The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell

The history of Lilian Jackson Braun is perhaps as exciting and mysterious as her novels.  Between 1966 and 1968, she published three novels to critical acclaim: The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern and The Cat Who Turned On and Off.  In 1966, The New York Times labeled Braun, “the new detective of the year.”  Then, for reasons unknown, the rising mystery author disappeared from the publishing scene.

It wasn’t until 1986 that the Berkley Publishing Group reintroduced Braun to the public with the publication of an original paperback, The Cat Who Saw Red.   Within two years,  Berkeley released four new novels in paperback and reprinted the three mysteries from the sixties.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons has since published seventeen Cat Who… novels.  Most recently being The Cat Who Went Up The Creek, The Cat Who Smelled Rat, The Cat Who Robbed The Bank, The Cat Who Saw Stars, The Cat Who Tailed a Thief, The Cat Who Blew the Whistle, The Cat Who Said Cheese, The Cat Who Came to Breakfast, The Cat Who Went Into The Closet, The Cat Who Wasn’t There, The Cat Who Moved The Mountain, The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal, The Cat Who Lived High, The Cat who Talked to Ghosts, The Cat Who Went Underground, The Cat Who Sniffed Glue, The Cat Who Saw Stars, and lastly, The Cat Who Sang For the Birds.

Even though Braun claims that her cats have never done anything extraordinary, her fictional cats, Koko and Yum Yum, solve crimes and delight fans in book after book.  Braun says the reason for her success is that “people are simply tired of all the blood.  I write what is called the classic mystery.”  She says that while “not all mystery fans like cats, all cat-fanciers seem to like mysteries.  That makes for a large audience, since 26% of all American households own 53.9 million cats between them.”

Braun was the “Good Living” editor of The Detroit Free Press for 29 years.  She is retired from journalism and is currently writing mysteries full-time, her latest Cat Who… novel is titled The Cat Who Brought Down The House.  She lives with two Siamese cats and her husband, Earl Bettinger, in North Carolina.