Rating: 
Summary: The Cat Who Saw Stars
Review: This is my favorite book in the series so far. Koko and YumYum not only help Qwill solve the mystery, but by their actions help the reader solve the mystery of their uncanny sleuthing abilities. The stars are bright and so are the eyes and minds of these two delightful felines as they communicate with the stars. A fun and fast read. Perfect for a warm sunny day or a winter's night by the fire.
Rating:
Summary: A different idea
Review: I think it is great that Lilian Jackson Braun is investigating other avenues of entertaining her readers. I found this book to be interesting. I enjoy reading about what Qwill, Koko and Yum Yum are doing. Lilian Jackson Braun writes well and she keeps me interested no matter if the mystery is as difficult as other ones or not. UFO's are a mystery in and off themselves!
Rating: 
Summary: seeing stars
Review: I found the book to be entertaining. It had interesting allusions to the folklore of the neighborhood. The ending was cute if not sensible and a pleasant break from little green men.
Rating: 
Summary: Modest Character Development in a Novel of Manners
Review: Mystery readers who are looking for a good puzzle to solve should avoid this book. Those who enjoy the Qwilleran character may enjoy seeing what he chooses to do on his vacation, as a source of further insight into his character. Fans of Koko and Yum Yum will definitely be disappointed. Deaths and misbehavior are resolved through natural causes, and the book ends up with supernatural speculations that may disappoint long-time readers of this series.Solving a mystery is supposed to require some effort on the part of a detective. Who did it is resolved in this one almost without human intervention. The detective and the reader aren't really needed. You will feel like you are reading about a true crime, except, of course, this is a work of fiction. When these stories can be sublime is when Koko's intuition provides fascinating clues. Here, the closest you get to fascinating is when Koko digs up a body. Now, that's not very subtle. The book is filled with a lot of extraneous references to UFOs and supernatural beliefs. The information lacks any validity and just serves to muddy the story a bit. The main plot line is that with nothing to do on vacation and his friend Polly away, Qwilleran takes on every possible thing he can agree to. If you find that fascinating, I guess you've never met a workaholic. The plot drags on very slowly, with the complications merely serving to make the book a little longer rather than making it more interesting or rewarding. I have probably read over two hundred mysteries in the last five years, and I definitely liked this one less well than any of the others. If you do decide to read it, I hope you like it better than I did. If you do read the book, I suggest that you think about what you want to have in a new book in this series. Do you want a mystery that you have to figure out? Do you want to have fascinating clues from Koko? What constitutes a fascinating clue? What new things do you want to learn about the characters in the series? Or, has this series simply run its course? Enter books with expectations, and be bold in demanding that they be met!
Rating: 
Summary: This book is 400 miles in the middle of nowhere
Review: This is my first and frankly my last attempt at reading a book by Lilian Jackson Braun up to now the only books that I could not stand were pulp romances. I have found a new can't stand book and this is it. I hope I never run in to the target audience. Because I do not like negative reviews I can say the binding is well made. The book is not too heavy. Oh, they also made a audio CD of this one.
Rating:
Summary: Ms. Braun, What Happened To You?
Review: I honestly don't know what to make of this book. Are the other reviewers right? Has Ms. Braun retreated and allowed a ghost writer to take over? I'm going to hope not; that wouldn't bode well for the rest of the series, and I'm enough of a fan of Qwill and Koko to look towards the day that their adventures end with dread.
It shouldn't come as a shock to any fans of these books when I say that the mystery aspect has been going downhill for awhile. Qwill's adventures--whether with the Pickax locals or picturesque natives in the many places he visits--have been taking precedence. I actually don't mind that; Ms. Braun has a masterful hand with characters, and Qwill's escapades in Moose County are sufficiently entertaining that one can forgive her for the less intense, less fascinating whodunnits. (Mind, those who are reading the series for the whodunnits more than for the characters have probably been in for disappointment.) In _Cat Who Saw Stars_, though, the mystery isn't just weak, it's practically nonexistant. Early on, a body is discovered. Do we ever find out who buried it? No. Is it the focus of the plot? No. Are Koko and Yum Yum on center stage, as we've come to expect from the novels prior to this one? Not really. Is Koko an alien? He'd better not be. That might tempt me to sell my entire collection. Further, the characterization is seriously off-kilter. Qwill believing in UFOs? Giving the Siamese cutesy-folksy cat toys? Somehow, I can't buy that. And where are so many of the favorite characters? I'm not about to mourn the absence of Polly (whom I've frankly been wishing would be the victim of some killer or other for awhile now), but there are other Moose County residents whom I'd love to see. Now, granted, half of our old friends have been offed by now, but you'd think a few more of the survivors would merit a cameo. Even die-hard fans of the series might do better to give this one a skip, if they can't find it at the local library. It definitely shouldn't be the first Cat Who book for anyone interested in getting into them. For someone who doesn't have many expectations, though, and is just looking for a quick and somewhat entertaining story, this might be worth picking up. Even at her worst, Ms. Braun can still turn out a reasonably pleasant evening's reading.
Rating:
Summary: Not her best, but read the rest
Review: I have read almost all of the Cat Who... books, and this one was clearly the worst of the bunch. The plot was unexciting, the detective work on Qwill's part was absent (another character basically spontaneously reveals what happened), and the ending was completely unrealistic and totally out of character. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do read Braun's other books in the series: she is an awesome writer. Unfortunately, this one fell far short of my expectations.
Rating:
Summary: Read her earlier books in this series!
Review: As a long time fan of Ms. Braun's, I found it very difficult to finish reading this book. I truly believe she now has a ghost writer and not a very good one at that! The dialogue is stilted and awkward. I heard back in the early 90's that she had a contract to produce something like 10 more books and I wonder if she found she had to hire someone to do this. To me, her books began to go downhill with the Potato Mountain escapade. It ended abruptly and the remaining books in the series were a disappointment. I've loved this series and the wonderful characters in Moose County but from now on, I'll just reread the ones I enjoyed.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to par
Review: Someone wrote a review of this book stating her belief that this book was written by someone other than Lilian Jackson Braun; after reading the book I tend to agree. Either that or the authoress was concentrating on too many other projects at the same time. This book had characters that really had nothing to do with anything (like the Crow Lady)and other regular characters were crowded in as an afterthought. Qwilleran really isn't given much to do except eat and read Polly's postcards (which, by the way, was one saving point, that jealous Polly was not in the story until the end). Nor can I believe that the practical, down to earth people of Moose County would give much credence to UFO stories. Also could have used a lot more of colorful characters like Amanda Goodwinter and the Lanspeaks and a LOT less of Derek Cuttlebrink and Elizabeth Hart. This last also made me wonder if someone other than Ms. Braun wrote this one: the concentration on the younger, hipper characters and third-grade adjective phrases, rather than her usual style.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Finding a new book in the "Cat who ..." series is like running into an old friend. This series makes no pretence to being great literature. It is fun; it is cosy; it is charming. Qwill grows on you like a favourite uncle. And like a favourite uncle, he might rabbit on about his exploits a bit too tediously, but it's all great fun and enjoyable. Another great instalment in the "Cat Who ..." series.
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