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The Cat Who Went Up the Creek
(The Cat Who... #24)
by
Pickax's favorite columnist, James Qwilleran, is enjoying a brief holiday in the nearby town of Black Creek - but his two Siamese, who prefer the spaciousness of their home, beg to differ. The blissful tranquility is soon interrupted by the discovery of a body floating down the creek. And a possible motive for his murder is suggested when several gold nuggets are found in
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Paperback, 291 pages
Published
December 31st 2002
by Jove
(first published January 14th 2002)
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Start your review of The Cat Who Went Up the Creek (Cat Who... #24)

Book Review
3 out of 5 stars for The Cat Who Went Up the Creek, the 24th book in the "Cat Who" cozy mystery series, written in 2002 by Lilian Jackson Braun. It seems every mystery series always needs to have that book where there is a treasure hunt, and they often involve searching for gold. And when you're in the mountains of Michigan, in a cozy little town, there's bound to be some old tale about where it's hidden. And that's exactly what Qwill gets himself into this time around. Un ...more
3 out of 5 stars for The Cat Who Went Up the Creek, the 24th book in the "Cat Who" cozy mystery series, written in 2002 by Lilian Jackson Braun. It seems every mystery series always needs to have that book where there is a treasure hunt, and they often involve searching for gold. And when you're in the mountains of Michigan, in a cozy little town, there's bound to be some old tale about where it's hidden. And that's exactly what Qwill gets himself into this time around. Un ...more

I’ve never read a book with so many exclamation points! They’re everywhere! It’s so annoying! You’d best be a cat lover if you read one of these books (a series!), and like implausible plots. It’s basically a series of vignettes of upper-Midwestern small-town life, rather like Garrison Keillor provides in his monologues for A Prarie Home Companion. Except that Keillor is funny and keeps it to one story at a time. This is a chronicle of the Cat Owner (sorry, I’ve already forgotten his name and no
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Gee, I found one of Lilian Qwill and her cats are spending a few weeks at the Nutcracker Inn, a restored Victorian mansion in rural Maine. The manager believes it may be haunted and wants the journalist to investigate. On the first day, Qwill finds a nasty surprise: the body of a guest floating in nearby Black Creek. Is the inn really jinxed, or are other forces at work? Moustache tingling and with whiskers twitching, Quill and his Siamese sidekicks begin to look for clues. Their investigation w
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Almost no mystery at all in recent weak 24th "Cat Who..."
Managed expectations will help regular mystery readers enjoy Braun's now 24-book "Cat Who" series more than they might. Don't expect a heavy plot or any chasing of whodunits; and we don't at all miss sex, profanity, or violence for a change. Expect leading man Jim Qwilleran, a now wealthy newspaper journalist, who writes witty and folksy little "local color" columns for the county rag mostly for his own amusement, to entertain his friends ...more
Managed expectations will help regular mystery readers enjoy Braun's now 24-book "Cat Who" series more than they might. Don't expect a heavy plot or any chasing of whodunits; and we don't at all miss sex, profanity, or violence for a change. Expect leading man Jim Qwilleran, a now wealthy newspaper journalist, who writes witty and folksy little "local color" columns for the county rag mostly for his own amusement, to entertain his friends ...more

I've read one of these "The Cat Who..." books in the past and found it light and fun. Was I in a weird place then or was that a much better one than "TCW Went Up the Creek"? This book is light to the point of almost not being there. Some sort of murder/missing person thing was going on, but it was a minor story line primarily there to keep the cat-as-a-psychic-crime-solver theme alive. The real story was about some rich old guy on vacation in the woods. Maybe it was supposed to be a cute story a
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squirrels, squirrels, and more squirrels;
plus maybe a skunk or two;
it's missing my favorite gramma, though ...more
plus maybe a skunk or two;
it's missing my favorite gramma, though ...more

I knew it was going to be a stressful weekend and wanted something to transport me away to somewhere safe and familiar. This is the 24th of these books I've read so I knew what I was getting and it really fit the bill. Simple stories/plots, not especially "sophisticated" murders, but most importantly, an easy to get into society that has become like family every time I return. Since the main protagonist, Jim Qwilleran, is independently wealthy he has a fairly stress-free existence doing just wha
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This was better than the last one but that's not saying much. Qwill seems to have taken on this air of superiority and demandingness. Perhaps his status has gone to his head. The longer he lives in Moose County the more manipulative he becomes it seems, using the other citizens only for their information and bragging about his cat's abilities (something he never would have done in earlier novels). He's becoming an insufferable know-it-all. I hope he reverts back in later novels because his endea
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This is the first of The Cat Who...series that I really didn't like. I found the plot confusing and the story line disjointed. Much of the book was taken up with superfluous information that didn't pertain to the story. Qwill's good friend, Polly has left for a month on vacation with her sister. She sends a post card every day and the note is shared with the reader. The entire book is filled with these little asides with no purpose at all. Too bad. Up until this book, the series has been an ente
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Ghost busting? James Qwilleran, the richest man in the northeast central United States, gets a call from an innkeeper friend who believes her inn is haunted. Well, any excuse for a change of scene, Qwill thinks, and he will be able to find some new material for his newspaper column.
Qwill loves to move around, his pampered Siamese cats don’t. But once they all settle into the inn’s "penthouse," it doesn’t take long for Koko and Yum Yum to uncover the mysteriously damaged furniture of a long-ago r ...more
Qwill loves to move around, his pampered Siamese cats don’t. But once they all settle into the inn’s "penthouse," it doesn’t take long for Koko and Yum Yum to uncover the mysteriously damaged furniture of a long-ago r ...more

This installment in the series has our hero staying at yet another location around Moose County (a delightful place, with an exorbitantly high crime rate, it seems.) I agree with many of the other reviews that the mystery part of this installment in the series was not well done, the deaths themselves were not covered in much detail (and it is a newspaper man reporting on them!) The clues leading to the solutions were minimal. I listened on audiobook, and found myself rewinding several times, thi
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Qwill is asked to come stay at the Nutcracker Inn. His cover story is he is researching material for his column. The true story is he is trying to find out what it is that is making Lori Bamba, one of the owners, feel so uneasy.
Once Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum (his two feline co-horts) were settled, it was time to start investigating. The first mystery solved was what was locked behind the door to the turret in Qwill's room. Antique furniture belonging to the original family who built the building i ...more
Once Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum (his two feline co-horts) were settled, it was time to start investigating. The first mystery solved was what was locked behind the door to the turret in Qwill's room. Antique furniture belonging to the original family who built the building i ...more

One of what I class as a "cosy" murder mystery. It doesn't dwell much, nearly at all, on the death of a guest at the Nutcracker Inn, where James Qwilleran is staying with his cats Koko & Yum Yum. There seems to be very little in the way of actual mystery but instead there's lots of characters & historical tales - I especially liked the Saturday Night Brawl at the Hotel Booze (great name for a bar!)- & everything is neatly tied up at the end....with Koko's help of course!
This is the first I've re ...more
This is the first I've re ...more

I enjoy being this series a lot
I had read many of
The Cat who... books. All of them good reading. You don't necessarily have to start from the beginning to enjoy the books. The author always includes bits of information that will help you understand the premise of the books. First is the Qwill (a reporter) is a very rich man that inherited his fortune unexpectedly. Second he has two Siamese cats, Yum Yum and Koko. Yum Yum has 60 whiskers instead of 48 and Qwill believes that is the reason why he ...more
I had read many of
The Cat who... books. All of them good reading. You don't necessarily have to start from the beginning to enjoy the books. The author always includes bits of information that will help you understand the premise of the books. First is the Qwill (a reporter) is a very rich man that inherited his fortune unexpectedly. Second he has two Siamese cats, Yum Yum and Koko. Yum Yum has 60 whiskers instead of 48 and Qwill believes that is the reason why he ...more

The vacation that wasn’t
Quilleran and his cats are involved in another mystery. They go to a nearby town for a vacation, but become involved in a number of suspicious events at the inn and the nearby cabins. Two people are murdered, and the initial thought is that there was gold prospecting involved. What the motive actually was provided a nice twist at the end. There seemed to be more rambling and unrelated events than usual for Braun’s books, as well as loose ends that were not wrapped up. I’ ...more
Quilleran and his cats are involved in another mystery. They go to a nearby town for a vacation, but become involved in a number of suspicious events at the inn and the nearby cabins. Two people are murdered, and the initial thought is that there was gold prospecting involved. What the motive actually was provided a nice twist at the end. There seemed to be more rambling and unrelated events than usual for Braun’s books, as well as loose ends that were not wrapped up. I’ ...more

This is a great book with lots of wonderful background information, which I thoroughly enjoy. But for me, the mystery falls a little flat. Two people are killed, and while we know Qwill is investigating it, there isn't much actual investigation. Just almost coincidentally, he all of a sudden knows what happened, calls the law and tells them his story, and then has a drink and snack with the lawman. And then the story doesn't resolve with an arrest or any info on the people involved in the murder
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This was kind of a strange one. Qwill wants to solve the mystery but not be directly involved at all,which makes it hard to get all the information about the "murder" (s)? Otherwise he was all over the place meddling in people's affairs anonymously. Lots of scenarios going on, not sure they really hung together very well. And what is up with Polly? She keeps sending him postcards from her vacation and talks about this man friend she has met. Then in the end he was maybe just made up? It just see
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This was a little lighter read compared to the previous "Cat Who..." stories. We got a hint of the mystery at the begining of the story, but no real clues or details until the end of the book, and then the story was over and the mystery was solved. Qwill being jealous can be a bit boring. I would have liked to have someone mysterious appear related to the Black Walnut furniture. I did enjoy the dinner that Qwill was supposed to speak at and it wasn't what he thought, kinda threw him for a loop.
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My goodness, the amount of exclamation points in this book is unrivaled.
What was the point of this book? I assumed it was about a murder-but there were only like 5 pages pertaining to any type of mystery. It was mostly info about this millionaire’s “vacation” (which he expenses to his newspaper), the history of black walnuts and the foods they can be put it, and all the dishes this weirdo fed his cats...no plot, weird characters and TOO MANY EXCLAMATION POINTS.
I’d never read anything by this a ...more
What was the point of this book? I assumed it was about a murder-but there were only like 5 pages pertaining to any type of mystery. It was mostly info about this millionaire’s “vacation” (which he expenses to his newspaper), the history of black walnuts and the foods they can be put it, and all the dishes this weirdo fed his cats...no plot, weird characters and TOO MANY EXCLAMATION POINTS.
I’d never read anything by this a ...more

Towards the end of the series the books wander a bit and lack the depth of the earlier cozies. Not that they are deep literature but more planned out and descriptive. I'm still in love with the whole series though and never tire of the audios. In this installment Qwill and the cats leave the apple barn and travel to Black Creek for a vacation. Polly is on her own vacation sending Qwill postcards. I like when she is present so that's another disappointment for me. When a body is found in the cree
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I find these later books in the Cat Who series are not as appealing as Braun's early books. I know she was getting on in years during these later books, and perhaps that's the reason they just don't have as much pizazz. Most of this book was spent on the happenings of the quaint town of Pickax and Qwilleran's time in Black Creek. The mystery seemed to play a minor part in the overall plot, and it just didn't keep my attention.
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I read a lot of the "Cat Who..." books many years ago when my mother was really into them and shared them with me. I got a little tired of the sameness, and gave them all away eventually. When this appeared as an e-book, I decided to try again. It was a fun light read, pretty much what I remember all the others being like. Jim's cat Koko is being psychic again, with regard to several murders that occur while Jim is visiting the Nutcracker, an inn supported by his K fund. I liked it, it was okay,
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Just love to read these Cat Who books. I'm reading them for the second time and I am enjoying them as if I'm reading them for the first time. It's been a while so I don't remember the endings of some of them. Reading the books is like an old friend. You fall in love with the characters and the antics of KoKo and YumYum. Wish there were more of the books so I can just keep reading them. I've read 24 of the 30 so I'm getting close to the end. Great Cozy stories!
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KoKo and Qwill are at it again. On yet another "vacation," the journalist-turned-philanthropist and crime-solving cat get caught up in yet another adventure with plenty of unexpected twists and turns along the way. The result? Yet another delightful and entertaining read that should appeal to cat lovers and mystery fans alike.
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You gotta love this series!
I thought I had read all of Lillian Braun’s “ The Who...” series. But I must have missed this one. Totally enjoyable! Quill earn is one of my favorite characters, with his 2 Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. Koko has some amazing senses (can a cat have ESP?) one of which is howling when a murder occurs! A great read.
I thought I had read all of Lillian Braun’s “ The Who...” series. But I must have missed this one. Totally enjoyable! Quill earn is one of my favorite characters, with his 2 Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. Koko has some amazing senses (can a cat have ESP?) one of which is howling when a murder occurs! A great read.

Mr Q’s rustic vacation
Another fun tale from Moose County where Q spends two weeks at a cabin of the Nutcracker Inn. Black walnuts figure into the food, the furniture, and of course the secondary murder mystery as the focus of the tale are really the varied folks of Moose County. Polly however was out of town.
Another fun tale from Moose County where Q spends two weeks at a cabin of the Nutcracker Inn. Black walnuts figure into the food, the furniture, and of course the secondary murder mystery as the focus of the tale are really the varied folks of Moose County. Polly however was out of town.
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The Women's Myste...: The Cat Who Went Up The Creek #25 | 1 | 1 | Aug 09, 2013 10:12PM |
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, th
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