The Cat Who Played Post Office

This is number six in Lilian Braun's long running 'The Cat Who' series and marks the beginning of Jim Qwilleran's transplantation to the far northern town of Pickaxe. Qwilleran has managed to become the heir of the community's wealthiest resident and must stay in Pickaxe for five years in order to inherit. As we all know now, he lasted a lot more than five years, and may still be north of everywhere enjoying the foibles and gossip that play such an important part of the world's coziest cozies.

Qwill has just moved into the Klingenshoen mansion with his two Siamese cats - Yum Yum the delectable and arch-detective Koko. Koko, through various manipulations of his owner's behavior, manages to arouse Qwill's curiosity about the disappearance of a housemaid a few years previously. In the process of investigating, the newspaperman introduces us to many of Pickaxes residents for the very first time. When he isn't being his by trucks, that is. It is interesting in retrospect to meet these characters again, who often started out one way and then became something else as Braun added layer after layer to her confection of characters and mysteries (and cats).

I can only read so many of these in rapid succession before I have to stop. Lilian Braun has a tendency to let her characters run in a groove with very little development over a number of volumes. She makes up for this by using Qwilleran to create witty dialogue, but there are only so many Pickaxe witticisms that one can read before feeling a desire for something with a bit more meat to it. This volume is a change of pace (if you've been reading in sequence). There's a bit less sarcasm and a bit more story and that makes this one of the best of her early books.

Don't look for a complicated mystery here. Braun's villains tend to be obvious, and more often than not the means are just as visible. You read these tales for lightweight enjoyment and the zany characters that chitchat their way through the pages. And, of course, you read them because you can't resist Qwill's owners, the Siamese masterminds.

This 6th book in the series opens with Qwill, the new heir to the Klingenschoen fortune, trying to remember just who and where he is. As he remembers flashbacks cover the events leading up to the accident that lead to his amnesia, or was it an accident? Along the way Qwill, with the guidance of his cats, solves the long ago disappearance of a housemaid and encouters a scandal involving a the oldest most respected Moose County family.
Qwill's relocation to Moose County has been eased by friends, both old and new. His long time friend Arch Riker has come up north for a visit, a former land lady, Iris Cobb has relocated to Pickaxe to become his housekeeper. Qwill's romance with Dr. Melinda, begun in the previous book, is continuing. Other Moose County residents, both from the eariler Cat Who Played Brahms and new to this book appear.
This 'cozy' mystery will appeal more to those already familiar with the series although it could be enjoyed on its own merits by a mystery fan. A reader new to the series could also begin here.

Lillian Jackson Braun opens this, her sixth cat mystery with Jim Qwilleran waking up in a hospital bed and not knowing who or where he is. It seems that he had been run off of the road by a truck as he bicycled on Ittibittiwassee Road. As he tries to regain his memory the reader is led along with him while he thinks back on events leading up to his accident. Most of these events involve the perplexing disappearance of one Daisy Mull who had been employed by Qwilleran's "Aunt Fanny." Once he is home from the hospital things begin to happen at a more rapid pace and a mystery that no one in Moose County had thought about all that much ends up bringing down some of Pickax City's leading citizens and leads to more deaths. Had Qwilleran paid attention to Koko's clues a little earlier some of this mayhem might have been avoided but the Siamese wonder can't seem to make his human friend understand. Koko finally gets so disgusted with Qwilleran that he refuses to have anything to do with him.

Braun also uses this book to set up Qwilleran's new life in Moose County. Arch Riker comes up from Down Below for a visit and hints that he might just like to make the move to Pickax City himself and Mrs. Iris Cobb does make the move and becomes Qwilleran's housekeeper, cook and the curator of his newly acquired house full of antiques. Ever the ladies man, our hero has hooked up with the lovely green-eyed Dr. Melinda Goodwinter and the relationship has blossomed since it began in the last book. He even begins to hint at a marriage. He also makes the acquaintance of Amanda Goodwinter who seems to be a perfect match for the newly divorced Arch Riker.

There are a few more twists and turns in this story than in some of the previous books but once again the mystery is not the main attraction of the book. Braun's talent for creating memorable characters and settings is very much in evidence in this book and she appears to have even created a man for Iris Cobb. Just Like Iris' first husband, nobody can stand this guy either. As usual, the cats steal the show as they march together in a dinner line and wait impatiently for the mail to come through the slot so that they can dive in the pile. And once again the cats save Qwilleran's life. This time it is Koko that comes to the rescue at the end of this highly enjoyable and entertaining book.

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 book starts off very interestingly with Qwill not knowing who or where he is due to falling off his bicycle on Ittibittiwassee Road. This provides some very interesting reading material at the beginning because his best friend Riker comes to his hospital room and has to refresh Qwill's mind on his past. So, consequently, the reader is filled in on a lot of Qwill's life up to that point. Some of which we already knew, some we didn't! This whole book is, of course, interesting and Koko and Yum Yum are adorable. This paragraph from the book will give you a good idea about the cats... "'CHFFF!' The Siamese were still under the table. Yum Yum was looking for a shoelace to untie, and Koko was listening to the guests' voices with rapt concentration."

I chose "The Cat Who Played Post Office" because 1) I liked Lillian Jackson Braun's books ("The Cat ...) I nread before and 2) I just bought her previous book: "The Cat Who Played Brahms" (paperback, used, for .25 at the Library. I like her telling and developing her mystery - crime novels around the cat KOKO without inferring any human traits to him. The above story is particularly appealing in that respect.
Emmy B.

This is number 6 in "The Cat Who ... " series. Qwill (now wealthy) and the cats settle down in Moose County. Mrs. Cobb, the antique dealer from an earlier book, joins them to manage the household. Qwill believes a murder has taken place and is determined to find out what happened. Like all the books in the series, this one is a page-turner.