Book Review: The Cat Who Brought Down the House

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Cat Who Brought Down the House     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Lilian Jackson Braun
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Cozy   Cats
Series: Cat Who . . . # 25
Putnam, Jan 2003, $23.95, 240 pp.

In Moose County, the residents of the small town of Pickax like to think of themselves as four hundred miles north of everywhere. The town is made up of colorful characters including Jim Qwilleran, the richest man in the northeast central United States. Jim has donated much of his money to a foundation so that it could be put it to good use. He also writes a humor column twice a week for the Moose County Something and contentedly lives with his two Siamese cats Koko and Yum-Yum.

When Thelma Thackery returns home after a fifty-five year absence, Qwill welcomes her back. Koko, who spot villains and knows when a death occurs, takes an instant dislike to Thelma’s nephew Dick. Thelma opens a cabaret movie theater starring old movies and she puts Dick in charge, hoping he’ll finally make something of himself. When she catches him in wrong doing, she knows he’ll never account for anything so she takes the law into her own hands.

This is the twenty-fifth life in the Cat Who series and it is every bit as good as the other twenty-four lives. Quill still collects anecdotes for the book he is writing SHORT & TALL TALES, which by the way is available now at the local bookstores in all the towns four hundred miles south and further south of Moose County. His loving relationship with his Siamese cats is only one of the reasons that explain why readers truly love him. Lilian Jackson Braun’s fan base rightfully grows with every book she writes.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner