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 Saw Red

Hello internet literature type people.  This is Harley today, the human is sound asleep so I decided to help her out with this book.  The Cat Who Saw Red a book about not one but TWO crime fighting cats how awesome is that!  I wish I could solve crimes...anywho.  Koko and Yumyum are Siamese kitties who move into a new home with their human., Qwill who writes for a newspaper (I don't know what that is, I think it's something to play with).  Some people in the house are weird but this nice lady, Joy goes missing so does the young kid that plays with the kitties.  Qwill tries to figure out who did it, he thinks he knows but can't just accuse people.  So Koko helps Qwill out and shows him some interesting stuff to help is investigation until he discovers something very important about the color red and the pottery Joy's husband puts on display at a showing.


This is some interesting stuff.  I see why the human is always reading.  She said she used to read these as a kid (like 10 I fink she said), and wanted to fall in love with Koko and Yumyum all over again.  Why would she need two more cats to love she has me, and my brodders.  Anyway this was an easy book for youngster like me to read.  It was perfect because it wasn't scary or had bloody scenes in it like some of the other stuff she reads.  It is great to begin someone on reading and mysteries.


This is a series that could easily be a classic book for people to read, a great transition from chap books to longer chapter books.  This series is known as cozy mystery and it definitely lives up to that.  What I love about this book is that it could be read within a few hours on a lazy weekend afternoon and a cup of coffee.  If you are looking for something suspenseful, this is not it.  It is very easy-going, but that doesn't mean it is slow.  I love how Koko does little things like typing letters on a typewriter or knocking books of the shelf to help Qwill think of things.  I also love when readers get to see them be cats like being afraid of a bearskin rug or dragging yarn across the apartment (I love playing with the human's yarn but she gets mad when I do).


Such a fun book and it brought back a lot of childhood memories.  I highly recommend this series for anyone who has fledgling readers and seasoned readers a like.  It is a great book to just relax to and clear your mind.  I give it a 5 out of 5 and look forward to rekindling a love for the Cat Who Series.

Purr M Murder

Sydeny left New York after ending her engagement and returned hom to Deer Park where she now helps her sister run the local animal shelter.  Syd and Kat organize a fun fundraising event with a local café shop: a cat café! where people can pay an extra fee and have their coffee and play with adoptable cats.  Things are going great that is until Trowbridge Littleton begins to make troubles from them and threatens to not only shut down the event, but also the shelter.  Kat and Syd decide to try and reason with him only to find his dead body.  Now the sisters need to try and clear their names off the list of suspects.  When Syd starts investigating further, with the help of a tabby cat Toby, the killer sets their sights on her.

We cats decided the human needed to review a book with the hero is a cat! I mean, we are the literary cats after all right?  The human was honored to review a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGallery, awesomesauce right?   The cover is cute with the orange tabby looking all mischievous with his skull cookie, and makes the reader wonder what the book will be about and how the cat will play a part into the story.  It reminded me a lot of the "Cat Who" series by Lilian Jackson Braun.






While this novel was light and airy, it was very suspenseful and keep me guessing at what would happen next to the characters.  It doesn't have many dark undertones that most mystery novels have, but then most mystery novels that have an animal as a central character seem to be light and airy.  Lotempio creates characters and a setting that leaves readers invested in them.  I couldn't wait to find out what would happen with the shelter, almost more than I wanted Littleton's murderer found, is that odd?  The story was almost hypnotic in that it pulls readers into the story and time seems to stand still until something interrupts you.






It is an easy read, but not to the point of feeling too simplistic or "childish" (I'm not sure if that is the word that I want).    I found myself curled up on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa getting lost in the book on a snowy afternoon.  It was exactly the kind of book I needed to read to lift my spirits and bring a smile to my face.  I seen on the cover that it is a part of series, and I look forward to what Lotempio has in store for us in other books.  I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys mystery novels, animals, cats, a good soft read, and reading in general.  I would even allow a child of pre-teen age read this because there isn't a lot of gore, sex, or otherwise inappropriate material.  It's a good, clean, fantastic book.  Keep up the good work Toni.


My rating is an enthusiastic 5 paws up.

Such a hard life

Life as a literary cat is so hard.  Sometimes you need to take a nap with your favorite stuffed animal before beginning a new book.

Literary Humor

 

I am always a sucker for silly literary puns.  This one always cracks me up, hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

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