Lilian Braun

Lilian Jackson Braun is currently 96 years old and is best known for her series of murder mysteries called “The Cat Who…” novels. She has written over 30 novels in this series. The novels were first published from 1966-1968. The novels are light-hearted while still maintaining a intriguing storyline, with truly loveable characters that reappear in each book.

The three main characters in Mrs. Braun’s books are James Qwilleran, a retired, recovering alcoholic newspaper reporter, and his two Siamese cats, Koko and YumYum. Koko is the more involved of the two cats. He will only eat gourmet foods and maintains a diet usually of lobster, salmon, crab, chicken, and any other gourmet meals provided. His habit of knocking books off shelves would be annoying to others, but this is one of his ways of providing vital clues to solving the mysteries. He also has a “death howl” he uses if a death is the result of murder. Qwilleran is positive Koko has a sixth sense that he gets from his 60 whiskers. Most cats only have 48. Since Qwilleran gets a tingling in his moustache when clues are coming together, he identifies with Koko. YumYum was rescued by Qwilleran in part to be a companion to Koko. She is more fragile than Koko and totally dependent on Qwilleran. She is not as brilliant or eccentric as Koko, but she is much more affectionate.

Millions of Americans have cats and millions of Americans enjoy a good mystery novel. This series satisfies both with great characters, interesting mysteries, and some light-hearted humor along the way. Because of this, Mrs. Braun will have a captive audience as long as she wishes to continue to write.