Summary and Reviews of The Cat Who Brought Down The House by Lilian Jackson Braun

The Cat Who Brought Down The House by Lilian Jackson Braun

The Cat Who Brought Down The House

by Lilian Jackson Braun
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (5):
  • First Published:
  • Feb 1, 2003, 240 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2004, 256 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

The twenty-fifth volume in this bestselling series, featuring small town reporter Jim Qwilleran and his cats with their uncanny intuition. The inhabitants of Pickax are abuzz with the news that a native of Moose County is retiring from a long Hollywood career to return to her native soil.


Dear Reader

Twenty-five years ago, Jim Qwilleran walked into my life...huffing into his large moustache, spelling his name oddly, drinking black coffee at the Press Club bar. He was tall but seemed world-weary. His entire earthly possessions fit into two suitcases. He was a down-and-out crime reporter willing to cover any minor beat if it could get him back into newspapering.

Then, almost overnight, peculiar circumstances made him the richest man in northeast central United States.

All that money made Qwilleran nervous, until he remembered the old saying: "Money is like muck; it doesn't do any good unless you spread it around." He established a foundation to spread it around.

Now Qwilleran lives in a small town, 400 miles north of everywhere, and writes for a small newspaper. He stands tall and straight. He dates a librarian. His roommates are two abandoned cats that he adopted along the way, one of them quite remarkable.

Despite his fame and fortune, Qwilleran's popularity really stems from his sense of humor, individuality, and willingness to listen. He has a writer's talent for sympathetic listening--half compassion, half curiosity--and it draws confidences from men and women, old and young.

Qwilleran has a secret of his own that he shares with no one--or hardly anyone. His male cat, Koko, has an uncanny intuition that can tell right from wrong and frequently sniffs out the evil-doer. Together, he and Qwilleran have solved several cases. The Cat Who Brought Down the House is the twenty-fifth installment of the Qwilleran saga. Shall we try for twenty-six?

Lilian

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Booklist - GraceAnne DeCandido
All the murders are offstage the fun part is in food, clothing, and the quotidian joys of small-town life; there's no sex and barely a whiff of technology. How can one fail to be amused by naming conventions that include local weatherman Wetherby Goode?

Publishers Weekly
In her inimitable gentle style, Braun documents the daily activities of the inhabitants of Pickax. Kidnappings, robberies and murders may abound, but nothing is really upsetting or unpleasant. Braun devotees will cheer.

Kirkus Reviews
The smidgen of mystery will be just enough for the faithful already queued up for this mild silver anniversary for Braun.

Library Journal
For all of those cat aficionados out there, here is more quaint, small-town goings-on.

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