Le chat qui racontait des histoires

The Cat Who... #SSC1

by Lilian Jackson Braun, Marie-Louise Navarro (Translator)

A courageous Siamese bags a cunning cat burglar...a country kitty proves a stumbling block in a violent murder...and an intuitive feline's premonition helps solve the case of the missing antique dealer.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Cats, Cozy Mystery, Animals, Crime

208 pages, Pocket Book

First published March 1, 1988

About the author

Lilian Jackson Braun was an American writer. She is well-known for her light-hearted series of The Cat Who... mystery novels. The Cat Who books center around the life of former newspaper reporter James Qwilleran, and his two Siamese cats, KoKo and Yum Yum in the fictitious small town of Pickax located in Moose County, "400 miles north of everywhere." Although never formally stated in the books, the towns, counties and lifestyles described in the series are generally accepted to be a modeled after Bad Axe, Michigan (located in the "Michigan Thumb") where she resided with her husband for many years until the mid 1980's. Many also believe that the culture and history of the Upper peninsula of Michigan are represented in the series as well, which is quite possible as it is indeed a fictitious location.

Lilian Jackson Braun began her writing career as a teenager, contributing sports poetry for the Detroit News. She later began working as an advertising copywriter for many of Detroit's department stores. After that stint, she worked at the Detroit Free Press as the "Good Living" editor for 30 years. She retired from the Free Press in 1978.

Between 1966 and 1968, she published three novels to critical acclaim: The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern and The Cat Who Turned On and Off. In 1966, The New York Times labeled Braun, "the new detective of the year." The rising mystery author disappeared from the publishing scene for 18 years. The blame came from the fact that mystery novels were starting to focus on sex, violence, and foul language, and Braun's light-hearted books were not welcome in this new territory. It wasn't until 1986 that the Berkley Publishing Group reintroduced Braun to the public with the publication of an original paperback, The Cat Who Saw Red. Within two years, Berkeley released four new novels in paperback and reprinted the three mysteries from the sixties. Braun's series became an instant best seller once again. In January 2007 the twenty-ninth novel in the series, The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers, was released in hardcover by the Penguin Group.

Not much was really known about Braun, as she prefered to keep her private life that way. For years, publishers have given inaccurate accounts of her year of birth, which has remained unknown until she openly acknowledged her age in an interview for the Detroit News in January 2005.

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Review
3 out of 5 stars to The Cat Who Had 14 Tales, a collection of short stories about cats involved in solving crimes, written in 1988 by Lilian Jackson Braun. So... as if 29 books about Koko and YumYum solving crimes alongside Qwill in Moose County wasn't enough, Braun goes and pulls together a short story collection with 14 mini-mysteries, some with Qwill's cats and some without... all cute reads, perfect for a short subway or train ride, a moment in between meetings and while you're kid's taking a nap! LOL I read them in one sitting, as they are pretty quick reads. Always fun to see the antics of cats and how they contribute to the welfare of society staying murder-free... or at least solving the case after the murders occur. Since it seems inevitable in Braun's world -- lots of death and lots of smart cats!

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a typical Cat Who book, Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum don't appear but throughout the 14 short stories you can see where the author got many of her ideas for the series. 3 1/2 stars.

[Sonya Lano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Average 3.64 (I'm rounding up to 4, though, because the stories that I liked I really liked a lot)

Here is a breakdown of the stories (By the way, all of these are cat stories, but not all of them are mysteries as other readers seem to expect from this author):

Phut Phat Concentrates - 4 stars - Brave Phut Phat versus the thief. This isn't a mystery per se but a fun read, especially Phut Phat's evaluations of his human servants and their guests.

Weekend of the Big Puddle - 3 stars - A ghost story. Annoying visitors play with things they shouldn't. I found the history interesting and the story okay.

The Fluppie Phenomenon - 2 stars - The main character and her husband babysit her sister's cat which has a special quirk. There wasn't anything particularly bad about this story but I found it predictable so it only gets two stars.

The Hero of Drummond Street - 3 stars - A phlegmatic cat without a tail and a really annoying kid take the front stage in this one. It was a decent story, and the reporters do what I would have done! So yay :o)

The Mad Museum Mouser - 4 stars - A mystery - It was fun to see the bits and details of what happened be revealed as they toured the museum.

The Dark One - 5 stars - A partly lame wife (read 'limp' lame, not 'pathetic' lame) gets a cat as a companion and starts to take her life back. Kind of a mystery as you discover what happened to make her lame. Asant (the cat; I'm not sure if Asant is his name in the English version because I read this book in Czech) is awesome! Cats simply don't go out of their way for anything...

East Side Story - 5 stars - part drama, part love story, part tragedy, this one really swept me up - I really, really loved it!

Tipsy and the Board of Health - 1 star - A cat keeps popping up wherever the health inspector comes. I expected more from this story. Maybe I missed something, maybe I missed the humor or something subtle, but it didn't really seem to go anywhere. Or maybe it just came after East Side Story and didn't have a chance to compare :o)

A Cat Named Conscience - 5 stars - A mystery - An interview with an elderly lady who knows more than she wants to say. I loved it! I didn't expect the ending.

SuSu and the 8:30 Ghost - 4 stars - A mystery and a ghost story - Two sisters, a cat, and a neighbor in an iron wheelchair form a strange friendship. Add in a sinister helper for the crippled neighbor and see what happens... I quite liked how this one developed and how they unraveled the mystery.

Stanley and Spook - 3 stars - Sort of a ghost story and mystery - Neither Stanley nor Spook behaves as he should; something's probably a bit off... I liked the concept but I only gave it 3 stars because I expected the main character to figure it out and actually do something about it, but as it is, things just simply happen.

A Cat Too Small for His Whiskers - 4 stars - Bit of a mystery - Donald is seeing a special sort of cat around the place that his parents aren't seeing, but that cat is there for a mission. I was torn between 3 and 4 stars for this because I wanted to know why this cat did what it did, but I didn't see any explanation for it (though to be fair, I might have missed it; sometimes I get lazy while reading in Czech and skim). I'm giving it 4 stars because the relationship between the parents was so flipping perfect and I was so vastly entertained reading their interactions that to give the story any less seems a betrayal of my enjoyment of it.

The Sin of Madame Phloi - 4 stars - A cat-hating neighbor moves in and he has it in for Madame Phloi. Madame Phloi, however, is the quintessential cat... This story made me extremely sad because of something that the neighbor does, but the ending gives it some poetic justice!

Tragedy on New Year's Eve - 4 stars - A mystery - A lady sees a car accident on New Year's Eve, picks up a stray cat the same night, and finds herself wanting to discover more about the man in the car. I liked the trail of clues she follows although some of them didn't make sense to me (though this might be because of some technical terms I didn't know in Czech)

Since I read this book in Czech, I can't comment on the writing itself, but I enjoyed the humor and, considering that this isn't the type of book I usually read (I got it as a Christmas present from someone), the fact that it held my interest says a lot :o) So, yeah, I'd recommend it!

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟
14 short stories from magizine articles or recordings from the 1960's about cats with strange stories that have nothing to do with the series but you can see where the author gets some of her ideas from.

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I have truly enjoyed this series ... this book just wasn't really part of it. It is, literally, 14 tales ... all about various cats who do some incredible things, so it's kind of fun ... but it's not the Qwilleran mysteries I've come to love. Having said that, the stories are cute, and if you're a cat lover, you'll especially love the great personalities given to the cats ... as in the series.

[Books_n_critters · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. Some of the stories were cute, but I would much rather read about Qwill, Koko, and Yum Yum.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een reeks korte verhalen die elk op zich zeker hun verdienste hebben. In eerste instantie valt het wat tegen omdat je in deze reeks een verhaal over Qwillian en zijn 2 siamezen verwacht. Daar tegen opboksen is niet evident maar blijkbaar had de schrijfster voldoende inspiratie en materiaal om een meer dan verdienstelijke poging te wagen en haar talent in het bredere spectrum van op kat gebaseerde verhalen te tonen.
Inderdaad een brede varieteit die waarschijnlijk niet allemaal door iedereen even hard zullen geapprecieerd worden maar aan de andere kant zit er zeker voor ieder wat lekkers bij. Spaning, list, drama, vindingrijkheid, humor, ....
Zeker de moeite maar ik kijk toch uit naar het volgende verhaal met Qwill en Koko.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

SRP Why Bite: This is a lighthearted collection of whimsical stories about cats, and two or three darker ones.

This was not what I expected after having read The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. I thought this collection of short stories would be in the same vein as the series of mystery novels. Not so. Instead of tales of suspense and mystery, these were mostly whimsical tales about various cats, not unlike Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. A few stories included in this collection, such as “The Dark One,” “SuSu and the 8:30 Ghost,” and “East Side Story,” “The Sin of Madame Phloi” were darker, more sinister in tone. In fact, I would say they were downright macabre. Only a couple stories, in fact the first and last stories bookending this collection, were actual mysteries. A few stories touched on supernatural themes, such as witches and ghosts, but I was most surprised to discover one science fiction story. “The Cat Too Small for His Whiskers” was inventive and comical. I enjoyed that one particularly well.

Actually, I enjoyed most of the stories, but not all. The two that were actually mysteries reminded me much of the qualities that I liked in the first of The Cat Who … series. The last story, “Tragedy on New Year’s Eve,” was particularly interesting. It was written in the form of a series of letters from a mother to her son, in which she describes how she solved the mystery of a tragic car accident. The cat actually plays a minor role in the story and is not developed as much as a character as the cats in the other stories, but the principle human character is well developed and the plot itself shows Braun’s strength in developing a good mystery.

Like any collection of short stories, some are better than others. Overall, this is a good read if you like stories about cats, but maybe not so much if you don’t.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories, all about cats. What could be better? Not much in my opinion. There are stories that reminded me of Koko and Yum Yum, despite this book not actually being about them. One story in particular struck a chord with a cat falling from a window. I enjoyed the mystery element, and the writing is as good as ever. I really liked this book, even if I was under the impression this was a Cat Who book. Four stars.

[Mary Tonks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories first written and published before the "Cat Who"...series, compiled in this volume. It gives good insight into Braun's ideas for the later stories. I enjoyed them very much.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a completest so I made room in my reading schedule to read this collection of 14 short stories, thinking it would relate to the overarching “Cat Who” series which I completed a couple of years ago. But to my surprise, these stories are all stand-alone independent stories. No Quill, no town of Pickax and no Koko and Yum Yum to be seen.

But no matter. I have been reading several novels lately that have been dark and morbid so these lighthearted tales were a good break from all that. Lilian Jackson Braun wrote most of these early on in her career, many of them first appearing in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in the 1960s. As in all short story collections, some were better than others but I enjoyed them all. Quick reads and thankfully, since this collection was published in 1988, none of the problems that plagued the later books in the main series when the author was very old or perhaps were even ghost written, are present here.

[Elizabeth Meadows · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great! I can't believe it's been sitting on my shelves unread for several years. I'm finishing up the whole series and thought I'd better get this one read too. You do NOT have to read any of The Cat Who books to read this one. This book is simply 14 cat related stories and don't feature Coco or YumYum or any of the characters from The Cat Who series. They really aren't even mysteries, just rather mysterious. I thoroughly enjoyed them! I do think that you need to be a cat lover to fully appreciate this book though.

[Guguk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aku dapat buku ini barengan dengan Koko Bisa Membaca Terbalik dan Koko Makan Furnitur Mahal, jadi aku kirain ini kumpulan cerpen kisah-kisah si Koko, kucing siam yang memiliki pelayan seorang jurnalis.

Ternyata Koko ndak disebut-sebut sama sekali di sini (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ) sedih...
TAPI!
Ceritanya benar-benar kekucing-kucingan sekali!! ଲ(ⓛ ω ⓛ)ଲ❤ Empat belas kisah dengan tokoh kucing yang berbeda-beda, genrenya pun beragam: misteri detektif-detektifan, misteri hantu-hantuan, drama roman, pembalasan dendam~ Ada yang bikin puas sampai serasa di awang-awang, ada juga yang bikin remuk, hancur di dasar kenangan. Tipe buku yang akan dengan gembira aku baca lagi berulang kali, pelan-pelan...

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I picked up the book to read, I thought I was about to delight in reading the adventures of one of my favorite characters, newspaper reporter Jim Qwilleran with Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum. As I read on the cover, "A fabulous collection of feline fiction!" I realized that this was a short story collection of 14 tales. Putting initial disappointment aside, I can't say that they were fabulous but I enjoyed the tales of the various felines. I enjoy reading short stories in magazines but for some unknown reason I'd rather not read them immediately following one another as presented in a short story collection. Perhaps silly but true. Some of the tales were footnoted as "first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Now it's time to find "The Cat Who Sniffed Glue" on my "to read pile" as I'd prefer my visit with Jim, Koko, and Yum Yum not be further delayed. ;)

[Courtenay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fourteen stories with cats as the stars. I liked the hero cat, and the cat too small for his whiskers. A couple had twists and turns, and one I figured out and one other was a surprise. This was a good book for a cruise. I could pick it up, read a story and put it down for later.

[Claudine Graenicher · Rating 4 out of 5]

De courtes nouvelles. Toutes des histoires de chats, à la limite du fantastique.

[Stephen Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these were excellent little stories, but some of them fell flat. Overall, a cute compilation.

[Lynnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful little collection of "cat tales": a couple highly unusual and others more down to earth, but all enjoyable reads.

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a truth universally acknowledged and it's also a scientifically established fact*, that a cat makes every story better.
14 short stories about cats.
What I loved most, it was Lilian Jackson Braun manifest love for those creatures, so wonderful, good and evil, sometimes alien, timid and brave, always vengeful, nonchalant and lackadaisical, and suddenly very interested and loving (if you happen to have any food, or have a conveniently warm lap, 'cause if cat fits, it sits), and wise unless totally silly.


* eleven of every six scientist agree

[Rola G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cat Who Had 14 Tales (#30 in Cat Who..) written by Lilian Jackson Braun, owner of two Siamese cats, is a compilation of fourteen short stories surrounding fourteen different problems the highlighted felines aided in solving. These varied problems range from finding a burglar to finding a murderer, or perhaps even being an accidental killer.

The Cat Who Had 14 Tales clearly points out the felines' intelligence throughout the stories stating every once in a while things such as "'two of the kittens are very smart'" and "'do you know cats are mind readers?'". The author succeeded in fulfilling the "show don't tell" statement as she explains how each feline thought about every bad situation and how they reacted, all of which certainly proved cats to be extremely clever rather than simply saying they were intelligent .

Lilian Jackson Braun also gave each character well-defined personalities, although there wasn't much space for character development. Giving each character in every one of fourteen stories well thought out personalities is really impressive, considering that half of the personalities were cats, and the rest were minor characters. For example, in The Sin of Madame Phloi, one of the short stories in the book, there were two cats: Madame Phloi and her son Thapthim; both had completely opposite personalities. Madame Phloi was shown to be a very classy and elegant cat who cared very much for her appearance, whereas Thapthim was a happy-go-lucky kitten who trusted anyone and anything.

Another plus to these stories was that there was the occasional plot twist that will literally make you gasp after you've read it. By plot twist, I do not mean that the reader expects something to happen but when the time comes, something completely out of the blue pops up. I mean the reader has no clue to even expect anything to happen, which I personally found very entertaining.

What really attracted me to this book was the very first sentence: "Phu Phat knew, at an early age, that humans are an inferior breed". To me, this was a really great way to start off a book dedicated to cats.

The Cat Who Had 14 Tales is a very easy and relaxing book to read despite the occasional murder. I recommend this book to any one who is looking for a straight forward and quick yet suspenseful read.

[Cuauhtemoc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este es, hasta el momento, mi libro favorito de la escritora Lilian Jackson Braun, principalmente porque al tratarse de 14 cuentos cortos, debe ir al grano en su historia casi de inmediato. Estos 14 cuentos acerca de gatos reúnen todos los géneros desde el misterio policiaco, historias de fantasmas, hasta la tragedia. Algunas historias son bastante tristes, mientras que otras traen moralejas de la vida en general. Recomiendo fuertemente este libro para todos los amantes de los gatos, todos aquellos que han tenido la fortuna de tener un gato en su familia y, en general para todos aquellos que han tenido masctoas. Este es un muy buen libro para conservar en tu colección.

This is, at this moment, my favorite book of author Lilian Jackson Braun, mainly because she has to cut to the cheese fast in the stories as they are short stories. These 14 tales about cats have all kind of genres from mystery, ghost stories, to tragedy. Some of these stories are very sad, and others are just the way life is. I would recommend this book to all people who has ever had a cat the loved or to anyone ever owning a pet. Pretty good book. It is a keeper!

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

disappointed because I assumed this would be stories about Koko and Yum-yum since the title starts "The Cat Who..."
Collection of short stories all of which involve cats; most but not all of them Siamese. A couple of the stories I liked, but most of them left me with a question of wondering what happened, or else just downright weird.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book features fourteen short stories by Braun, some of which were published in a mystery magazine in the 60's. There are a variety of stories, all focused on, of course, cats! They are thought-provoking and make for entertaining reading. Some Qwill/Koko/Yum Yum vibes in the stories can be felt, even though they are not actually part of this book. Fun read!

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favorites from the series! I have found that the short stories just don't appeal to me like the novels do

[Cindra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a cat lover, these books had great appeal for me. Loved them all. Koko is one cool cat!

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

the stories are quite good;
no relevance to qwill and his pets though

[Penny Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and interesting

She was a great writer .All of her books are in my library. I read them again and again. This one is a nice refreshing read.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of 14 short stories from Moose Country about cats, some in the cat’s POV. A lot of them are about Siamese and several of them were previously published in ‘Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’ (EQ).

1) Phut Phat Concentrates. EQ. Siamese Phut Phat’s efforts to mentally communicate with his owners pays off.
2) Weekend of the Big Puddle. Silver tabby Percy know English ghosts, but Michigan ghosts are a different breed.
3) The Fluppie Phenomenon. A couple babysits their sister’s Siamese kitten Sin-Sin with mechanical aptitude and falls in love.
4) The Hero of Drummond Street. Drooler, a gray-and-white stray is tormented by the neighborhood kids and even had part of his flatted tail ‘pulled off’. (Poor cat.) Until one day he alerts them to a dangerous situation.
5) The Mad Museum Monster. An orange cat Marmalade is the resident mouser at the Lockmaster Museum.
6) The Dark One. EQ. Dakh Won, a dark Siamese is adopted by a lonely woman with a belligerent husband and saves her life.
7) East Side Story. Two love stories that take place near and in an abandoned lot where dozens of cats lived called Cat Canyon. One between a blind white female cat and her gray suitor and the other between a pair of humans that meet there to watch.
8) Tipsy and the Board of Health. Tipsy was a white cat with 1 black ear who lived in Nick’s Market chasing mice until health Inspector told them to get rid it. So she got moved and moved until she found herself a home.
9) A Cat Named Conscience. Reminisces of an elderly lady about a Black and white cat named Constance/Conscience who lived at the bank.
10) SuSu and the 8:30 Ghost. EQ. Siamese named SuSu makes friends with Mr. Van, the Dutch handicapped man next door.
11) Stanley and the Spook. An eerie story about a boy named Spook (Ed Junior) who acts like a cat and a very intelligent blond cat named Stanley.
12) A Cat Too Small For His Whiskers. A well-to-do family named the Hopples and their Gang: a chocolate Siamese, a tortoiseshell Persian, a red Abyssinian, plus barnyard cats. After their young son named Donald starts telling them about an odd cat with long whiskers who changes color and glows strange things happen. Love it!
13) The Sin of Madame Phloi. EQ. A Siamese named Madame Phloi doesn’t like their new neighbor. When her son, Thapthim is killed, she knows who did it.
14) Tragedy on New Year’s Eve. EQ. A mother is writing letters to her son in the war about an accident where a young family man was killed and she found a black cat she named Shadow.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of stories, and they seem to be with a cat as the main character.

Phut Phat Concentrates
Phut Phat is the cat. He tries to communicate telepathically with his humans: ONE and TWO. When the humans give a dinner party, Phut Phat is admired for a short time, then goes and sleeps on the wraps. One of the guests is wondered about. Phut Phat is alone at home when the guest returns and burgles the valuables. Phut Phat attacks him with razor sharp claws, then hides under the bed. When the humans come home and are talking to the police, Phut Phat must concentrate to try and remind ONE and TWO about the strange guest.

Weekend of the Big Puddle
Percy is the cat. His humans are Cornelius and Margaret. Cornelius has a client come visit, which throws their little world into a tizzy. The client, Bill, is entertained by going into a little graveyard and afterwards tries to make some of the deceased's ghosts appear. They appeared and made Percy look very bad because they knocked a trifle onto the floor, ruined Margaret's knitting, swept a puzzle Cornelius was working on onto the floor, and left a big puddle in the middle of the floor when dawn came. The client and his wife were not thrilled to discover that the graveyard had poison ivy in it and they never visited again.

The Fluppie Phenomenon
A visit by a mechanically inclined Siamese cat results in some hilarious antics. The owner is not amused after the cat comes home.

The Hero of Drummond Street
The Drooler is the cat. He is not owned specifically by anyone. He brings attention to a gas leak and becomes a hero.

The Mad Museum Mouser
Marmalade is the cat. He becomes deranged after a break-in which traumatizes the museum staff. It is found out that the burglar was the disinherited heir who kept jewels for his upkeep after escape.

The Dark One
Dahk Won is the cat. His human is Helen. Her husband is quite nasty to both wife and cat. When the abuse becomes such that divorce is threatened, a freak accident results in divorce not being needed.

East Side Story
This was a story about an emotionally adopted cat. The background was given as to why there was a deep pit that the cats lived in. A white cat was befriended by a grey cat. The grey cat didn't visit for a time, so the white cat ate poisonous grasses. The grey cat came back and ran in front of a car. This was in the context of a romance, so the groom gave the bride a white cat and a grey cat.

Tipsy and the Board of Health
Tipsy is the cat. Her walk was of a staggering sort. First she was in a 1920's grocer, then an ice cream parlor, then a bar. The health inspector kept seeing her and giving fines to the proprietors of the establishments. At least until the bartender moved and took the cat with him.....

A Cat Named Conscience
Constance is the cat. Her name was changed to Conscience because she could "see into a man's soul", as the saying goes. She was a bank cat. When the manager of the bank committed suicide, the story becomes muddled as his wife and step-daughter may have been after the same man. Embezzlement and fraud in banking were discovered by the new manager and Conscience was strangled by the former manager's lover.

Susu and the 8:30 Ghost
Susu is the cat. She is owned by two sisters. She meets a neighbor and takes to him immediately. When the sisters leave on vacation, it is the last time they see the neighbor. The sisters begin to suspect that the neighbor may have been murdered, but treat it as a joke while Susu kept treating the air as though the ghost of the neighbor was there. A body washing up on the beach causes the sisters to call the police to find the neighbor's wheelchair.

Stanley and Spook
Stanley is the cat. The puzzle is whether a midwife made the cat and baby switch souls. It seems so after the cat is run over and the boy takes up human interests.

A Cat Too Small For His Whiskers
Whiskers is the cat. Only children can see him. He is interested in other cats, and after a human has an encounter with a UFO, Whisker and the other cats are gone!

The6 Sin of Madame Phloi
Madame Phloi is the cat. She has a son and they live with some humans. A new neighbor vehemently does not like cats. In her explorations, the neighbor kills her son. He tries to kill her too, but instead falls to his death.

Tragedy on New Year's Eve
Shadow is the cat. A detective's wife witnesses an accident and that is when the cat comes to stay with her for a bit. She starts investigating and discovers the deceased had problems with gambling. She
Also discovers that a mechanic may have been responsible for the accident. She alerts her husband, and the mechanic had been told to place a bet, but he had not. In order to cover his tracks, he messed with the cat and caused the accident.

[Carol Jones-Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

FIRST READ Lillian Jackson Braun has garnered thousands of loyal fans with her wonderful adventures of Jim Qwilleran and his two feline sidekicks, Koko and Yum Yum--who are extraordinary Siamese cats who
help him solve even the most difficult of cases with the flick of a tail or twitch of a dainty nose. In this whimsical collection of short stories, the popular Cat Who.....author visits several clever felines--some with a nose for crime, others with a fetish for frolic.

A courageous Siamese bags a cunning cat burglar...a country kitty proves a stumbling block in a murder...and an intuitive feline's premonition helps solve the case of the missing antique dealer in madcap collection of feline fiascos.

Includes: Phut Phat Concentrates, A Cat too Small for His Whiskers, Tipsy and the Board of Health, the Fluppie Phenomenon and 10 more fun kitty breezy mysteries. This is a very different style of book than others. It's been a lot of fun to listen too but not the traditional Qwilleran type story. George Guidall narrates this book as he does all the other of Braun's books. A different taste than the others, but still fun and enjoyable. Enjoy.

Second Read: I didn't remember this book at all, so when I read it a second time, found it to be quite different and entertaining. Lilian Jackson Braun wrote this one too. She wrote 14 short stories having to do with cats, and the cute starts each one had was quite fun. It's interesting to read about horses, cats, dogs and it is fun to see how the different authors approach their story and the way they are going to write about it. I fully recommend and enjoy it. Been fun seeing/reading it again. One thing that I haven't mentioned is how much I like George Guidall. He is a master of voices. I've heard him read several books, but "The Cats" are my favorites. My own cat is quite ill, is 18 years old and won't be long till we have to put him down. I'm having a really hard time...praying for inspiration and calming to know what to do.

First Read: I love these books. I'm a cat person, and can see in many cute ways how clever she is in her writing. This one is a diversion from the usual format, where she writes 14 different stories about 14 different experiences with different cats. Loved it, and it was very cleverly written. Recommend.

I gave this 4.5 stars.