The Cat Who Had 14 Tales

A fun collection of Feline Mysteries by the author of The Cat Who series. These tales do not feature Quill, Koko and Yum Yum, but other characters who have interesting tales to tell.

Some of these are in the classic style Lillian Jackson Braun writes in but some are a little bit out there in plot line. Fun reads with a lot of variety. The plots will leave you thinking about what you have just read.

When I picked up the book to read, I thought I was about to delight in reading the adventures of one of my favorite characters, newspaper reporter Jim Qwilleran with Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum. As I read on the cover, "A fabulous collection of feline fiction!" I realized that this was a short story collection of 14 tales. Putting initial disappointment aside, I can't say that they were fabulous but I enjoyed the tales of the various felines. I enjoy reading short stories in magazines but for some unknown reason I'd rather not read them immediately following one another as presented in a short story collection. Perhaps silly but true. Some of the tales were footnoted as "first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Now it's show more time to find "The Cat Who Sniffed Glue" on my "to read pile" as I'd prefer my visit with Jim, Koko, and Yum Yum not be further delayed. ;) show less

An interesting mix of short stories about cats in mysterious circumstances. The five previously-published stories (all in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in the 1960s) were more polished, and the last couple were surprisingly dark. Don't read this collection if you're adverse to reading about animals dying. My favorites were a linked trio of purportedly transcribed interviews taped for The Oral History Project of Gattville Community College. The first story was very sentimental; the second one was funny; the third one was weird but compelling.

This is not a typical Cat Who book, Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum don't appear but throughout the 14 short stories you can see where the author got many of her ideas for the series. 3 1/2 stars.

Very readable collection of cat stories, wherein the cats prove that they are cleverer than the humans!

This was a cute little book. The stories were short, but interesting and didn't involve me having to bend my brain too far around talking cats. The cats involved themselves in quite catlike [read: troublesome] behavior. A quick, satisfying read. Just like a Snickers Bar.

These are all really good stories by Lilian Braun. Every one has a different cat and different problems but the cat seems to help the humans very much! One cat is also in the most recent book by Braun, The Cat Who Saw a Cardinal. That cat is Tipsy and her story is told in this book and then it is alluded to in the Cardinal book. The really strange story is Stanley and Spook. That one is a little creepy.