The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal

by Lilian Jackson Braun

Paperback, 1992

Status

Available

Call number

F Bra

Call number

F Bra

Barcode

3077

Publication

Berkley (1992), 288 pages

Description

Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum return for another adventure "400 miles north of everywhere" in the extraordinarily popular Cat who ... series. Back in Pickax, Jim Qwilleran expects to resume a quiet life, but the people and animals of Pickax have other ideas. A noisy cardinal wakes him every morning. Nosy neighbors drop by uninvited and the Siamese misbehave, even sneezing on guests. As if that weren't bad enough, Qwill's longtime companion acts as though she is in love-with another man. But worst of all, Qwill finds a body in his apple orchard. When Qwill's friend becomes the chief suspect, he embarks on a crusade to clear Dennis Hough's name and win back Polly Ducan's heart. Even Koko sniffs out a few clues. But will their efforts be too little too late? Not even knows for sure in this quirky, engaging romp through Moose County.… (more)

Original publication date

1991

User reviews

LibraryThing member arl5n5
A play is in the works up North. Koko helps Qwill find the killer of the nasty director.
LibraryThing member reading_fox
I picked this up as my entry point to the series, which given it is twelve books in porbably doesn't help, but found it plesaingly understandable anyway. There are several references to previous events, which I assume happened in the other books, but they don't effect the plot of this one at
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all.

Qwill a semi-retired jounalist ex-police officer has recently moved into a large barn conversion with his two cats, and is new arrangements are part of the talk of hte town. Following the sucessful close of the local Am Dram production of HenryVIII, the actors descend upon him for a late night party. In the morning the cats discover that the producer - the unliked school headmaster - never made it home. Although Qeill doesn't investigate as such, in the manner of a male Miss Marple, or a non-smoking Columbo he quickly turns up a few odd facts about the deceased, and by the time of the second body he is quite curious. Although there are two bodies, not much actually happens. The Cardinal in question is both a bird in Qwill's newfound garden, and Cardinal Worsley who was played by the school master.

The quiet pace and gently engaging chats and antics of the cats make this a perfectly enjoyable though hardly remarkable cosy. There is plenty of backstory interaction with characters presumably known from previous books.
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LibraryThing member AngieBrooke
As usual another great story featuring Qwilleran and his lovely siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum. I never tire of these stories. This is one of my favorite series.
LibraryThing member universehall
Largely an enjoyable book. I got stuck somewhere half way through during a dry part... But I think I actually enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed the last couple. I felt there was more interaction with the main characters -- which is, after all, the reason one reads these books. And the finish
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was pretty good.
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LibraryThing member Fernandame
Audiobook - I really enjoy this series and even though there was less about the cats in this one the story was good.
LibraryThing member dele2451
Another adorable story in the tried and true Lilian Jackson Braun formula. It's not particularly weighty reading, but it was just the perfect thing to pass the time while I waited out a snowstorm. One Warning: If you are a serious cardinal lover, you might want to pick something else.
LibraryThing member bluesalamanders
When Qwill moves into his remodeled apple barn, he hosts a party after the latest theater production. After everyone leaves, he finds the unpopular director murdered outside.

Qwill and Poly have some problems in this book, and it's kind of frustrating and sad. Not my favorite of the series.
LibraryThing member dukefan86
Once I started listening to this one, I realized I'd heard it before, but it was worth hearing again. As with many other Lilian Jackson Braun stories, this was an easy one to listen to while driving. The cast of characters was pretty interesting to follow, though I remembered whodunit from my last
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listen a few years ago.
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LibraryThing member simchaboston
Much like its protagonist, this story ambles along, leisurely highlighting the nooks and crannies of the small town and its characters. But the narrative also never loses sight of its main mystery, and Qwill's interactions with his neighbors aren't separate from his murder investigation, but an
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integral part of it. (Being a cat lover, I also appreciate the humorous asides about Qwill's feline accomplices.) Nothing earthshattering, but it's light and entertaining -- a good one to read on a trip and then pass on.
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LibraryThing member nx74defiant
Another fun mystery with Koko and YumYum.

I love the descriptions of Qwill's barn home
LibraryThing member ChazziFrazz
The Pickax Theatre Club shows up at Qwill's converted apple barn for an impromptu closing-night cast party. When things die down and most everyone is gone, there is still a car parked on the property. When Qwill checks on it, he finds the dead body of Hilary VanBrook, the disliked director of the
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play!

Having been a prize-winning reporter on the crime beat, Qwill finds himself drawn into searching for the murder and the reason for the killing. His partners in sleuthing are Koko and Yum Yum, his pair of Siamese cats.

When a visitor shoots and kills a cardinal that Koko has befriended, Qwill starts to take a long hard look at the man and the people around him. Qwills ability to engage people in conversation and learn things, and Koko's extraordinary ability to give Qwill hints to follow make for a fun and interesting read.

This is a series that I've read almost all the books on and will be sad to get to the end, but I am enjoying them as I go!
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LibraryThing member FerneMysteryReader
One of the delights of this series is that one never knows where Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum-Yum will be residing as the setting for their residence changes throughout the series and they always add an interesting twist to the mystery of murder and mayhem and a fascinating new
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cast of characters for their interactions.

As always, I can't wait to read the next one in the series but didn't realize until I added the title on GoodReads that I missed reading #11 so will take a step back as I can't miss any of the titles in this series.
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LibraryThing member kevn57
4 ½ stars
This was a reread that I’d last read in the 1990’s when I read the entire series available at the time. It was my favorite book of the series back then and I still remembered many details of the book which is different from my reread of the early books which I retained a slight
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familiarity with. It really stood up for me I liked that the mystery was tied together with Edmund Backhouse and will look for his biography next time I’m in the library. I also love the barn as a setting.
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LibraryThing member talon2claw
I love the way these little mysteries wander into small town, middle of nowhere life. The cats keep me entertained. One thing is for sure, I never want to meet Jim Qwilleran; people are always dying around that man!

Rating

½ (246 ratings; 3.6)

Pages

288
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