never have been published. What was the editor thinking? What was Ms. Jackson Braun thinking? Everything from sentence structure to plot development was awful and tedious. It was just one long ramble with a lot of senseless filler. Qwill and company are ridiculous caricatures of themselves and Ko Ko and Yum Yum are almost non-existent except for a couple of games of bat-the-tie and hide-the-thimble. As others have noted in their reviews, it is hard to imagine that Ms. Jackson-Braun actually penned this very disappointing book. As much as it pains me to say so, it might be better for the series to end completely, then to deteriorate any further than it already has. Perhaps it is time for Ms. Jackson-Braun to bring the adventures of Qwill, Ko Ko and Yum Yum to a close.

Like the majority of other reviewers, I will give this advice to first time readers. Do not read this book. Go get the first ten and then stop. You will have the pleasure of experiencing the real Cat Who series. If you sit back, enjoy them and then stop you will avoid the rip off feeling of getting suckered once again by a money hungry publisher.

Each time I see a new Cat Who book come out I always swear I will not give in and waste my time reading it unless it starts with the phrase "Qwill had to investigate a murder too close to home, the pretentious, self centered woman with the nice voice is alas no longer with us. A bientot Polly." However, like an old friend from high school,whom you used to really like, but has now gotten boring and annoying, I keep getting suckered in. This one has to be the worst yet. After reading the ending twice, I still can't figure out WHY the strangers were murdered! I will go a little bit further than the people who are saying this has to be ghost written. I think someone has developed a sophisticated merge program and the last few books have been thrown together by computer with an editor going in and doing a bad job of connecting the dotted lines.