Jim Qwilleran is on a diet. He discovered he could not catch his breath while chasing Koko, his chocolate brown Siamese cat, at the veterinarian clinic. Once the irritated Koko finally settled and got his teeth cleaned, the vet recommended Jim see Doc Beane, so Jim, taking Beane's recommendation to lose 30 pounds, started the new diet. After a day of near starving, Jim weighs himself. He is dismayed to find he is 3 pounds heavier after dieting all day! Appalled, he becomes more determined to lose weight. Deep in thought as he steps off the scale, he doesn't notice Koko removing his paws from the scale.More bad news waits for Jim at work. The boss, the managing editor, has a new assignment for Qwilleran. The newspaper, Daily Fluxion, needs a gourmet columnist, a job which means eating at all of the local restaurants to write critiques and recommendations. Qwilleran has been selected as the new gourmet critic!Qwilleran is on the wagon and he's on a diet, but he decides not to make a fuss. He realizes he will be able to take home lots of goodies to his two cats, Koko and Yum Yum. They have already torn up his apartment after he tried to change their diet of fresh food to cheap canned cat food once. Things look even better when Mary Duckworth, a delightful woman he met in the previous book, and a member of a Gourmet Club, recommends he visit the Maus Haus where the Club meets, which is the home of an attorney, Mickey Maus. He goes to the club meeting and meets many chefs and restaurant owners, so it's easy setting up dates to visit their restaurants for his column. The house is very strange and huge, it's design reminding Qwilleran of an Egyptian temple, with a pottery operation in back. The building is a boardinghouse for artists, including restaurant owners. And newspaper writers! A room is available to rent, and Qwilleran takes it.After he moves in, very upsetting events soon occur. Qwilleran was already warned that a suicide had happened at Maus Haus years before, so he has been nosing around. There certainly are lots of odd characters, lovable and not so lovable, sharing the dining table with him at meal time. The previous night at dinner he saw Gourmet Club members who were the owners of the rival newspaper, the Morning Rampage, although they aren't regular diners as those who live in the studios are. He learns that one of the residents, Joy Graham, had a cat who never came home. Then, Joy, his old girlfriend from high school, who he had discovered was the resident pottery artist along with her less talented husband Dan, vanishes! Dan claims she moved to Florida, which Qwilleran knows Joy hates. But she HAD borrowed money from him because she said she was going to get a divorce. Then, another resident disappears! But that's not the worst of it, as horrible as what has already occurred is. Coming home after an assignment to review a restaurant out of town, with a possible new girlfriend accompanying him - the housekeeper Mrs. Marron tearfully explains his 'Home Alone' cats have had an unfortunate incident!Qwilleran almost goes insane. And dear reader, me too! Me too!
The Cat Who Saw Red is the fourth book in Lilian Jackson Braun's popular "Cat Who..." series. Once upon a time I read one of these books (The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, the second book)--I got it through the Mystery Guild book club--and thought it a decent read. But I never really bothered to go on with the series. It's an interesting concept. You have Jim Qwilleran, a news reporter for the The Daily Fluxion, and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. Qwilleran used to be a crime reporter--quite a good one--until a rough divorce resulting in depression and a problem with alcohol caused him to lose his job. When the series begins, he has taken a job with The Daily Fluxion and is working his way back to respectability.This book finds Qwill (as he's known to his friends) assigned to cover the restaurant beat. And for his first story, he decides to interview Robert Maus, a lawyer known for his culinary skills and also the owner of Maus Haus--a boarding house for artistic and culinary types. As a result of his initial contact with Maus and, coincidentally finding that an old flame is a boarder in the house, Qwill takes up residence in the coincidentally vacant apartment #6. He's hoping to see more of Joy Graham (never mind that she's now married), but soon he's interested in more than just stirring up the embers of old love. He learns of an unsolved "suicide" from years ago and then odd things begin to happen--Joy's cat disappears and then Joy herself. The young houseboy, William, becomes a source of gossip and information until he too disappears. There's also the mystery of who is sabotaging the reputation of Max Sorrel's restaurant, The Golden Lamb Chop. Sorrel is another inmate of Maus Haus--and someone has been spreading rumors that his meals are made with less-than-savory ingredients. Are all of these incidents connected....or are the disappearances unrelated? Qwill and his detective-minded cats will soon find out.As you might have guessed from the sprinkling of the word, there are a fair number of "coincidences" in this one. You also have to suspend your disbelief regarding cats and how much they really might know about human nature. But once you get past that, this is a pleasant little cozy mystery. Fairly well-clued and a bit of suspense thrown in (albeit in a nice, soft-touch sort of way). Qwill is a fairly likeable guy and I do like his interactions with the cats. I picked this one up primarily for the Getting Lost in a Comfortable Book reading challenge and I can certainly see why this would be considered comfort reading. Nothing too challenging here. Just a nice little murder with cats as the window dressing. Three stars.This review is mine and was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting any portion. Thanks.
What do You think about The Cat Who Saw Red (1986)?
Book Review "The Cat Who Saw Red" By Vinny Casentini This book chronicles the adventures of Jim Qwilleran and his psychic cat Koko. Jim had just received a new assignment from his paper at the Daily Fluxion. He is supposed to be a food critic and review all of the good restaurants around. And when he moves into the acclaimed Maus House the mystery begins. First a disappearing cat then a woman, can Qwilleran crack the case before he to vanishes? The Author, Lillian Jackson Braun. She has so mu, has one of my favorite writing styles. She has so much detail in her stories that it seems as if you are reading about a real place. It does make it hard for people who are not familiar with the series because they may not understand all of the characters and events. Fans of "Hot Money" may like this book. It has the same intense detail,hair raising action, and a thrilling mystery. If you like that then this is the book for you
—Vinny
An early title in the series, but nevertheless Koko is just as switched one as ever, as Qwilleran deciphers the clues he is leaving in their new residence, Maus House. Something shifty is going on in the pottery area of the house, and Koko suspects murder and more. Poor Qwill is on a diet, and has just received a new beat; that of a food critic, much to his dismay. Together, and with a little help from the food industry, they will solve the crime and Koko will catch the villain.I enjoyed reading about the food, because fine dining isn't something I am acquainted with. Here we also see characters that play a bigger part when Qwill moves to the country, including Hixie Rice. The scene with the generic cat food was funny, there is nothing like trying to get your cat to eat something cheaper and failing miserably. I myself feed my two tabbies whiskas, and if I deviate from brand or flavor they either ignore it, or eat it only to throw up on the carpet, so this proved a funny read for me.Detective fiction at its finest, a Lilian Jackson Braun book is always a good read.
—Kirsti
Another winning entry in Lilian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who..." series, this poignant, sometimes shocking, and overall highly amusing story about great food and sensibly-priced murder at an eccentric boardinghouse includes a clever twist: with the exception of Qwill and dignified lawyer-cum-landloard-cum-frustrated-chef Robert Maus, the surnames of this book's main characters all refer to some type of food, drink, or seasonings: Mrs. Marron, Max Sorrel, William Vitello [a type of veal:], Joy Graham (formerly Joy Wheatley), Hixie Rice, Rosemary Whiting; even the seafood restaurant next door is owned by Joe Pike! As Qwill experiences an emotional surprise reunion with Joy, his first love who essentially jilted him at the altar two decades earlier, he relies on Koko's instincts to help him solve a number of mysterious disappearances - until a shocking incident, and an even more shocking discovery in the pages of an old book, lead Qwill to a grisly conclusion -and a deadly showdown. NOTE: this book includes a VERY emotional chapter in which Qwill is led to believe that his cats have died; if you're the type of reader who cries over scenes like these (I know I am!), you've been warned!
—Mary
