The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern

by Lilian Jackson Braun

Book Overview

Disgruntled about being assigned to do a series of interior design features, Jim Qwilleran finds himself back on the homicide beat when he and Koko, the Siamese cat, investigate a burglary and murder... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0515087122
• Release Date: October 1986
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 247 Pages
• Weight: 0.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.7" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

And Introducing Yum Yum

Lilian Jackson Braun's second novel in the "Cat Who" series is not only a worthy successor to it's predecessor it is even better. Even though the writing was quite good in the first book the story seems to flow better in this book and there are less jerky movements in the story. And a very good story it is! When we last left veteran newspaper reporter Jim Qwilleran he was reporting on the art scene for the Daily Fluxion, an assignment that he wasn't thrilled with at first but one that he had warmed up to. Suddenly he finds himself with an assignment that he knows even less about than art, he will be covering interior design. He was, in fact, placed in charge of putting out a weekly magazine insert called "Gracious Abodes", an assignment that would lead him into another adventure with his faithful cat Koko. Since most decorators could use the publicity a newspaper spread on their work would provide Qwilleran has no trouble in getting help finding houses to profile. He first hooks up with decorator David Lyke who gets permission for the Daily Fluxion to do a photo shoot in a home occupied by an old money family that has more than the normal old money quirks. Just after the first edition of " Gracious Abodes" hits the streets the home in question is robbed of a valuable Jade collection. What's more, the lady of the house is found dead of an apparent heart attack, which police theorize was caused be fear during the burglary. Of course this incident makes the Daily Fluxion look bad, especially since the rival paper plays up the burglary. Qwilleran immediately suspects a set-up and even begins to suspect that his new girlfriend whom he found in another decorator's office is part of the plot. He gets really suspicious after the second edition of his magazine comes out and the next day the police raid the place. It turns out that his second featured home is a cat house, pun intended. Things get even more bizarre for the ace reporter when his neighbor and prime decorating contact David Lyke is murdered. The more Qwilleran sniffs around, the more he is convinced that he is being set-up but he can't quite put all of the pieces together. Once again, Koko saves the day by both pointing out the solution to the jade heist and also the key piece of evidence in the murder. Along the way, Koko manages to save Qwilleran's life and personally capture one of the suspects. This is one amazing cat! This is also the book that introduces the reader to Qwilleran's second cat, Yum Yum who enters the picture to keep Koko from engaging in the behavior that led to the title of the book. We only get a short glance at Yum Yum in this book but I feel sure that she will turn out to be just as clever as Koko which will make for even more interesting reading in the next installment. Altogether this book is whimsical, light and very fun to read. Also, as in the first book of the series the characters the reader will meet in this book are fantastic and colorful to say the lea

When Qwill and Koko met Yum-Yum

As the second book of this popular series opens Qwill is trying to work up the nerve to ask for a different writing assignment. The former crime reporter has spent the past six months, since The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, covering the art scene and is anxious to get back to something more in keeping with his background. His assignment is changed but to writing features for the new weekly supplement on interior design. Since he cannot afford to quit he gamely decides to tackle the project.Within a short period of time he is immersed into a new world filled with characters every bit as strange and colorful as the arts crowd he has just left. Life seems to be looking up for Qwill, the writing assignment is going well and one of his new friends asks Qwill and Koko to housesit his apartment while he is away on business. After the new magazine hits the stands problems begin, thefts and bodies begin to pile up. Pointed in the right direction by Koko's hints Qwill solves the mysteries. Along the way both Koko and Qwill acquire new ladies in their lives, Koko has found his Yum-Yum and Qwill begins a romance with 'Cokey' Wright, a designer who shares is taste for modern decor.This mystery was originally published in 1967 but has worn well. The fans of this series need to be aware that this is not set in Moose County but instead covers Qwill earlier life in the Big City 'down below'. The characters that Qwill meets are, however, every bit as charming and quirky as those in Moose County, and like those in the later books do seem to turn up in subsequent novels. Unlike the later additions to this series the emphasis is more on murder and less on cozy although there is no profanitiy, graphic violence or explicit sex.

Crime reporter transferred to interior decorating beat

When I first read this mystery, it was the second of a 3-volume series, the last of which had appeared in 1968. Only with the 4th book, THE CAT WHO SAW RED (1986), did the series take off into its at-least-1-book-a-year mode, and only with the 5th, TCW PLAYED BRAHMS, did Braun introduce Qwill to Moose County. TCW ATE DANISH MODERN was the first Qwilleran book I ever read, and although it's best to begin with book 1, TCW COULD READ BACKWARDS, I can testify that you won't be lost if you pick this up first instead, nor will you spoil the solution of the previous book. Qwill is the type who'd probably think of himself as a dog person if he weren't a city dweller, but after the death of his landlord, he acquired custody of his landlord's closest companion: Kao K'o Kung, a Siamese familiarly known as Koko. (The original hardcover dustjacket was graced with a photograph of his namesake: the author's feline companion.) The other consequences of his landlord's death led to one of Qwill's 4 problems at the opening of the story: 1) he has to find a new place to live, 2) he wants to be in the Daily Fluxion's city room rather than on the art beat, 3) no current girlfriend, and 4) moths are eating up all his ties - so he runs the risk of being homeless, jobless, womanless, and tieless all at once. (Hey, I didn't say this was Shakespearean tragedy.) Before Qwill can request a transfer from the managing editor, he's informed that a change of assignment is already lined up: the FLUXION is trying to divert advertising revenue from magazines to their own coffers, and so a new Sunday supplement is coming online, and Qwill will be in charge of its features. The catch? The home furnishing industry is making the advertising experiment - so the Sunday magazine, GRACIOUS ABODES, covers the interior decorating beat. Qwill's horrified reaction is softened since the transfer includes a promotion and raise. Odd Bunsen, the Flux's daredevil photographer, is slower to overcome his resentment at his own transfer. Up through book 4, this was the standard opening move in a Qwill story: transfer the poor devil from his current assignment to some weird beat as far from the City Room as a veteran crime reporter could imagine, and throw him in at the deep end. As with his previous assignment to the art beat, he finds the professional rivalries unexpectedly interesting. Consider Lyke and Starkweather, for instance - Starkweather (a rather bland middle-aged executive) handles the business end while Lyke handles clients and the actual decoration jobs. Lyke's charismatic, but the depths beneath his surface charm are somewhat murky. He butters people up left and right, then sneers at them for taking him seriously. His childhood friendship - back before he moved uptown and changed his name - with Jack Baker ended acrimoniously after Jack saved his pennies, went to the Sorbonne, then returned to town as "Jacques Boulonger", the Duxburys' decorator "from Paris". (Jack's background isn't

2nd in the Cat Who series

Qwilleran, the middle-aged editor, is assigned to a new upscale decorating magazine called "Gracious Abodes" in this 2nd in the series of "Cat Who" books. Qwilleran relunctantly takes his new assignment and struggles to make it a success. Unfortuately, he stumbles into several crime scenes that are linked to the magazine's publication and they threaten his job security. He does not give up, but tries to solve the murders. With the assistance of his Siamese cat Koko, he is able to piece together the puzzle to solve the mystery!Great light-reading book for mystery and cat lovers. Koko comes to life on the pages and you can't put it down!

Koko Eats the Evidence.

In this, the second in 'The Cat Who...' series, Lilian Braun draws us further into the zany world of reporter Jim Qwilleran and his fearless sidekick, Koko the Siamese cat. Jim is quite upset when the managing editor of the Daily Fluxion pulls him off his job as art writer and assigns him the special task of bringing out a weekly home decorating guide. While leading the 'Gracious Abodes' effort is a step up, it's not a step to what Qwill really wants to do - return to crime reporting.Fortunately, Qwill connects with decorator David Lyke who manages to get Qwill and photographer Odd Bunsen into the Muggy Swamp mansion of G. Verning Tait, who has a fabulous jade collection. But Qwill's efforts seem ill-fated when, no sooner was the weekly out in print, but the Tait mansion was broken into, and the jade collection stolen. Paolo, the missing house boy is blamed, but Qwill's moustache keeps twitching, making him suspect that the theft was something else entirely.Each issue of 'Gracious Abodes' seems similarly cursed. The robbery first, then Quill's subject for the second issue turns out to be a house of ill repute, and finally David Lyke is murdered. If Qwill hadn't become involved with Cokey, an attractive designer with an unusual approach to clothing, he would had quickly have become depressed. But he struggles on, despite the rising paranoia of his managing editor, trying to convince someone that something even fishier than theft and murder is going on.Koko in the meantime is showing some strange behaviors. He seems to be irritated at Cokey, and has taken to eating Qwill's few wool ties. Perplexed, Qwill is driven to visit a 'psycatatrist,' who provides explanations even stranger than Koko's behavior. As you might expect, Koko has already solved the crime and is having trouble getting the message through to Qwilleran.Will the mystery be solved? Will Qwill read the message hidden in the hairballs? This is the mystery. And will Koko recover from meeting his future roommate, Princess Yum Yum? Whatever the resolution, the reader can count on more cat hijinks in Lilian Braun's whimsical, enjoyable style.