The Novels of Lillian Braun

Lilian Jackson Braun writes light-hearted mystery novels starring two Siamese cats named Koko and Yum Yum that live with a former newspaper reporter named James Qwilleran (Qwill). The cats help him solve crimes, and are the brains of the group. Ms. Braun has written over 30 novels starring the two cats. The titles of her books always start with “The Cat Who”. She is married to Earl Bettinger, and her novels always contain the dedication “Earl Bettinger, the husband who”.

In her first novel, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, published in 1966, we meet Qwill, who is trying to start a new career as a newsman for the Daily Fluxion as an art critic. The owner of Koko is murdered, and Qwill adopts the cat while solving the murder. In her second book, The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, published in 1967, we meet Yum Yum, an abandoned female Siamese cat, who Qwill also adopts as a companion for Yum Yum.

After having her first three novels published, she did not write anything else for 18 years, because her publishers wanted stories with more blood and mayhem. In 1986 she again found favor with her publishers and has been writing steadily since then. Her last novel, published in 2007, is The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers. There is a 30th novel in progress, called The Cat Who Smelled Smoke. Ms. Braun, born in 1913, is now 93 years old, and this novel may not get published.