Lilian Jackson Braun (1913-2011) was an American author best known for her “The Cat Who...” mystery series. She was born in Massachusetts and began reading and writing at age three. When she was sixteen, the Depression started, which canceled any college plans. Braun went to work at “The Detroit Free Press” as a copywriter and public relations executive before becoming a lifestyle writer.
She published her first book, “The Cat Who Could Read Backwards,” at age fifty-three in 1966. The book’s main character is a Siamese named Kao K’o-Kung, after a 13th-century Chinese artist. Koko, as he’s known, loves the smell of fresh ink and reads newspaper headlines from right to left. The book was an instant success. Braun looked at Koko as her Sherlock Holmes and as Watson, the journalist, Qwilleran. The series continued until 2007, with twenty-nine novels and translated into sixteen languages.
In 2004, Lillian Jackson Braun published a Thanksgiving-themed book, “The Cat Who Talked Turkey.” In the book, as the town prepares for its first-ever Pickax Native American Days festival, Qwilleran stumbles upon a body near his property. Koko uses his extraordinary feline intuition and exhibits unusual behavior to provide subtle clues to help Qwilleran piece together the truth behind the murder. Following is a cute quote:
“Qwilleran, are you telling me that your cat solved the murder?” asked the sheriff with a mix of skepticism and amusement.
“It’s not that far-fetched,” Qwilleran replied. “Koko’s got an uncanny knack for these things. I just follow his lead.”
I have read at least twelve of the books and enjoyed each one. They are delightful, and the mysteries are good.
It’s interesting to note that Braun wrote twenty-nine novels, published in sixteen languages, but her publisher rejected the fourth because the market had changed. She recalled, “They wanted sex and violence, not kitty-cat stories.” It appears to me that that publisher was very wrong. Twenty-one years after the twenty-ninth book’s publication, the Kindle version is still selling for $7.99!
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