"The Cat Who Went Bananas" by Lilian Jackson Braun

Something else you can expect from a Lilian Jackson Braun book is nonlinear progression. In the case of “The Cat Who Went Bananas”, there are a whole bunch of different things going on as the story advances. Koko and Yum-Yum getting fed, petted, and loved is always a staple of these cozy mysteries, otherwise it wouldn’t be called “The Cat Who…”. And then you have Jim Qwilleran’s orders from his doctor to eat more bananas. The slipping on a banana peel gag becomes very important midway through the story, so pay attention. And then you have Polly Duncan, Qwill’s best friend, becoming emotionally distant ever since turning her library into a bookstore. There’s also an Oscar Wilde play being performed at the Theater Arts auditorium, which attracts the attention of a lady-killer named Alden Wade. Of course, this story would be incomplete if it wasn’t for Qwill being asked to write a story about the Hibbard House, a beat up old mansion that survived many generations despite burning to the ground several times. With all of these things being mixed into one nonlinear story, you’re probably asking yourself when the actual mystery begins. It all starts when Ronnie, an actor for the Oscar Wilde play, gets into a car accident on his way to town. When the medical examiner did the autopsy on him, they found that he was on drugs and alcohol. It wasn’t in Ronnie’s nature to do those kinds of things to his own body, so the plot definitely thickens here. If you need somebody to suspect, try Alden Wade. When he visits Qwill’s house, Koko immediately dislikes him and expresses his hatred with hisses and death howls. Remember when I said that the slipping on a banana peel gag would become important? Well, it turns out that Koko planted that banana peel in the right place at the right time so that Alden Wade would slip and tumble. I won’t tell you why you should be suspicious of him. You’ll just have to buy a copy of this cute and cuddly book to find out. With Koko, Yum-Yum, a marmalade kitty with “magical eyes” named Dundee, a precious pile of fluff named Jet Stream, and a saggy jowled puppy-duppy named Tasso, even the most brutal mystery can be a warm, fuzzy, snuggly read. Not that this one is brutal, but you get the picture. I hope.

　

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