Lilian Jackson Braun The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell

I have read all of the series over a number of years and have noticed a great decline in the quality of the stories during the last few efforts. The most current book, "The Cat Who Had 60 whiskers" is a particular disappointment. I just borrowed it from the library instead of buying it, as I used to do and had a hard time sustaining any interest to finish it. Many unresolved threads, character changing plot lines, general incoherence and direction. My wife and I think it is time for this beloved author to cease publishing these stories. There is not much more to tell. Moose County should stay going in our imagination from now on, fed by the rich memories of the characters and their travails and triumphs.

The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell

Lilian Jackson Braun

Putnam, Jan 2006, $23.95, 208 pp.

ISBN 0399153071

The town of Pickax, four hundred miles north of everywhere, is celebrating the sesquicentennial (a century and a half of existence) with plans being made for three parades, family-reunions, and two auctions (one centers on people bidding on kittens). Newspaper columnist Jim Qwilleran, the richest man in the northeast central United States and the owner of those adorable Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum, intends to immerse himself in the festivities so that he can write up articles for his column.

The wealthy Ledfields ask Qwill, through their attorney, if their nephew Harvey could sketch his barn for his college entrance portfolio. When Harvey arrives to do the designs, Koko leaps down three stories and lands on Harvey who hates cats. Koko also swipes a picture of Harvey and puts his claws through it. Qwill senses the cat doesn't like the man but wonders why. When the sesquicentennial activities begin, Koko gives a piercing yell in the middle of the night, which Qwill knows means someone was murdered; an out of town visitor was killed when he and his brother were hunting rabbits. During all the activities the Ledfields are in seclusion because their allergies are bothering them. First Mrs. Ledfield dies and soon Mr. Ledfield succumbs to the same ailment. Their deaths put a pall on the celebration.

After twenty eight "The Cat Who" books one would think that the series has run out of lives but nothing can be further from the truth. The CAT WHO DROPPED A BOMBSHELL is a purrfectly delightful cozy and Koko the cat with ESP delights the audience with his amusing antics. Readers who like a fun cozy with delightfully eccentric characters including the felines should look no further than Lilian Jackson Braun's latest novel.

Harriet Klausner