The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell

 Title:  The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell

AUthor: Lilian Jackson Braun

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Source: Paperback

Rating: 3 out of 5 paws

The mystery solving cat; Koko is at it again.  While the city of Pickax is getting ready to celebrate it's 150th anniversary, Koko has decided to drop from balconies and hide in very odd places, even for a cat.  Qwill realizes something is amiss when a couple has mysteriously gone missing.  What does this crazy cat know now and how can Qwill solve the mystery without disrupting the festivities?

 

I grew up reading this books, and loved every bit of them.  I still do.  I am a book lover, mystery lover and a cat lover so what's not to love about these books.  Koko and Yumyum are Siamese cats which our very own honorary literary cats Luna and Artemis is part Siamese so I can easily picture the two of them acting the same ways that Koko and YumYum do.  Heck there might even be an interesting book revolving around the antics of these two adorable kitties.  I mean look at Artemis' face, you can just see the mischief in his eyes, and I imagine that's what Qwilleran sees when he looks at Koko.  From my experiences with the two Siamese I can easily imagine the fun and surprising actions of the two cats within this series especially Koko as I imagine him looking much like Artemis here.


The story is a cute one with Koko dropping off of balconies and hiding in odd and strange places, but what cat doesn't like to hide in really odd places.  And believe me cats loooove to hide in strange places.  While it is a cute story, it is not one of my top favorites within the series.  It starts out slow and begins to drag on a little bit.  Some sentences are repeated throughout chapters and Qwill seemed a little out of character.  Some characters popped into the story, but didn't really add anything to the story other than the sheer mention of their names.  Like they were a part of the series before so naturally they needed to at least be mentioned in this book.


Normally Braun excels at descriptive prose, but that talent doesn't completely come through with this novel.  But with 30 books in the series, there are bound to be a few books that do not hit the mark, especially when they get closer to the end of the series.  Some of the earlier books like "The Cat Who Read Backwards" and "The Cat Who Saw Red" really held my attention, but sadly this one didn't.  I was hoping it would begin to tie things up for the characters, but it doesn't.  Except one randomly dying in a car accident which felt very out of place compared to her other books when the deaths were always connected in one way or another.  We don't see that here. 


While the book wasn't outright completely disappointing, it wasn't completely thrilling like the rest of the series was.  I do plan on reading more until I have read the whole series, but I may get them from the library rather than purchasing them.

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards

Jim Qwilleran has his string of bad luck since leaving his job with a big city paper, not he has taken a position with the Daily Fluxion, and small town paper, doing a column he has no knowledge on...the art column.  Many of the artists in the town are hopeful that this means the replacement of the ever too critical art critic, many try to convince Qwill of how horrible of a man the art critic is while he attends art functions and does human interest articles on local artists.  Qwill decides to met this critic and ends up living in the same house on a lower level.  While the critic is away, Qwill takes care of his Siamese cat whom Qwill nick-named Koko.  This cat has extra ordinary talents of being able to read backwards and know when something is amiss.  Soon artists and others in the art community become victims of murder.  Qwill's old investigative journalist talents kick in and he begins o try and solve this murder, with the help of Koko of course.  The question is will Qwill be able to find the correct murderer and save the reputation of many artists as well as the critic? Or will he soon become the murderer's next target?

This is a series of books that I read when I was younger and starting to really get into mysteries and longer chapter books aside from the typical baby sitters club (that's like a rite of passage for little girls).  I loved that a cat helped solve mysteries by leading Qwill to different clues and seem to pick up on subtle things the humans in the books don't pick up one.  The cat in this book, Koko reminds me of my friend's cat Artemis (pictured on the left) with his perchance of running around the room, wanting specific food and making his discontent known.  Braun gives the cat as much personality as she does her human characters, which is something you don't see in many books with animal.  Normally the animal is just that an animal whereas in these books, Koko is another personality rather than a prop so to speak. 

I love this series even 20 some years after beginning to read the series and returning to it time and time again.  This is the perfect novel to begin with since I believe it is the beginning of the series as it introduces Qwill and Koko and how they became a dynamic duo. The writing isn't too complex and easy to understand which is one reason why it was great for a youngster as I once was.  There also isn't blood, gore, or sex in it.  Sure Swill has attractions to ladies and flirts a little, but it's all innocent and clean, another reason why it is a great starter series for young readers (and a nice break from stuff included in some books today). This is a short, cozy mystery that is easy to read within a day.  Perfect for a rainy afternoon curled up with your favorite feline. 

I do recommend this book as well as the series to any young reader who wants to grow in their reading library.  I also would recommend this to anyone who loves a cozy mystery, easy to read book or who feels a little nostalgic.  I give the book a 4 out of 5 for a rating, it needed more Koko!

Tale of Two Kitties

Owen and Hercules are two special kitties, they have a keen scene of intuition and seem to have super powers.  Kathleen has learn to trust their instincts when something feels amiss.  When Owen leads her to the door of Leo Janes father, she discovers a murder.  The town of Mayville whisper about the rivalry and scandal between the Janes brothers as well as their arrival in town at the same time.  While it seems the brothers are trying to reconcile, Leo's death may prove otherwise.  While police sights are on Simon, Leo's son, Kathleen knows something is missing and there is more to the story than everyone knows.

** I received a copy of this book from Netgally in exchange for an honest review**

My love for reading started at a young age with cozy mysteries like the Cat Who series, and lately I have been getting back into the habit of reading them.  This book is adorably cozy and reflects everything I loved when I was young reader.  Owen and Hercules remind me so much of my own literary cats Falcor and Orion (sometimes I think Orion has super powers to magically appear).  One thing I love about this book is while there is romance in the novel, there is no sexual content other than a kiss here and there, we see couples being just that couples sharing daily life together.  It was a nice refreshing change.  Perfect book for young readers.

The book does start out a little slow and has ALOT of description throughout, sometimes it felt a little overwhelming, but it does not take away from the book.  Sofie does a great job writing the story and making it interesting and have the readers get involved with not just the main characters but the whole town.  It starts off with a dead body and I had to chuckle as I realized what was being described.  What cat owner hasn't stepped on a freshly chewed cat toy?

This may be the 9th book in the series, but it really is a stand alone novel, you don't need to read the other books in the series to understand the characters or what is going on.  Sofie's writing is clear, concise.  Readers will not be confused when reading this book and may try to figure out the mystery themselves.  I highly enjoyed reading this novel and recommend it for anyone who enjoys a cozy mystery.  4 out of 5 stars.