The Cat Who Talked Turkey

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps Ms. Braun is growing tired
Review: While I enjoyed reading this, the storyline did not seem as involved as with previous titles in the series. Key ideas and potential scenes were skipped entirely, jumping from location to location without any seque. Conversations were abrupt as were situations. Is the author growing tired after 40 years of writing? Perhaps. The book came across as hastily written to meet a deadline. It is worth having to complete the series, but I wouldn't start with this book first. Start at the beginning and get to know the characters as they were originally portrayed.

Rating:
Summary: Pure Braun
Review: If you enjoy Koko and Yum-Yum and of course Qwill - then you will enjoy this book. The Cat Who.... books are for easy reading, fun and laughter, if you appreciate cats and small towns. If not then don't give them a bad review, just find something else to read. The Cat Who... books are the best, all of them.

Rating:
Summary: Did Ms. Braun use a ghost writer?
Review: The Cat Who Talked Turkey was a big disappointment to me. I had the strange feeling that Ms. Braun didn't author this book at all. After reading most of her The Cat Who .... books I've grown accustomed to her unique style of writing which I have loved. This time her style wasn't as prevalent.

Rating:
Summary: What mystery??
Review: When was the last time Qwill was personally involved in the book's main crime, as in he knew the victim, discovered the body, etc? It seems that in the last few books, we've just heard about a crime (murder, theft, etc.) second hand in a by-the-way fashion.

Rating:
Summary: Sorry, Lilly, Better Luck, Next Time
Review: Okay, here's what happens, y'all. Someone dies on Qwill's property (again). He doesn't seem to care. In fact, all Qwill cares about is what's for dinner. It's been this way for a long, time, folks. Then Koko licks his butt, and Qwill does a stupid show. Anybody else notice how lately someone dies, they aren't a Moose county native, and no one cares much? I LOVED the old Cat Who. Why can't they come back?

Rating:
Summary: GREATEST SERRIES EVER!!!!
Review: Don't waste your money! What a sad dissappointment this book was. The entire time I was reading it (and I even skipped some parts), I thought that it was more like a primative draft for a story. I just can't believe that Lilian Jackson Braun wrote this book. It does not reflect her style in any manner. Polly even makes comments that she would never make. I won't be purchasing any more "Cat who..." books. It's such a shame as Mr. Q, KoKo and YumYum were the best. The ghost writer should be fired... only after he or she has read all of the disappointing reviews.

Rating:
Summary: Only for Collectors
Review: I'm an LJB collector, so I bought this one. A previous review said she thought it was written by a very bad ghost writer, and that is not a harsh criticism!

If you're a fan, but not a collector, here's the poop from Moose County:
1. Brrr has a huge 200th anniversary celebration.
2. Qwill does another one-man show, another radio broadcast of a disaster, this time a big snowstorm of 1913. Research provided by Thornton Haggis.
3. Polly is training her library replacement and is studying the psychology of running the new bookstore.
4. Ground broke for the new bookstore. An empty pirate's chest was found. The new store will be called The Pirate's Chest.
5. Bushy, the photographer gets married.
6. The back of the book contains 2 recipes, one for Reuben sandwiches, and one for Molasses cookies.
7. Yum Yum's favorite toy is a silver thimble.
8. Never mind the murders. They're unimportant.

Some Goofy Stuff:
1. There is a murder on Qwill's property, and he is not in the least curious.
2. There is a brief conversation with Susan Exbridge about Iris Cobb, but no explanation of who she was (a main character that was murdered very early in the Cat Who series).
3. There are various discussions about marmalades, both a marmalade competition in Brrr, and a new marmalade cat for the new book store, to be named Dundee (after the English marmalade). No connection to a plot or a sub-plot.
4. Former investigator Simmons comes from California to be a surprise guest at the wedding. His investigative skills are not used his presence in the book is not even a red herring. Just odd.
5. There is a forced plane landing with the bookstore architect on it. He finds the experience "interesting." Also not a red herring, just odd.
6. There are plenty goofy examples.

I hope this saves some people the price of this book. But I love the population of Moose County and wouldn't mind if this series gave up the murder investigations altogether and just captured the townspeople in the fabric of their lives.

Rating:
Summary: A Day in the Life of Qwill
Review: Like lobsters, once I fall in love with an author, it's for life. It is very very hard to turn me off...and yet, the more recent The Cat Who...books have managed to dampen my enthusiasm. I used to grab the hardcovers the first week, now I buy the paperbacks and soon, as the other reviewers have mentioned, I'll resort to the library. Braun has been writing for decades and she has earned a little slack, but I don't think she's been writing these for a while, and if possible, she should fire the ghostwriter.

The Cat who Talked Turkey is a collection of anecdotes of the life of Qwill. He spends most of the book zooming around Moose County, putting on a play, taking everyone out to dinner, and contemplating Koko's genius. I read Braun mostly for her gentle humor and characterizations, and liked some of the new additions, including Edyth and Maxine. However, as in many of her later novels, the murder "mystery" is SO indifferent and uninteresting, I can't figure out why they're included. I'm happy just visiting old friends for a couple of hours.

In terms of characters, we get a lot more of that gentle bear, Gary Pratt and some good news for some old friends, including Bushy and Janice Barth. Polly, well - I'm not quite advocating bumping her off, but can someone please make her a little less whiny?

In terms of the narrative, the first several pages reads like a synopsis of a story. It's jarring and I feared the worst. It wasn't quite that bad, the pace picked up with the action and we get a little more depth of details that better set the scenes, but overall the narrative felt as light as a snowflake. And not in a good way.

All in all, if you enjoy catching up with old friends and checking out the incredible number of events 400 miles north of everywhere, you'll enjoy this. If you're looking for good writing, an exciting Qwill and a penetrating mystery, re-read the Cat Who Wasn't There.

Rating:
Summary: What a turkey!
Review: What a disappointment! Love the Cat series, but this book seemed to be written by someone else. No plot, no mystery, no substance. The storm program was a pure bore! I just wanted this book to end! Don't purchase this... don't even check it out from the library. What a waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: Intensely disappointing
Review: I have begun to wonder why this series is even listed in the mystery section any more. Once upon a time the Qwill used to actually do sleuthing - now all he does is trip along through town occassionally giving some thought to whatever the crime of the issue is, but not really making any effort to figure out the solution. Of course as any long-time reader will know, this series long ago became more a character soap opera than a whodunnit, but at least the books were being well written. This one reads like a first draft that no one ever bothered to polish. Descriptions are short and dull, plot points are rehashes of old ones, dialogue is the same old same old. Even the performance of the cats, one of the gimmicks that makes this series as popular as it is, has worn thin.

I can only conclude that Lillian Jackson Braun is either tired of writing, or tired of writing this series but only continues due to a contract or the lure of easy money. I can only say that I, for one, will no longer read it, no matter why the quality has dropped so far.