Cat Who series

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A Cat Who... is a novel series of murder mystery novels by Lilian Jackson Braun. This series is called the "Cat Who..." series because each book title in this series begins with the words "The Cat Who. . .".

"Cat Who..." books feature a reporter named James Qwilleran and his Siamese cats Kao K'o-Kung, Koko for short, and a queen cat, Yum-Yum. Qwilleran solves local murders in Moose County, probably in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, "four hundred miles north of everywhere," with the help of his cats, who always provide indispensable clues. The tone is light and playful. In later books, Qwilleran inherits a huge sum of money, but still writes novels, and in later books a column (The Qwill Pen) for the Moose County Something, for the pleasure of it.

The first book in the series was written in 1966, with two more following in 1967 and 1968. Eighteen years passed until Jackson Braun published the next book in the series, and today a new "Cat Who..." title is published with some regularity. Lawrence Block once wrote in one of his Burglar books the rather facetious comment that the next book in the series ought to be entitled 'The Cat Who Lived Forever'. The titles in the series are, in order:

1. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, 1966 (ISBN 0-515-09017-4): Qwill and Koko's first meeting.
2. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, 1967 (ISBN 0-515-08712-2): Qwill is given the interior design beat for his newspaper. He also meets Yum Yum
3. The Cat Who Turned On and Off, 1968 (ISBN 0-515-08794-7): Qwill goes to Junktown to write a feature series.
4. The Cat Who Saw Red, 1986 (ISBN 0-515-09016-6): Qwill gets assigned to the culinary beat and reunites with an old flame.
5. The Cat Who Played Brahms, 1987 (ISBN 0-515-09050-6): Qwill leaves the big city to move to Pickax.
6. The Cat Who Played Post Office, 1988 (ISBN 0-515-09320-3): Someone seems to be trying to get rid of Qwill, and a brightly painted room has his moustache twitching.
7. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare, 1988 (ISBN 0-515-09582-6): Fire and death at the newspaper offices.
8. The Cat Who Sniffed Glue, 1988 (ISBN 0-515-09954-6): Vandalism appears in Pickax and couple is murdered.
9. The Cat Who Went Underground, 1989 (ISBN 0-515-10123-0): Qwill goes on vacation and carpenters in the area start dying.
10. The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts, 1990 (ISBN 0-515-10265-2): Iris Cobb is found scared to death in her own home.
11. The Cat Who Lived High, 1990 (ISBN 0-515-10566-X): Qwill returns to Junktown to try and restore an old apartment building.
12. The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal, 1991 (ISBN 0-515-10786-7): Pickax's principal is found fatally shot after a party at Qwill's barn.
13. The Cat Who Moved a Mountain, 1991 (ISBN 0-515-10950-9): Qwill and the cats go on vacation.
14. The Cat Who Wasn't There, 1992 (ISBN 0-515-11127-9): Sixteen people from Pickax go on vacation to Scotland.
15. The Cat Who Went into the Closet, 1993 (ISBN 0-515-11332-8): Qwill attempts to solve a mystery long distance.
16. The Cat Who Came to Breakfast, 1994 (ISBN 0-515-11564-9): Qwill takes a trip to Breakfast Island.
17. The Cat Who Blew the Whistle, 1995 (ISBN 0-515-11824-9): A railroad buff and president of a local bank disappears.
18. The Cat Who Said Cheese, 1996 (ISBN 0-515-12027-8): A stranger checks into the New Pickax Hotel. Not too long after, the hotel is bombed.
19. The Cat Who Tailed a Thief, 1997 (ISBN 0-515-12240-8): Small actions of theft are occurring in Pickax and a few people are found dead.
20. The Cat Who Sang for the Birds, 1998 (ISBN 0-515-12463-X): An old barn across from the new art center burns down.
21. The Cat Who Saw Stars, 1999 (ISBN 0-515-12739-6): Qwill takes a vacation in Mooseville.
22. The Cat Who Robbed a Bank, 2000 (ISBN 0-515-12994-1): A jewelry dealer from Chicago comes to visit and is murdered.
23. The Cat Who Smelled a Rat, 2001 (ISBN 0-399-14665-2)
24. The Cat Who Brought Down the House, 2002 (ISBN 0-515-13655-7): An aging film star retires to Pickax.
25. The Cat Who Went up the Creek, 2002 (ISBN 0-515-13438-4)
26. The Cat Who Talked Turkey, 2004 (ISBN 0-399-15107-9): The long-absent turkey population begins to return to Pickax
27. The Cat Who Went Bananas, 2004 (ISBN 0-399-15224-5)
28. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, 2005 (ISBN 0-399-15307-1)

In addition, Braun published two collections of short stories based on the same characters: The Cat Who Had 14 Tales (ISBN 0-515-09497-8), and Short and Tall Tales: Moose County Legends Collected by James Mackintosh Qwilleran (ISBN 0-515-13635-2).

Other authors have published books related to the series: The Cat Who...Companion (ISBN 0-425-18642-3), The Cat Who... Quiz Book (ISBN 0-425-19187-7), and even a Cat Who... Cookbook (ISBN 0-425-17674-6). The series has inspired a parody as well: The Cat Who Killed Lilian Jackson Braun (ISBN 1-893224-84-8) by Robert Kaplow.

Braun's Private Life of the Cat Who... (ISBN 0-515-13832-0), a collection of pieces from several previous works, was released in September, 2004.