Lilian Jackson Braun Books In Order

Publication Order of Cat Who... Books

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Lilian Jackson Braun was one of the most prominent authors of America, who was well-known for writing the light-hearted novels based on the mystery and thriller genres. She is mostly remembered for her exciting mystery novel series, ‘The Cat Who…’. Lilian was born on June 20, 1913 in Willimansette, Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, United States and died on June 4, 2011. The novels of the famous The Cat Who series written by her revolve around the life James Qwilleran, a former newspaper reporter, and a couple of his Siamese cats named Yum Yum and KoKo. The series is set in the fictitious little town of Pickax, which is located in the Mose County. Lilian has described the place to be around 400 miles to the north of everywhere. The counties, towns and lifestyles of her characters described in the series show a great deal of resemblance to Bad Ax, Michigan, where Lilian used to live along with her husband for a number of years till the 1980s. However, she has never indicated any resemblance to a place like that. Many of her readers also believe that she has depicted the history and culture of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in her novels.

Lilian Jackson began her career as a writer when she was a teenager. At that time, she used to contribute sports stories in the Detroit News. Later, she went on to work as an advertising copywriter for a number of department stores in Detroit. This was followed by a job in the Detroit Free Press. There, she remained the editor for a period of 30 years and went on to retire in the year 1978. While still working as the editor of the Free Press, Lilian had begun working on her famous mystery series. In fact, she published the first three novels of the series between the years 1966 and 1968, which went on to succeed with critical acclaim. Following the success of her initial novels, Lilian was labelled as the new detective of the year by the New York Times. After that stint, she disappeared for a period of 18 years from the mystery novel publishing scene because of the fact that mystery novels were believed begin focussing on sex, foul language, and violence, at that time. Due to this, the later novels of Lilian were not appreciated in the changed scenario. Then, it was in the year 1986 when the Berkley publishing house successfully reintroduced Lilian to the mystery readers. The publishing house published her new addition to The Cat Who series and within the next 2 years, they published four more of her novels. They also reprinted her earlier novels. Lilian’s novels once again started to become instant bestsellers and this motivated her to complete a total of 29 books in the series. As far her personal life is concerned, she liked to keep it private.

The first novel of the series was published by the Berkley Trade in the year 1966. It was titled ‘The Cat Who Could Read Backwards’. The plot of the novel is set in the fictitious town of Pickax in Moose County, United States. In the opening sequence of the plot of the novel, Jim Qwilleran is shown as a former prizewinning reporter, who has disappeared from the field for a short while. He comes back to the scene with a job as a feature writer for the Daily Fluxion, in the art section. The art critic of the paper, George Bonifield Mountclemens, has the habit of writing hurtful and invariably scathing reviews about the local shows, despite being a credentialed critic. He is also known to deliver his views by a messenger and lives alone with only a cat named KoKo. Even though, he lives all alone, his house is lushly furnished and is situated in a moldering neighborhood, where he is believed to have a number of enemies, spread all over the town. George offers a small apartment to Jim in his building at a very nominal rent, which he grabs with both hands. But, he later realizes that the deal involved cat-siting as well. Another character named Earl Lambreth is introduced in the plot, who is described as the owner of a gallery, where George gives happier treatments to the artists. On one occasion, he praises an artist’s painting, who likes to call himself as a Thingist. The reclusive artist from Italy works with the attractive wife of Earl Lamreth named Zoe. After a little while, Zoe discovers her husband stabbed to death and his gallery vandalized. Shortly after, Jim Qwilleran and KoKo find the dead body of George Mountclemens lying on the patio at the back of his house. With the multiple deaths within a short span of time, the plot of the novel takes a mysterious and exciting turn.

The second novel of The Cat Who series written by author Lilian Jackson Braun was published by the Headline publishing house in the year 1967. The plot of the is set in the same place as the first novel of the series and continues to feature the same set of primary characters. In the opening sequence of the plot of the second novel, Jim Qwilleran is shown as not too overwhelmed after receiving his new assignment at the Daily Fuxion. He has never liked the subject of Interior design and now he is asked to write a complete magazine on this subject foe every week. His reluctance towards the interior design specialty is also known by his colleagues. Somehow, Jim completes the first issue of the Gracious Abodes magazine, featuring the interior design of a luxurious residence. The magazine had barely gotten off the presses when Jim finds himself in yet another murder mystery. It is revealed that the exclusive residence that Jim featured in his magazine is burglarized and owner is found dead. Now, Jim Qwilleran along with his Siamese partner KoKo, is required to carry out the investigation by himself and find the real murderer. Soon after, KoKo begins to dig up some crucial clues by sniffing the designer furnitures of the burglarized house. The mystery turns into yet another feature for Jim Qwilleran, in which he tries to go behind the trail of a clever killer.

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