The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers

By: Lilian Jackson Braun

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 3 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

Times are changing in Pickax, and it all makes for some newsworthy notes for the "Qwill Pen". A new senior center is in the works, and a frisky production of Cats is set to delight Moose County residents, human and feline alike. Polly Duncan is off to Paris, momentarily leaving Qwill without a companion for his apple-barn concerts, and The Librarians Who Lunch are getting read to put on a show of their spectacular Art Hats to help unite Pickax with its Lockmaster County neighbors.

Not to mention the conversation of the late Nathan Ledfield's mansion into a charitable museum! Mr. Ledfield's treasures are being sold off to benefit needy children, and the town is abuzz with excitement - that is, until a mysterious death from a bee sting leaves everyone but Cool Koko in a state of confusion.

Is it because he has 60 whiskers as Qwill suspects, or because Koko knows that the mysterious death was no accident?

Feline fiction: listen to all our mysteries in the Cat Who... series by Lilian Jackson Braun.

©2007 Lilian Jackson Braun (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and Recorded Books, LLC. All rights reserved.

Critic Reviews

"With its familiar characters, cozy plots, and happy endings, this series remains as comforting as a warm cat in your lap on a rainy day." (Booklist)

No,no,no!

If LJB indeed is writing these books now, she's lost touch with her original portrayal of characters. No way would Polly Duncan be willing to "find new homes" for her 2 cats. No explanation of the "stranger" in Paris. She gives her apartment and job up with no more than a "I want to do something different in Paris." She gave no notice, flipped off Qwil as though their relationship meant nothing to her. Then there's the barn fire. I assume the winter quarters were furnished. Yet Qwil gives hardly any real emotion or thought to all that was lost in the fire. He may be stoic but he is HUMAN! Then there's the woman running off with the museum treasures. Ho hum, she's gone? They aren't even going after her? Then that inanity at the end,He doesn't think Koko wants his whiskers counted...okay, we won't count them.
Ms. Braun should have retired these characters three books ago and gone on to other things.

Worse than terrible

My 12-year-old daughter and I listen to The Cat Who books because we like cats and the books are clean and trustworthy. No bad language or adult situations. It's a fun thing to do together. But not this time!

My daughter is certain that I downloaded it wrong and that there is something wrong with our copy. I wish that was the case! It is the lamest book I have ever read or listened to!

The characters are out of character, the plot is plotless, and the dialogue is inane. I can't say enough bad things about this book. Polly dumps Qwill and her cats by sending a letter. Why doesn't Qwill use the telephone to call her? He can afford the call! Instead, he mopes around. We figured she was kidnapped -- turns out she was -- by the so-called author. Then Qwill's famous barn burns down. Oh well. Arsonists will be arsonists. I expect in the next episode, which I will not be reading, that the ghostwriter will have the cats run over by a car. Qwill's response will be that he's glad it was quick and they suffered no pain.

Meanwhile, we listeners/readers have been greatly tortured. Listen to one of LJB's old books, or a book by another author. Don't touch this one! It deserves NO stars!

What A Shock

I was horrified by this book by one of my favorite light mystery authors. I've always enjoyed these silly, fun books, and read many of them several times. They've always brought a smile. This book, however, is just plain terrible. First, the whodunit is Never Solved! It ends as if the author was just too tired to finish a sentence, or figure her way out of the mess she had wrought. The few plot points that do exist are simply not believable. Polly flies to another country on holiday, is offered a dream job, (in another country? A simple librarian over a certain age?), and abandons not only Quill but her cats? No. It is not only unbelievable, it is antithetical to the characters. For Qwill in response does...nothing. Folds up a short, vague "Dear John" letter without a twitch of the upper lip. What on earth? If this had been a book in hand rather than a Mp3 file I would literally have thrown it across the room when it ended- which it did-with yet another totally unbelievable plot point! Either Qwill is having a very bad dream, in which case I shall be very very angry that I spent my non-dream time and hard-earned money on this book, or something is foul in Moose County, or something is terribly amiss in real life. I wish the publishers had had the common courtesy to inform us, instead of letting this book reach the shelves.

Phoning it in

The early "Cat Who..." books are among my favorite mysteries - well plotted and well written, with absolutely charming characters. However, I have been very disappointed with the most recent 2 or 3 books in this series. Ms. Braun seems to have lost all interest in providing readers with a good story, and has reduced herself to providing mere character sketches. There are huge holes in the plot, things are only resolved peripharally at best, and even some of the characters are acting in unaccountable ways.

The only reason I am giving this recording 2 stars is George Guidell's excellent reading of this sub-par material. But then, I'd probably give the phone book 2 stars if he were reading it.

If you are interested in these books, do yourself a favor and get some of her earlier works, which are and will remain a complete delight.

Terrible!

I've listened to this book three times and still don't get it. It seems like half the book is missing. I've read the whole series, some books more than once. This one was a real disappointment.

No Ending!

This book seems to stop in the middle, with no conclusion. What went wrong? My last Cat Who book!

Story disappointing and emotionless

What disappointed you about The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers?

Braun released this last book just before she died at the age of 96. Quill's response to life-changing loss is so tepid that I repeated the last 45 minutes to make certain that I hadn't missed something. There was almost no real closure for any of the plot devices that add suspense to the progression of this novel. If this had been the first "The Cat Who....." novel I had read, I would not have attempted any of the others. Very disappointing, poorly written.

Has The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. I just look for more good authors.

Which character – as performed by George Guidall – was your favorite?

Guidall is terrific. His charm lies in the manner in which he portrays Quill and his ability to make subtle voice changes for the other characters. His voice isn't the most versatile in the world, but seems to fit the tone and ambience of Braun's characters.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers?

I was dumbfounded by the ending---the need to completely destroy the ongoing relationship with Polly, the destruction of the barn. Since Braun died immediately after this book was published, it seemed that she intended to end the series as well. I felt that the destruction of ongoing elements from earlier books might have worked if Quill hadn't simply shrugged off the losses and continued to write limericks and share jokes with his friends. No gloom, depression or sense of human loss for old Quill. It didn't ring true to life.

Any additional comments?

Sad ending to what has been a well-written and enjoyable series.

Don't listen

Please stop reading the series at this book. You will be disappointed if you read it.

Extremely Annoying!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Consistency! Way too many mistakes made.

What could Lilian Jackson Braun have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Paid a lot more attention to what had been written in previous books!

Which character – as performed by George Guidall – was your favorite?

All of them; he's terrific!

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The narrator was the only redeeming quality.

Any additional comments?

I'm only sorry that such a great series had to have such a faulty final book.

Not up to 60 Whiskers

I've "read" most of Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who books and this one is very weak. Unlike most, she did not tie the story together and it didn't make much sense. The story is very short and her usual character development is missing. Even the title is an afterthought. Read only if desperate for Mr. Q, Coco and Yum Yum