Lilian Jackson Braun Books

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Lilian Jackson Braun was an American author that wrote mystery novels. Though, the mystery novels she wrote were more light-hearted than those of her peers when she was first starting out. Born in 1913 in Willimansett, Massachusetts to an inventor (Charles Jackson) and a homemaker (Clara Ward Jackson), she spent some time in Rhode Island, Brooklyn, and Detroit because of her father’s work.

Order of Cat Who... Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 The Cat Who Could Read Backwards 1966 Description / Buy
2 The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern 1967 Description / Buy
3 The Cat Who Turned On And Off 1968 Description / Buy
4 The Cat Who Saw Red 1986 Description / Buy
5 The Cat Who Played Brahms 1987 Description / Buy
6 The Cat Who Played Post Office 1987 Description / Buy
7 The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare 1988 Description / Buy
8 The Cat Who Sniffed Glue 1988 Description / Buy
9 The Cat Who Went Underground 1989 Description / Buy
10 The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts 1990 Description / Buy
11 The Cat Who Lived High 1990 Description / Buy
12 The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal 1991 Description / Buy
13 The Cat Who Moved a Mountain 1992 Description / Buy
14 The Cat Who Wasn't There 1992 Description / Buy
15 The Cat Who Went into the Closet 1993 Description / Buy
16 The Cat Who Came to Breakfast 1994 Description / Buy
17 The Cat Who Blew the Whistle 1994 Description / Buy
18 The Cat Who Said Cheese 1995 Description / Buy
19 The Cat Who Tailed a Thief 1997 Description / Buy
20 The Cat Who Sang for the Birds 1998 Description / Buy
21 The Cat Who Saw Stars 1999 Description / Buy
22 The Cat Who Robbed a Bank 1999 Description / Buy
23 The Cat Who Smelled a Rat 2001 Description / Buy
24 The Cat Who Went Up the Creek 2002 Description / Buy
25 The Cat Who Brought Down the House 2003 Description / Buy
26 The Cat Who Talked Turkey 2004 Description / Buy
27 The Cat Who Went Bananas 2004 Description / Buy
28 The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell 2006 Description / Buy
29 The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers 2007 Description / Buy

Order of Cat Who Short Story Collections

# Read Title Published Details
1 The Cat Who Had 14 Tales 1988 Description / Buy
2 Short and Tall Tales / Qwilleran's Short and Tall Tales 2002 Description / Buy
3 The Private Life of the Cat Who... 2003 Description / Buy

Order of Midnight Louie Series

# Read Title Published Details
1 Catnap / Cat in an Alphabet Soup ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1992 Description / Buy
2 Pussyfoot / Cat in an Aqua Storm ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1993 Description / Buy
3 Cat On A Blue Monday ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1994 Description / Buy
4 Cat in a Crimson Haze ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1995 Description / Buy
5 Cat in a Diamond Dazzle ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1996 Description / Buy
6 Cat with an Emerald Eye ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1997 Description / Buy
7 Cat in a Flamingo Fedora ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1997 Description / Buy
8 Cat in a Golden Garland ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1997 Description / Buy
9 Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1998 Description / Buy
10 Midnight Louie's Pet Detectives ( With: J.A. Jance, Carole Nelson Douglas, Nancy Pickard, Toni L.P. Kelner, Walter J. Stutzman) 1998 Description / Buy
11 Cat in an Indigo Mood ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1999 Description / Buy
12 Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 1999 Description / Buy
13 Cat in a Kiwi Con ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2000 Description / Buy
14 Cat in a Leopard Spot ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2001 Description / Buy
15 Cat in a Midnight Choir ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2002 Description / Buy
16 Cat in a Neon Nightmare ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2003 Description / Buy
17 Midnight Louie In Something Fishy ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2003 Description / Buy
18 Cat in an Orange Twist ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2004 Description / Buy
19 Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2005 Description / Buy
20 Cat in a Quicksilver Caper ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2006 Description / Buy
21 Cat in a Red Hot Rage ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2007 Description / Buy
22 Cat in a Sapphire Slipper ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2008 Description / Buy
23 Cat in a Topaz Tango ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2009 Description / Buy
24 Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2010 Description / Buy
25 Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2011 Description / Buy
26 Fruit of the Tomb (Short Story) ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2012 Description / Buy
27 Cat in a White Tie and Tails ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2012 Description / Buy
28 Cat in an Alien X-Ray ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2013 Description / Buy
29 Cat in a Yellow Spotlight ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2014 Description / Buy
30 Cat in a Zebra Zoot Suit ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2015 Description / Buy
31 Cat in an Alphabet Endgame ( By: Carole Nelson Douglas) 2016 Description / Buy

Lilian Jackson Braun Anthologies

# Read Title Published Details
1 Sisters in Crime 3 1990 Description / Buy
2 Mystery Cats 1991 Description / Buy
3 Tar Heel Dead 2005 Description / Buy
Print: Print PDF

Writing was always a passion for the author. At first, she pursued the activity because it was fun. Then she started sending sports poetry to the Detroit News. She was just a teenager at the time.

In the years that followed, various department stores in Detroit made effective use of the advertising copy she wrote for them. She stayed with the Detroit Free Press the longest. By the time she left in 1978, she had spent three decades working as a Good Living Editor.

She was already a published author by this point. Her first novel came out in 1966. Titled ‘The Cat Who Could Read Backwards’, the novel was a critical success. The two novels that followed were equally well-received.

After waiting tables for a few days, Braun started her work as a copywriter for Detroit’s department stores. Then she made the jump to ‘Director of Public Relations’. Her first three novels were written during this period.

She had to take time off to write the books. She joined the Detroit Free Press soon after. Once the first three novels in her bibliography came out, they should have marked the start of a long and illustrious career.

However, that did not happen. After publishing her third book in 1968, the author disappeared. She stayed away from the publishing industry for 18 years, only emerging when the Berkley Publishing Group published ‘The Cat Who Saw Red’ in 1986.

The original paperback was supposed to introduce Braun’s work to a whole new market of readers. The gamble paid off. Berkley reprinted the author’s earlier works, giving Braun’s career the spark it needed.

According to Earl Bettinger, her husband, Braun left publishing because the industry had changed. Her peers were writing mysteries that incorporated sex and violence into their stories. Braun’s publishers wanted her to follow suit. She resisted the push because her stories were fun, warm, and light-hearted and she wanted them to stay that way.

Rather than surrendering to the will of the publishing arena, the author quit. She had a full-time job at a newspaper she loved. As far as she was concerned, she could live without the publishing industry. Once she came back, it did not take her long to conquer the mystery genre. She appeared on many bestseller lists.

But even though she became a household name among mystery fans, Braun was still a private person. She made every effort possible to keep her private life out of the limelight. She died in 2011 at the age of 97.

Her husband said that her only regret at the time was that she never finished ‘The Cat Who Smelled Smoke’. It was her last novel.

Lilian Jackson Braun Awards

Braun received Anthony and Edgar Award nominations.

Best Lilian Jackson Braun Books

Earl Bettinger was Braun’s second husband. Paul, her first husband, died. Braun, Paul, and Earl had a drink when Paul was alive. Paul called Earl one of the nicest people he had ever met. Braun’s best books include:

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards: Jim was a prizewinning reporter. But his luck had taken a turn for the worst. Now, he is hoping to make a comeback by taking up a position at the Daily Fluxion. Jim has to deal with George Bonifield Mountclemens, an art critic at the paper that just offered him a tiny apartment.

George had a raft of enemies. When his corpse was discovered, Jim realized that it was up to him to find the person that had stabbed the art critic. Fortunately, he has Koko, George’s cat, to guide him.

The Cat Who Saw Red: Jim was having a difficult time completing his gastronomical assignment. The setting, Maus Haus, was far from ordinary. The fact that the mansion was associated with an unsolved suicide was bad enough. Now, strange things were happening. When his old girlfriend vanishes, Jim has no choice but to act.

When Does The Next Lilian Jackson Braun book come out?

Lilian Jackson Braun doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers and was released on January, 2nd 2007. It is the newest book in the Cat Who... Series.

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1 thought on “Lilian Jackson Braun”

  1. I AM NOW LISTENING TO MY SECOND OF THESE BOOKS. ABSOLUTELY CAPTIVATED AND HOPE THERE ARE MANY MORE. I AM 84, LIVE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA, HOPING TO MAKE 100, BUT I DO NOT KNOW IF MY EYESIGHT WILL STILL BE SO GOOD AT THAT AGE, SO HOPEFULLY CAN FIND MORE OF THESE TO LISTEN TO. . I BRED MY FIRST SIAMESE LITTER IN 1968 AND SOLD MY LAST KITTEN IN 2008, CANNOT HAVE A CAT NOW BECAUSE IT HURST ME WHEN THEY WALK ON ME, BUT I HAVE JUDGED CATS SINCE 1974 AND HOPING TO RESUME MY JUDGING AFTER A HIP REPLACEMENT. FIVE SURGERY CALCELLATIONS DUE TO COVID-19 AND ANOTHER TWO LITTLE HICCUPS. BUT IT WILL HAPPEN EVENTUALLY, THEN I WILL BE BACK AT THE CAT SHOWS. REALLY MISS IT. THAN YOU SO MUCH FOR WRITING ALL OF THESE BOOKS, LILLIAN. BLESSINGS, XXXX

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