The Cat Who Could Read Backwards

by Lilian Jackson Braun

Book Overview

More than thirty years ago, Lilian Jackson Braun wrote The Cat Who Could Read Backwards and launched the phenomenally successful Cat Who... mystery series. In it we are introduced to the extraordinary detective team of prize-winning reporter Jim Qwilleran and Koko, the brilliant Siamese cat. Jim Qwilleran is somewhat disgruntled when his assignment for the Daily Fluxion is to cover the art beat. For a hard-nosed crime reporter it's like being put...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039914286X
• ISBN13: 9780399142864
• Release Date: June 1997
• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

A Fantastic Read

This was a very fun cozy mystery about a reporter, Jim Qwilleran, who is down on his luck, but manages to get a job covering the art scene. I loved the 1960s "art beat" setting and the cool characters, such as the artist, Nino, Zoe, Butchy, Odd Bunsen, Mountclemens, and of course, the cat who could read backwards--Kao K'o Kung (Koko)! C-r-r-razy! The writing is smooth, excellent, and vivid. I plan to read the next in the series. Loved it!

Lilian Jackson Braun, writer of The Cat Who books. Excellent!

Love Lillian's caricature Qwill a New York crime reporter down in his luck takes any job, even writing about art that put him in the same house that a smart intelligent Siamese cat lives. I feel like I'm there seeing the cat guide Qwill to figure out who done it!

So much fun!

This book was an easy read, but it was a very enjoyable read. I'm going to move on to the rest of the series now. I passed this one on to a friend. I would highly recommend this, especially if you're looking for a light mystery to enjoy!

Stands the test of time! Great fun especially for cat lovers

I stumbled upon the "Cat Who" series of books when I picked up a very yellowed copy of "The Cat Who Could Read Backwards" from a book-sharing box at work. I found the book (and all it's subsequent mysteries) delightful, devouring one each every evening after work. They're easy reads and safe for adolescents as they're not filled with gore, sex or profanity. As a cat-lover and multiple-cat-owner, I found Mr. Q's and Koko's adventures especially entertaining. I don't know how many whiskers my cats have (they never sit long enough to let me count them) but I'll accept that Koko is a remarkable cat! After reading this first book in the series I was hooked! I read every subsequent "Cat Who" mystery in order and am eagerly awaiting the release of the newest one next month. Though one can certainly read these books out of order, I think it's easier to remember who the characters are as they reappear in subsequent books in the series. I enjoyed following along, episode by episode, to see how things unfold. Turns out this first book was originally published in the sixties. I found a lot of the references to now-extinct items and practices charming. I remember clackity typewriters and people smoking at their desks at work back then. This book reflects the times, as Mr. Q unabashidly loves to look at pretty ladies and admires the dimples in their knees (how very un-PC)! I've noticed that the photo of Ms. Braun on the back cover of recently published editions in the series is the same as that on my 1960's copy. Either Ms. Braun is nearly 100 now and actively writing, or someone has picked up the reins as ghost-writer. If so, it's been done seamlessly and the new stories have the same style as the old except there are now cell phones and computers while Mr. Q and Koko haven't aged a bit in 35 years!

Welcome to the World of The Cat Who....

This is the first of a series of 25 The Cat Who murder mysteries. Published in 1966, it was also one of professional newspaper woman's Lilian Braun's first attempts into the world of the novel.I read several of her later works first, so it was odd, for me, to read her first work, in which the conversations and situations were more forced and the story line a little more convoluted. It was also fun, because, in spite of the less practiced writing techniques, it was still a great story with wonderful characters.The book opens with an introduction to Jim Qwilleran, who is a full and complex character right from the start. He is a recovering alcoholic who isn't maudlin about it, a veteran newsman who needs to recover his once prize-winning reputation, a middleaged bachelor with an ex-wife across the country and a hopeful interest in possible girlfriends. He takes a job he doesn't want because he needs to pay bills. The job is covering the art beat for the newspaper, instead of the crime beat he covets.... and, fortunately, for him, the murders just happen to occur on the art beat for the rest of this story. By the end he has adopted the very interesting Saimese, Koko, who will, with Qwill, star in the next 24 The Cat Who mysteries....These fun stories are greatly entertaining without insulting your intelligence. Kind of like the great anti-television.

The First Book in The Cat Who... Series

Jim Qwilleran has just been hired as an art writer for the Daily Fluxion, a position he's unqualified for and reluctant to take. His first assignment is to interview Cal Halapay, a successful commercial artist who has no interest in answering any of Jim's questions. The only time Cal reacts is when he voices his contempt for George Bonifield Mountclemens III, the art critic for the same newspaper Jim works for. As Jim continues learning about art and befriending artists and gallery owners, he discovers Cal isn't the only one who hates George; several other people (mostly artists) consider the heartless critic better off dead. Yet when Jim meets the man, he's charmed by George's sophistication--not to mention his characteristic Siamese cat, Kao K'o-Kung (aka Koko)--and agrees to rent the bottom apartment to George's Victorian home. However, the art recluse harbors one too many secrets, ones that will lead to murder, including his own. With the help of Koko, Jim tries to uncover the link between George's death and the two other murders in the art community.Although this is a pretty good book, I was a little disappointed that Koko didn't show up earlier. I suppose since this is the first book in The Cat Who... series, the author didn't want to rush character introductions, but I hope Koko's more in the spotlight in the following books. Still, this is a great series for animal and mystery lovers.

The very beginning of a truly engrossing cat mystery series!

The handsome, rich and famous newspaper writer with his very characteristic walrus-like mustache winds up in his very first homoicide-related adventure and meets his charming four-legged sidekick as well in this first book. Such a wonderful, richly-detailed story that describes just about everything ever to happen to Mr. Qwilleran with a very sharp eye for architecture styles and interior design as well as a truly refined taste for recipes and cooking. Cat lovers will also relish in such amusing and sometimes amazing antics of Koko, the all-knowing Siamese cat and Yum Yum, his female counteract who will be appearing in the later books. In addition, a good deal of flightful fantasy is so deftly woven into Qwill's rich, adventure-filled life as he and his beloved cats move from one truly beautiful and exciting place to another, taking along with him his most cherished longtime friends and meeting new faces as well while many of the characters he came to know eventually got killed off in each succeeding books. A truly glamourous ride for everyone who enjoys curling up with a good mystery and a warm, purring pussycat!

A relaxing read; an enjoyable way to spend a quiet evening.

I started reading "The Cat Who..." series in the wrong order and had to go back to the beginning with this one. I think I'm up to the tenth now. These books are more about story and characters than about shocking you from your seat or scaring you into keeping your lights on all night like some mysteries. You can actually picture the characters in the various books, and Ms. Braun captures the feline essense perfectly. Koko may be smarter than the average human, but he's all cat. This book is the best place to start for this relaxing, enjoyable series.