Lilian Jackson Braun passed away this weekend, before her 98th birthday and before she could finish her 30th “Cat Who” mystery. For many years, she stopped writing the series, thinking that people weren’t interested anymore in gentler, less sexy, less violent stories, but she came back around, and her fans were very glad of it.
In 1966, the first title, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, introduced us to struggling journalist Jim Qwilleran before he meets the genius Siamese Kao K’o-Kung, who begins the book by belonging to an art critic, soon deceased.
By her 29th mystery in 2007, The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers, “Qwill” is settled, more or less, in Michigan’s Moose County, completely owned by Koko and Yum Yum.
We thank her very much for the millions of words she wrote, and the millions of pleasant hours she provided readers between these wonderful bookends.