The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (1996) - Plot & Excerpts
Sometimes when I re-read a mystery I'm way ahead of the story, and sometimes I'm way behind; this time I was somewhere in the middle. I did not anticipate any of the major events, but I was suspicious of the right people.This book is one after the transition. It seems that Braun wrote several books starring Qwilleran and Koko (and adding Yum-yum at the end of the second), in which he was a starving newspaper reporter; then she took a decade or so off and returned with the same characters having inherited an incredibly large fortune. It is said that Dashiell Hammett created the always broke detective Sam Spade when he himself was always broke, and then when the books made him rich he found it difficult to write about that world and so created Nick Charles, the poor boy police detective who married the wealthy heiress and so was a rich man with a poor man's history. I find myself wondering whether the same thing perhaps happened to Braun in some way, that she wrote about her impoverished recovering alcoholic newsman and then fame and wealth pulled her out of that world and she had to find a way to do the same with him.More to the point, not having the complete set I missed the transition itself. In this book, he lives in the mansion (actually, he cannot persuade himself to live in the mansion, but it is a stipulation of the will that he must do so for five years, so he lives in the adjacent servants' house and lets the stipulated household staff have rooms in the mansion) and there are references to the trust he created, but we get no clues about how he got here beyond that there was some improbable and unanticipated inheritance. The characters remain much the same, but the change in setting is jarring thanks to the leap from the older books to the newer ones.On the other hand, the books are good enough, enjoyable little mysteries, that it would be worth trying to find the rest of the series at some point.This one advances the setting some. The mansion is in the deep north of the central United States, north of anything like a metropolitan area, where the significant industry now is hunting but logging and mining made several local families rich enough a century ago that their descendants are still living on the inherited wealth. The aging owner of the struggling local newspaper dies in what Qwilleran is not persuaded is the simple car accident the local police decide, and his wife is immediately selling everything, including the paper that their son hoped to turn into something significant. Qwilleran intervenes, getting a friend from one of the earlier books who is an entrepreneur to buy the paper, but there are several other deaths and some mysterious persons and disappearances. A huge snowstorm, anticipated every day for several weeks and then hitting entirely by surprise, plays a prominent role in the story, and the cats manage to avoid a deadly fire because the ever prescient Koko insists that the caretaker take them out of the mansion to the servant's quarters several hours before the arsonist arrives. Oh, and that same prescient Siamese cat keeps knocking volumes of an antique set of the complete works of Shakespeare off the shelf, usually making some connection in his owner's mind to some point in the events around them, and with a particular preference for Hamlet, which proves to be very much relevant to the main story our journalist detective is trying to unravel.It keeps up the light mystery feeling of the other books in the series, something akin to a Murder She Wrote sort of television mystery but a bit more complicated (it is, after all, a book). It is worth reading if you want something light and aren't too demanding of a mystery writer.
I really liked this book. First of all, it has cats and being the owners/ cohabiter of three I love the challenges that only a life with cats can bring. Second, it mentioned Shakespeare in the title and that always intrigues me. This is my first Lilian Jackson Braun mystery and apparently she is quite the writer in this genre. There are more than 20 Million Cat Who... books in print and after reading The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare that does not surprise me. I can remember seeing these books come home from the library with my mom when I lived at home, so when I was wandering through the stacks at the library, I picked up a couple.I know that the title mentions the cat. It is an intelligent cat... obviously, who throughout this series helps his owner, Jim Qwilleran, solves mysteries. And while I love cats, I think what will make me go back and read more books from this series is the character of Jim Qwilleran. Here is a newspaper man; a city man that has inherited a large sum of money and a wonderful home that has relocated to Pickax (a small town in Minnesota, I think). I am interested in how this came about and how someone can go through such a chance in life circumstances. Because of his newspaper ties, it seems natural that he would become involved in solving the mystery of death of the local newspaper patriarch. This brings me to the other main character of the cat, Ko Ko. I admit... I wish he could talk, but alas, Braun instead comes up with more clever ways for him to communicate. In this novel, he pushes specific titles of Shakespeare plays onto the floor to guide Qwill onto the right path of thinking to help him solve this crime. Knowing all of these plays fairly well, I found the title selections fascinating and I wanted to read more to see how that particular title was a clue. Lastly, I love the setting of the books. The small town and the quirky people were really down to earth and in an odd way very Northern Exposure- like. I enjoyed that. The writing style is quick and easy to read. You can finish a book in a couple of hours. The vocabulary is very usable (if that makes sense) and I definitely think I would recommend this to my students (middle school and high school) to read, too. It is straight up entertaining in a relaxing way. While I enjoyed the Shakespeare aspect, I do not think you need to know Shakespeare to read it. Lastly, they are not gross or gruesome in their descriptions of death. Just like the setting and the characters, there is just enough details to tell the story without going over the top.
What do You think about The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (1996)?
If you ever wondered what it would be like if a truly crazy cat lady wrote a story, here you have it. It boggles the mind there were 6 more before this. Maybe they started out better and I got a hold of the one that really went downhill, but I don't even know why I finished it.I got it from my mother, who also acknowledged it was bad (evidently she doesn't like me much) and when I asked her if it got any better than from where I was, she said it didn't. Still, I read. I don't know why. I think I truly believed that somewhere in this muddled mess of a story would be something that would cleverly tie it all together.No. There wasn't. I'm really angry with myself for not bailing when I got the feeling that I was going to regret this.
—Clancy Nacht
The gym I'm a member of has a shelf of free books to take for your workout, if you happen to be one of those folks who can run, bike and read at the same time. I'm not, but noticed this volume of Braun's "The Cat Who" series while waiting for my friend in the foyer. I'd read many of these books as a kid, and liked them. So, wondering if Braun would hold up to twenty years of life including a college and graduate school education, I took home "The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare." Though not a work of (shall I say) Shakespeare, Braun still has a certain charm and quaintness. The funny names of the members of the town in which Quilleran finds himself (Hackpole, Goodwinter, etc) are noteworthy enough to have the characters themselves comment upon them! Yet, the true charm resides in the feline characters of Koko and Yum Yum. I'm not sure you could appreciate this book if you aren't a cat lover (even a mild one), especially when Braun suggests Koko solved the crime long before his human companion. I can't say I "learned" anything from the story and it felt a bit like eating empty calories reading it. But there's a time and place for such things and if the desire ever comes again to attempt to read while running, I'll look for another Braun "The Cat Who" mystery.
—Rebecca
The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare is the seventh in a very lengthy "Cat Who..." series of mysteries by Lilian Jackson Braun. The protagonist of the series is curmudgeonly Qwilleran, a journalist in a small, very cold, town, and his cat Koko (by this book, Koko has a companion, Yum Yum). The book involves the mysterious death of a young friend of Qwilleran's father. I liked Qwilleran-he would fit comfortably in a tv series and Koko was entertaining, especially in the use of sophisticated literature to convey clues. I found the book comfortable but not exciting or challenging. I enjoyed the characters and the plot was mildly interesting but I was able to guess far too much, far too easily (as well as far too quickly). I may read more of the series-I would like to see how the series begins-but not any time soon.
—Ellie
