The Cat Who... Series
About the Series
The Cat Who... series is one of the most iconic cat mystery series ever written, spanning from 1966 to 2007. Journalist Jim Qwilleran (known as Qwill) and his two Siamese cats, Koko (Kao K'o Kung) and Yum Yum, solve mysteries in the fictional Moose County, a remote and eccentric community somewhere in the northern United States.
Koko is the real star. He has an uncanny ability to sense danger, identify villains, and point Qwill toward clues. His methods are cat-like — knocking specific books off shelves, staring at particular objects, behaving strangely around certain people — but they consistently lead to the solution.
The series began as traditional mysteries set in a city, but from the third book onward, the action moves to Moose County, and the small-town setting becomes integral. The community of eccentric characters that populates Moose County is one of the great pleasures of the series. The books are gentle, witty, and deeply comforting.
Complete Reading Order
1. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966)
2. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (1967)
3. The Cat Who Turned On and Off (1968)
4. The Cat Who Saw Red (1986)
5. The Cat Who Played Brahms (1987)
6. The Cat Who Played Post Office (1987)
7. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (1988)
8. The Cat Who Sniffed Glue (1988)
9. The Cat Who Went Underground (1989)
10. The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts (1990)
11. The Cat Who Lived High (1990)
12. The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal (1991)
13. The Cat Who Moved a Mountain (1992)
14. The Cat Who Wasn't There (1992)
15. The Cat Who Went into the Closet (1993)
16. The Cat Who Came to Breakfast (1994)
17. The Cat Who Blew the Whistle (1995)
18. The Cat Who Said Cheese (1996)
19. The Cat Who Tailed a Thief (1997)
20. The Cat Who Sang for the Birds (1998)
21. The Cat Who Saw Stars (1999)
22. The Cat Who Robbed a Bank (2000)
23. The Cat Who Smelled a Rat (2001)
24. The Cat Who Went Up the Creek (2002)
25. The Cat Who Brought Down the House (2003)
26. The Cat Who Talked Turkey (2004)
27. The Cat Who Went Bananas (2004)
28. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell (2006)
29. The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers (2007)
Reading Notes: Note the 18-year gap between books 3 and 4. The first three books are set in a city; from book 4 onward, the series moves to Moose County. Many readers start with book 4 (The Cat Who Saw Red) without issue, but the first three are worth reading for completeness.
Back to all reading orders. Learn more about Lilian Jackson Braun.