The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell

I enjoyed the book. It has been out a while, but I had not read it before.

I have followed The Cat Who and James Qwilleran for many years now and I thoroughly enjoyed this newest edition to the family! Lilian Jackson Braun does not ever disappoint and I intend to continue to follow these books and characters!

With twenty-eight feline novels behind her, Ms. Braun has created a world that has given a lot of us a great deal of pleasure. Getting a new book from her is a lot like a visit from an old relative. Sometimes the visits are great. Sometimes the visits are less enchanting than others, just like visits from real relatives. At any case, any visit is welcome. Lovers of 'The Cat Who ....' will find this book no exception. Some will think it great, some only good. But it's still a nice visit, one no fan can afford to miss. Or to put it another way, after looking at the TV schedule for this evening, this book seems an awfully nice way to spend the evening. So grab the book and let's head off to Pickax, our old friend Qwill and of course - murder most foul. It won't be a hard read. It's not a book that will be popular a hundred years from now. But who cares. It's a great easy visit with old friends.

I loved this book! I have read all of the books in less than a year because they are so wonderful and this book did not disappoint! Sure, it was obvious 'whodunit' but then isn't it obvious in most books once you get used to the author's style of writing? I've known who did it early on for the majority of the series so this one didn't disappoint. It's shorter than usual, but is still great. K Fund comes to the rescue as much as it has in any of the other books. As for description of funerals, there're not always lots of details in the other books. I didn't think much of them not being described in this book; if she had have you know someone would have complained about it as they have other things. Besides, you've got to keep in mind that with all of Qwilleran's activities/assignments/etc. did he have time or the energy to go into great detail about every single event - remember the story is told from his perspective? Sure, if everyone would like to read a much longer book. I actually would have liked a longer book but enjoyed this one just as it was. The plot was great & other things mixed in with it - a surprise goodbye & another not so unexpected. And I really enjoyed the Author's Note at the end. The kitten auction was precious in detail. Any cat lover should enjoy that. And the cats are what drew me, and many others, to this series in the first place. About the deaths, with a hurricane going on there was nothing that suspicious as to what happened to one character. No reason for Qwill to feel suspicious, although he did wonder where the person was going. I take it they were going where he guessed or the others would have said otherwise. Then there would have been a reason to be suspicious over the events. As for his being close to them? I didn't see him as being that close to them - remember what he "said" when they first moved there? I think he got used to them but I never really saw any more closeness with them than with several of the other characters. He's very close with some but there are others he isn't as close with and this person I feel falls into that category. As for Qwill being a "star," hasn't he been called a celebrity in other books? And others have been extremely excited over winning his pencils. That's nothing new. In another book a woman paid a huge sum of money at an auction to win a date with him. He's been pointed out by numerous people in the other books, his moustache being very recognizable. They almost always ask about the cats. And he always draws attention when on his bike. This book is no different in that aspect than the others. LJB, a ghostwriter? That may be so, but I sort of have my doubts. If that were so I'm sure it would be like Lawrence Sanders' McNally series - it would state on the title/publisher/publishing date, etc. page that it was published by the estate of the author. I didn't see this in LJB's book. Sure the photo is old, but she has the right to not want a new picture. Working for a

I am a fairly new reader of this series (I started reading the books in January 2005), and have loved all of the books. The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell does not disappoint. Those who love all of the books in the series will like this wonderful author's latest. The sesquicentinnel(sp?) is taking place (her books usually take place one in the spring, one in the summer, one in the fall/winter - so the sesquicent. is right on time). Three parades are scheduled along with two auctions, etc. And once again Qwill ends up in a role that he prefers not to be in (remember the time he was Santa Claus in a parade? He's not one for enjoying being in the spotlight). A visiting nephew of a local couple, who wants to sketch the interior of Qwill's barn as part of a college project, turns out to be an obvious gold digger. After his visit, the aunt and uncle start having respiratory problems and are not receiving visitors. Some find that suspicious until learning that they are not the sort of people to not receive visitors when sick. But then other things are learned about the nephew, but one wonders how he could be involved in their illness when he's on the west coast? It is soon learned how he is involved. There is another murder, unrelated to the main one of the story; and two goodbyes, one expected, another unexpected, are said in this book to two characters. And, as usually happens whenever Hixie Rice helps in planning an event, something happens so that the Sesqu. plans don't completely go off as planned. Not Hixie's fault, but events certainly seem to be doomed considering the track record, as pointed out in other books. Mrs. Braun has outdone herself with this latest book in the series. There may or may not be any more books in this series, but if she chooses to write more, I and many others will be happy to read them. Someone has suggested that Mrs. Braun is dead, because, they say, if she was still living she'd be over 100 years old. They claim the series is a cash cow written by a ghostwriter. Actually Mrs. Braun is 93 years old living in America (I won't mention the state here) where she and her husband are members of a theatre group which they perform in. Just last month she and her husband donated a map of the "north woods world" where Qwill and Co. live to a library. The map was drawn by a retired architect of Nashville, TN. Just because someone started writing a series of books in the 1960s doesn't mean that they are dead now. As you get older, you realize that people alive back then are really not that old, but instead young. As I get older, 93 actually no longer seems that old. Someone else may be writing her books for her, but with her performing with a theatre group I'm pretty sure she's still capable of writing her own books. And as long as she enjoys doing it, great for her. Keep up the wonderful work, Mrs. Braun.