The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare

The tapes were not rewound & the final tape was practically impossible to understand. You could hear approximately every 4th word no matter how loud the volume was turned up. It's quality was certainly not "good".

I downloaded the Kindle app hoping to find this book because I can't get it for my Nook. Low and behold the first review I read says it's the only one of Braun's entire The Cat Who series not available on Kindle either. Why do these publishers leave a book or even a few of them out when putting a whole series in Ebook form. Same holds true of Piers Anthony's Xanth series. Also James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series. Extremely frustrating. They are not listening to those of us who have been asking this question for two years and more..

In this 7th book in the series, Jim Qwilleran (Quill) - formerly a crime reporter in Chicago - is living in a town called Pickax in Moose County.....a region that's '400 miles north of everywhere.' Qwill moved to the nether regions because he's required to live in Pickax for five years to get his inheritance: the Klingenschoen fortune and the Klingenschoen mansion. One of Qwills notable characteristics is his luxuriant moustache, which twitches when something is 'off.'

Qwill isn't very interested in the trappings of wealth, so he uses the Klingenschoen billions to establish the philanthrophic 'K-Fund'.....and is converting the Klingenschoen mansion into a museum. To this end, Qwill hires Mrs. Iris Cobb to be his housekeeper/house manager. This works out well because Mrs. Cobb - an antiques expert - will catalogue the contents of the mansion. Moreover, Iris is a wonderful cook, and bakes delicious cookies and cakes.

Two other members of Qwill's entourage are his beloved Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, who have their own 'apartment', eat gourmet food, and get lots of attention: Qwill talks to them, reads to them, brushes them, and so on.

Yum Yum is a normal kitty - who likes to swipe and hide shiny things, but Koko is very unsual: he's a sort of 'cat clairvoyant' who can sniff out evil; predict crimes; mount rescue operations; etc. Koko communicates via yowls, facial expressons, and unusual behavior. In this book, Koko continually knocks Shakespeare books off the shelf.....especially Macbeth.

Though 'the cat who' books are ostensibly cozy mysteries, the 'mystery' part of the stories is sometimes rather nebulous.That's certainly the case here. For the most part, Qwill keeps busy with normal everyday things such as: dating the head librarian, Polly Duncan; taping the remembrances of elderly Pickax residents; hobnobbing with acquaintances from 'down below' who've moved to town for employment; conferring with Junior Goodwinter - the editor of 'The Picayune' - about modernizing the newspaper; avidly following the weather reports to see when 'the big one' (a huge snowstorm) will hit; and doing other mundane things.

On the 'suspense' side, a few things do concern Qwill: several people, including Senior Goodwinter (Junior's father) are killed in car accidents; Qwill's old friend Hixie Rice - a restaurateur - is acting hinky; and Mrs. Cobb is dating a businesman named Herb Hackpole - an unpopular, bad-mannered lout who drinks a lot and is mean to the cats. (Boo! Hiss!)

By the end of the book a crime is uncovered and a tragedy has occurred....and it looks like Koko predicted it all.

SPOILER ALERT

I have to say, Lillian Jackson Braun is not shy about divesting Moose County of people and property in her books. LOL

END SPOILER ALERT

I've been a long-time fan of this series, and I enjoyed this book (which is a re-read for me). It would be preferable to start at the beginning of the series, but "The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare" can be read as a standalone without missing much.

Recommended to fans of cozy myteries.

The seventh entry in the Cat Who series is another fun mystery. Qwill is settling into his new life as a multi-millionaire, although he's still clearly uncomfortable with the trappings, especially his massive mansion lavishly decorated in antiques. During this story, he turns the mansion into a museum and donates it to the town. He also gets involved in a mystery involving the local newspaper; of course, he gets some help there from his dutiful kitties -- Koko and Yum-Yum. This time, Koko has become a fan of Shakespeare plays and keeps knocking leather-bound tomes of them off the shelf. Whatever can it mean?

As with other books in the series, "The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare" is a quick cozy mystery, with just enough local color to keep things interesting. The cats are somewhat tangentially involved this time, but they get plenty of attention from Qwill. Unfortunately, this entry is not available on Kindle, so I put off reading it for quite awhile before finally breaking down and reading it in paperback form. I look forward to reading #8 on my Kindle.

Lilian Jackson Braun (June 20, 1913 - June 4, 2011) was an American writer, well known for her light-hearted series of "The Cat Who..." mystery novels. The "Cat Who" books center around the life of former newspaper reporter, James Qwilleran, and his two Siamese cats, KoKo and Yum-Yum, in the fictitious small town of Pickax located in Moose County "400 miles north of everywhere." Although never formally stated in her books, the towns, counties and lifestyles described in the series are generally accepted to be modeled after Bad Axe, Michigan, where Braun resided with her husband until the mid-1980s

This 7th book in the popular Cat Who series opens in November as all of Moose County waits for the arrival of 'the Big One' the first snow fall of the season. Jim Qwilleran, known as Qwill or Mr. Q, has recently inherited a fortune contingent on his residence in Moose County for 5 years. He has decided to leave his career as a journalist 'Down Below' and stay in Moose County, '400 miles North of everywhere'. Qwill has begun to use his fortune to help the people of Moose County by various contributions channeled through the 'K fund'.
His largest planned project is setting up a museum in the mansion full of antiques he has inherited but the one possibly nearest his heart is luring a decent cook into one of the local restaurants. The cook has arrived accompanied by a friend of Qwill's from down below, Hixie Rice, and is a bit of a mystery.
Other matters that concern Qwill are the romance of his housekeeper, Iris Cobb and his own budding romance with the local librarian, Polly Duncan. Qwill has also taken an interest in the local newspaper and the family that runs it. His companion, Koko, a Siamese cat has taken an interest in pushing valuable volumes of Shakespeare plays off the bookshelves. As always by the end of the book Qwill has resolved all issues and realizes that Koko was ahead of him all the way.
The emphasis in the series has always been more on the characters, the cozy element and less on the mystery aspect. This is particularly true in this one. If you are a Moose County fan you MUST read this book as it moves the series along on serveral important fronts but if you are looking for a mystery this probably isn't the book for you. The resolution is rather contrived and frankly by the time you get to it you may have forgotten half of the questions it was supposed to answer.

. . .investigate the death (was it murder?) of the local newspaper publisher.
Alas, Qwill's doctor girlfriend has moved to Boston to specialize, leaving him without the benefit of female companionship. But not to worry! In "Shakespeare" we are introducted to Polly -- a widow about Qwill's age who manages the local library. In Polly, Qwill seems to have found a soul mate.
Also, Mrs. Cobb, Qwill's landlady from Down Below (see "The Cat Who Turned On and Off") and his new cook and housekeeper (see "The Cat Who Played Post Office") decided to re-marry. Will the third time prove the charm for Mrs. Cobb?
This mystery, set once again in Pickax (pop. 3,000) while not the best of the series is certainly an entertaining read. I enjoyed it.

As always I really enjoyed this book! But, I felt sorry for Mrs. Cobb because her new husband, Herb Hackpole, died in the fire not that he didn't deserve it or anything. It was also such a waste because all those antiques burnt up in the fire. And it was ingenious when Braun made Koko want to go to the carriage house because he knew there was going to be a fire 2 hours before it happened.-Angel Granata,12

Once again KoKo the cat solves another crime, but this book was not an exciting page-turner as some of her previous books. It was a good story and definitely gives you more character development as the series continues, but the exciting mystery hardly seemed there. I found myself not even caring whether Qwill solved the crime or not.
If you are interested in reading the entire series by Braun, then I would suggest reading this book just for the smooth flow of the series. But if you are just looking for a good mystery to read, I would suggest skipping this one and finding one of her other books, such as "The Cat Who Saw Red."