The Cat Who Robbed a Bank

This book was really disappointing. I think the title of this review says it all. This book was boring. There was no mystery to speak of and 90 % of the book is filled with trite dialog that could have been written by someone in junior high school. Way too much on what people were wearing or what they had for dinner. No one cares unless it adds to the plot. To many characters and subplots that go absolutely nowhere. This book is best read as a lesson on how not to write a story. Don't waste your time.

It's a delight to have another charming episode in the adventures of Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. There's a lot going on in Pickax, Moose County, 400 miles from everywhere: the opening of the newly refurbished town hotel; the Scottish Gathering; a visit by an eccentric estate jewelry dealer named Delacamp; the planned first annual Mark Twain Festival. The mystery begins when Delacamp is found murdered in his room at the hotel. Was the perpetrator a local or someone from Down Below? What is the significance of Koko's "conceptual art"? Where is the jewelry dealer's missing "niece"? Why are Koko and Yum Yum stealing pennies? Why does Koko want Qwilleran to read "Oedipus Rex"? Never fear: Qwill and his cats will give us the answers. In addition to the mystery itself, you'll find interesting asides on the Arts & Crafts movement, workaholic sheep-herding Border collies, Scottish games, and Anthony Trollope's mother. Don't let snobbish putdowns of cat cozies keep you from reading and enjoying this series. Lilian Jackson Braun always gives us a good, gently humorous story with a pleasant ambience and plenty of likable characters, feline and human.

I LOVE Qwilleran and the cats! And this time Braun is back in her earlier, feisty form. There's lots of fun here. We're right back in Pickax City in the midst of some odd festivities -- are there any other kind in Braun's world? This story has seasonal interest and quirky characters, and it reveals some surprises -- both in the mystery at hand and in Qwill's personal life. Koko, of course, is brilliant, as usual. Nicely done, Lilian!

I want to commend the author for another wonderful book. I am 15 years old, and these are the only books that I will read over and over. As to the subject of the repetition of the facts on Qwill and the cats, I think that this is necessary for the author to do, because if this is the first book that a person reads out of this series, they will obviously be inquisitive about thet details of the characters. I understand that this wasn't as thought provoking as the other 21 Cat Who... books I own, but sometimes it is better to establish things in one book that will carry over to other stories. (i.e.-Amanda Goodwinter vs. Gregory Blythe) Congratulations, Lilian Jackson Braun, and kudos to the kitties for another job well done!

The series itself it slopeing downhill in its old age. I believe that there is a ghostwriter (or more than one?), but this book is MUCH better than the two before it. There are still some remarks that anyone who is reading the series from the beginning will say "What?!?!" to, like Qwill "always wearing a tie to dinner with Polly", but it reads like the earlier well written Cat Who books. Either Lillian is back, or they got a better ghostwriter for this one.

I have been very interested in reading the reviews of this book. I agree that The Cat Who Robbed a Bank is not the equal of other books in The Cat Who...series. It lacked the depth and descriptive prose of the previous novels. The one sentence paragraphs became tedious at times. It is almost as if this book was written by someone else. Perhaps someone else was ghost writing this book for Ms. Jackson-Braun?

I've never understood the obsession with the Scots in Pickax County. It's almost as though they're trying to out-Scot the Scots. This book has a big Highland gathering.The Scottish themes are too twee and there are too many mistakes. For example in one book Qwillan told someone how to pronounce skean dhu and got it completely wrong. This rang very false for a character who makes such an issue of being part Scottish. What's the Scottish rebellion she keeps referring to in this book? Could it be the Jacobite Rebellion? There were Scots and English on both sides and I've never heard it referred to as anything over than the Jacobite rebellion or the '45. Is there a different name in America?

I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS STORY AND THOUGHT IT WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE LAST ONE WHICH WAS A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT. IT WAS GREAT TO BE UPDATED WITH THE GOINGS ON IN PICKAX CITY AND RENEW OUR AQUAINTANCE WITH ALL THE CHARACTERS. THE LETTERS FROM ANNIE TO FANNY WERE AN INTERESTING INSIGHT TO QWILL'S BACKGROUND TO HIM AND READERS ALIKE. AGREED THE MYSTERY WAS MORE TRAGIC THAN MYSTERIOUS BUT THE CATS (PRIMARILY KOKO) CAME UP WITH SOME INGENIOUS CLUES AND WERE ENDEARING AND AMUSING AS EVER. MY FRIENDS, FAMILY AND PETS SHOULD BE SO ENGAGING! A VERY DELIGHTFUL AND SATISFYING READ!

Although the book was very well written and was very enjoyable, it was completely opposite ms. Braun's creative style. In fact, every single one of her books contradict the style in this book. It deprives you of the magnificance of her other books. In this one Qwill (James "Jim" Qwilleran) is practacly handed the clues to the crime. And also what outrages me about it is that THE CATS PLAY OFF STAGE AND QWILL GETS ALL THE LIMELIGHT! It's a semi-good book, but I would only recomend it if you were to read the whole series.

I have been getting more and more disappointed in the Cat Who books and this is the nail on the coffin. Yes, it is better than the previous book, it does have somewhat of a mystery. Qwill is getting too Perfect and too Boring. And who would burn letters from their long dead mother without finish reading them. I will not be spenting any more money on Braun's books.

This book catches us up with the good community of Pickax, where Qwilleran lives an an apple barn. The New PickaxHotel has been renovated and Amanda Goodwinter is running for mayor challenging the incumbent Gregory Blythe. We learn a lot about Qwill's family which helps us understand his life before the cats. Although the Cats play a reduced role, the book is just as good as any others in this better than average series.

I was sadly dissappointed, and I felt the end just dropped off. I have read and re-read all the previous "Cat Who..." books, and thoroughly enjoy them each time. I wait all year for Ms. Braun's latest and greatest continuing saga of life with Qwill, Koko, Yum Yum, and all "our" friends and neighbors 400 miles north of everywhere. I am still, and always will be a true fan of Lilian Jackson Braun, but I feel this is not Braun at her best.

I bought this Kindle edition and then saw that it only had 92 pages while the paperback and hardcover editions all have closer to 300 pages. So I returned the Kindle book and hope I will receive the refund promised to me. By why on earth would the store be selling an edition of the book with only a third of the material?

This book, although good, did not fully measure up to what I have come to expect from Ms. Braun. I agreed with some that she needs to bring back old characters who we have seen very little of in this latest Qwill update. The story seemed to lack her usual wit and conviction. However Ms. Braun did not deserve some of the unkind reviews given as it was an enjoyable book. Maybe it was different. Let us hope that with the next she will be back at her best.

I'm fourteen years old, and considering the overwhelming amount of criticism Ms. Braun attributes to younger people, I have never enjoyed a series of books as much as hers. The Cat Who Robbed A Bank was a wonderful book, just as can't-put-it-down as her previous books. All I have to say is that nothing has changed in the captivating, marvelous way Ms. Braun writes, and I will always keep coming back for more.

I was disappointed in the latest Cat Who... book. It is too predictable, and it ends abruptly. The story just didn't hold my interest. If it were the first Cat Who... book that I had read, I doubt that I would have pursued the others. Is the author growing tired of the characters? Do they need a change of locale? Qwill, Koko, and YumYum could go to Paris, perhaps!

Boring, no mystery, no solving; not much happens except the day to day (boring) details of life at Qwill's. A complete waste of time and money. And most of the reviews I read seem to agree so why did anyone give this boring book any stars? (well, I guess we can't submit without a star so it would get at least one)

I have enjoyed all the Cat Who Books . Have owned or borrowed or went to library to read them. Always can't wait for the next book to see what Koko and Yum Yum are up to. Have two of my own and think they are smart things to have.