Spenser
mystery
Series · cozy mystery
The Cat Who...
The Cat Who... series by Lilian Jackson Braun has 32 known books (32 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Private Life of the Cat Who....
- Books
- 32 known books (29 novels + 3 companions)
- Published
- 32
- First published
- 1966
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards opens the series in 1966 at 245 pages, introducing veteran newspaperman Jim Qwilleran and the two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, whose uncanny knack for pawing at exactly the right clue would run through the whole franchise. Lilian Jackson Braun's debut essentially originated what became the modern 'cat cozy' template.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Could Read Backwards - Book 2:
The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern
The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, Lilian Jackson Braun's second novel, was published in 1967 at 208 pages -- part of the original three-book run before the series went dormant for eighteen years. Like the rest of the sequence, it pairs Qwilleran's newspaper work with Koko and Yum Yum's semi-mystical instinct for the telling clue.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern - Book 3:
The Cat Who Turned On and Off
Credited to Lilian Jackson Braun, The Cat Who Turned On and Off holds the third spot in The Cat Who... sequence across 198 pages. It follows The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Turned On and Off - Book 4:
The Cat Who Saw Red
The Cat Who Saw Red, published in 1986, is the fourth novel in the series and the book that revived it after an eighteen-year real-world gap following the original 1966-1968 run. By this point Qwilleran had relocated from the city to Pickax in Moose County, '400 miles north of everywhere,' working as a small-town columnist alongside Koko and Yum Yum.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Saw Red - Book 5:
The Cat Who Played Brahms
The Cat Who Played Brahms, published in 1987 at 223 pages, is the fifth entry in the series, arriving a year into its post-hiatus revival. It continues Braun's gentle, low-violence formula: small-town Moose County eccentrics, Qwilleran's column work, and Koko's odd behavior turning out to be the key to the mystery.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Played Brahms - Book 6:
The Cat Who Played Post Office
Credited to Lilian Jackson Braun, The Cat Who Played Post Office holds the sixth spot in The Cat Who... sequence across 218 pages. It follows The Cat Who Played Brahms in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Played Post Office - Book 7:
The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare
The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare, Lilian Jackson Braun's seventh novel in the series, was published in 1988 at 229 pages. By now the post-1986 revival had settled into an annual rhythm, with Qwilleran's life as Pickax's columnist and Koko and Yum Yum's uncanny instincts firmly established as the series' engine.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare - Book 8:
The Cat Who Sniffed Glue
In The Cat Who... reading order, The Cat Who Sniffed Glue sits between The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare and The Cat Who Had 14 Tales as the eighth book. By Lilian Jackson Braun, it runs 208 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Sniffed Glue - Book 9:
The Cat Who Had 14 Tales
The Cat Who Had 14 Tales is a Cat Who... companion volume: A short-story collection published the same year as books 7 and 8; several stories predate and are unrelated to the Qwilleran/Koko/Yum Yum Cat Who novels, collecting Braun's earlier cat-themed short fiction. It was published in 1988 and runs 244 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Had 14 Tales - Book 10:
The Cat Who Went Underground
The Cat Who Went Underground, published in 1989, is the ninth entry in the series. Like the rest of Braun's Moose County mysteries, it pairs the placid rhythms of small-town Pickax with Koko's semi-mystical knack for pawing at whatever clue will crack the case.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Went Underground - Book 11:
The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts
The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts, the tenth book in The Cat Who... series, precedes The Cat Who Lived High in publication order. It came out in 1990 at 239 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts - Book 12:
The Cat Who Lived High
The Cat Who Lived High, Lilian Jackson Braun's eleventh novel in the series, was published in 1990 at 240 pages. Two decades after Qwilleran's fortune first brought Koko and Yum Yum into his life, the series was still built on the same gentle, character-driven formula of small-town Americana and feline-assisted sleuthing.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Lived High - Book 13:
The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal
Credited to Lilian Jackson Braun, The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal holds the twelfth spot in The Cat Who... sequence across 275 pages. It follows The Cat Who Lived High in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal - Book 14:
The Cat Who Moved a Mountain
The Cat Who Moved a Mountain, the thirteenth entry in the series, was published in 1992 at 261 pages. It continues Braun's foundational cat-cozy template -- Qwilleran's newspaper work in Pickax, Moose County's local eccentrics, and Koko and Yum Yum's charming, quietly uncanny double act.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Moved a Mountain - Book 15:
The Cat Who Wasn't There
The Cat Who Wasn't There, Lilian Jackson Braun's fourteenth novel in the series, was published in 1992 at 279 pages, the same year as its predecessor The Cat Who Moved a Mountain. By this stage the series' annual rhythm and its cast of Moose County regulars were well established.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Wasn't There - Book 16:
The Cat Who Went Into the Closet
The Cat Who Went Into the Closet, published in 1993 at 250 pages, is the fifteenth entry in the series. Like the rest of Braun's Moose County mysteries, it keeps violence low and warmth high, with Koko's odd behavior once again turning out to be the key to the case.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Went Into the Closet - Book 17:
The Cat Who Came to Breakfast
Credited to Lilian Jackson Braun, The Cat Who Came to Breakfast holds the sixteenth spot in The Cat Who... sequence across 256 pages. It follows The Cat Who Went Into the Closet in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Came to Breakfast - Book 18:
The Cat Who Blew the Whistle
The Cat Who Blew the Whistle, the seventeenth book in The Cat Who... series, precedes The Cat Who Said Cheese in publication order. It came out in 1995 at 270 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Blew the Whistle - Book 19:
The Cat Who Said Cheese
In The Cat Who... reading order, The Cat Who Said Cheese sits between The Cat Who Blew the Whistle and The Cat Who Tailed a Thief as the eighteenth book. By Lilian Jackson Braun, it runs 288 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Said Cheese - Book 20:
The Cat Who Tailed a Thief
The Cat Who Tailed a Thief, the nineteenth entry in the series, was published in 1997 at 254 pages. More than a decade into the post-1986 revival, Braun was still writing near-annual entries built around Qwilleran's column work in Pickax and Koko and Yum Yum's semi-mystical clue-finding instincts.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Tailed a Thief - Book 21:
The Cat Who Sang for the Birds
The Cat Who Sang for the Birds, Lilian Jackson Braun's twentieth novel in the series, was published in 1998 at 272 pages. By this point the franchise had run for over three decades counting its original 1960s books, still centered on the same gentle small-town Moose County setting.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Sang for the Birds - Book 22:
The Cat Who Saw Stars
The Cat Who Saw Stars, the twenty-first entry in the series, was published in 1998 at 271 pages, the same year as its predecessor The Cat Who Sang for the Birds. It continues the series' formula of Koko and Yum Yum's odd behavior routinely turning out to be the key to whatever murder disturbs Pickax's placid rhythms.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Saw Stars - Book 23:
The Cat Who Robbed a Bank
The Cat Who Robbed a Bank, Lilian Jackson Braun's twenty-second novel in the series, was published in 1999 at 243 pages. Over three decades after the series began, it kept the same gentle, character-driven formula -- small-town eccentrics, Qwilleran's column, and Koko's uncanny instincts -- that had defined it from the start.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Robbed a Bank - Book 24:
The Cat Who Smelled a Rat
The Cat Who Smelled a Rat, the twenty-third entry in the series, was published in 2001 at 229 pages. It continues Braun's long-running Moose County formula, with Koko's cat-alogue instincts treated as something closer to semi-mystical than merely cute.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Smelled a Rat - Book 25:
The Cat Who Went Up the Creek
The Cat Who Went Up the Creek, Lilian Jackson Braun's twenty-fourth novel in the series, was published in 2002 at 253 pages. Nearing the end of the run, it keeps the same low-violence, character-driven Moose County formula that had carried the series since its 1966 debut.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Went Up the Creek - Book 26:
Short and Tall Tales: Moose County Legends Collected by James Mackintosh Qwilleran
Short and Tall Tales: Moose County Legends Collected by James Mackintosh Qwilleran is a Cat Who... companion volume: A collection of tall-tale "local legends" framed as folklore gathered by Qwilleran within the series' fictional Moose County, published the same year as book 24. It was published in 2002 and runs 145 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Short and Tall Tales: Moose County Legends Collected by James Mackintosh Qwilleran - Book 27:
The Cat Who Brought Down the House
Credited to Lilian Jackson Braun, The Cat Who Brought Down the House holds the twenty-fifth spot in The Cat Who... sequence across 280 pages. It follows Short and Tall Tales: Moose County Legends Collected by James Mackintosh Qwilleran in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Brought Down the House - Book 28:
The Private Life of the Cat Who...
The Private Life of the Cat Who... is a Cat Who... companion volume: Short vignettes about Koko and Yum Yum framed as entries from Qwilleran's journal, published the same year as book 25. It was published in 2003 and runs 144 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Private Life of the Cat Who... - Book 29:
The Cat Who Talked Turkey
Credited to Lilian Jackson Braun, The Cat Who Talked Turkey holds the twenty-sixth spot in The Cat Who... sequence across 181 pages. It follows The Private Life of the Cat Who... in publication order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Talked Turkey - Book 30:
The Cat Who Went Bananas
The Cat Who Went Bananas, the twenty-seventh entry in the series, was published in 2005 at 280 pages -- just two entries before the franchise's final book. It continues the gentle small-town formula Braun had refined over nearly four decades of Qwilleran, Koko and Yum Yum's Moose County mysteries.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Went Bananas - Book 31:
The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell
The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell, published in 2006 at 226 pages, is the twenty-eighth entry in the series, arriving the year before Braun's final novel, The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers. It continues the same Moose County cast and cat-assisted sleuthing that had run through the series since its 1986 revival.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell - Book 32:
The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers
The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers follows The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell to close out The Cat Who... sequence as its twenty-ninth book. By Lilian Jackson Braun, it runs 191 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers
About The Cat Who...
Jim Qwilleran is a veteran newspaperman who inherits an enormous fortune and, along with it, two extraordinarily perceptive Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, who have an uncanny knack for pawing at exactly the clue that cracks a case. Relocating from the city to the small town of Pickax in "Moose County, 400 miles north of everywhere," Qwilleran works as a columnist for the local paper, and his cats' odd behavior — knocking a book off a shelf, staring fixedly at a particular object — routinely turns out to be the key to whatever murder has disturbed the town's placid small-town rhythms.
Lilian Jackson Braun essentially originated the modern "cat cozy" template that dozens of later series (Mrs. Murphy, Joe Grey, and many more) built on, running the franchise from 1966 (with a long hiatus) through 2007. The books are gentle, character-driven, and low on violence, built around small-town Americana, local eccentrics, and the genuinely charming Koko-and-Yum-Yum double act, with Koko's "cat-alogue" instincts treated as semi-mystical rather than merely cute. It's the foundational text for readers who want their amateur-sleuth mystery narrated with real warmth toward its animal characters, in a setting so cozy it borders on utopian.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in The Cat Who... series?
There are 29 numbered novels, from The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966) to The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers (2007), plus 3 companion short-story collections set in the same world: The Cat Who Had 14 Tales (1988), Short and Tall Tales (2002) and The Private Life of the Cat Who... (2003).
What order should I read The Cat Who books in?
Publication order, starting with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. Most mysteries are self-contained, but Qwilleran's life and Moose County setting develop gradually across the series. The 3 companion short-story collections can be read whenever, alongside the numbered novel published the same year.
Is The Cat Who... series finished?
Yes. A 30th novel, reportedly titled The Cat Who Smelled Smoke, was announced for 2008 but repeatedly postponed and then canceled after author Lilian Jackson Braun's death in 2011. It was never written or published, so The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers (2007) is the true final book.
Why is there such a long gap between the third and fourth books?
Braun published the first three novels in the late 1960s, then stopped writing fiction for nearly two decades before returning to the series in 1986 with The Cat Who Saw Red, after which she published regularly through 2007.
Do I need to read the 1960s books before the 1986-onward ones?
No strictly, since each mystery stands alone, but they're presented as one continuous numbered series and reading in publication order is still recommended.
If you like The Cat Who...
Reading order last verified .