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Jul. 31st, 2010 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennariaTHE CAT WHO WENT UP THE CREEK, by Lilian Jackson Braun.
Cover copy: Pickax's favorite columnist, James Qwilleran, is enjoying a brief vacation at the Nutcracker Inn, in the nearby town of Black Creek -- though his two Siamese, who prefer the spaciousness of their home, beg to differ. At least the many squirrels that have free rein on the grounds of the inn provide some measure of entertainment for Koko and Yum Yum, while Qwill unearths lots of material for his book-in-progress, TALL AND SHORT TALES.
But the tranquility of the place is interrupted by the discovery of a body floating down the creek - the body of a man who had been a guest at the inn. And a possible motive for his murder is suggested when several gold nuggets are found in his possession. Might he have been illegally prospecting for gold in the Black Forest Conservancy, or perhaps beneath the creek? Seems someone else wanted that gold more than he did...
With her twenty-fourth Cat Who.. mystery, Lilian Jackson Braun once again demonstrates why Qwill, Koko, and Yum Yum are purrmanent fixtures in the world of clever and crafty crime-solvers.
Gender of detective: male
Some of the mysteries I read for this bored me. Some irritated me. This is one of the few that actually left me angry. This is a well known author. This is a bestselling series. And this is some of the worst writing I encountered in my survey.
Seriously. Most of the book is spent on being unbearably cutesy: the squirrels are cute ! Koko and Yum Yum are cute! Qwill's writing is cute! The local amateur Gilbert & Sullivan production is cute! The local amateur historical production is cute! None of which has anything to do with any mystery whatsoever, it's just showing off how Qwill and his friends and his locality are Cuter Than You.
Worse, there are bits and bobs and stories dragged in that in a decent mystery would actually have some bearing on something. Here? Nope. At one point, early on, Qwill is headed to a friend's newly refurbished inn, and vaguely remembers there's a story attached to the site. Does he have to research it? Of course not! He goes to his half-written book, and reads the story he's already written up. And the story doesn't even point to a skeleton hidden in the attic, because there are no skeletons. Valuable antique furniture, yes (which is completely legitimately taken out for an exhibit that will profit the inn, all financed by Qwill, who apparently has a trust that lets him spend money like water). But no skeletons.
When the dead body finally turns up, he's all but ignored: it's more important that his death allows Qwill and the cats to move off to the now-vacant cabin, rather than the top floor of the inn. It's not until nearly the end that the book remembers it's supposedly a mystery, and then it lasts only long enough for a second murder to take place, and Qwill to declare, on very little evidence, that X is the killer with Y and Z being factors that the law will also need to take care of. Ta-da, end of book. Confrontation? Arrest? Closure? Why would we need that? Qwill's told us who the bad guys are!
Somebody help me out here, guys. Is the whole series like this, or did the author just have a bad book, or is the series experiencing writing decay? What the hell's up with this?
*
If you're following me, check out my fellow Team Mariposa member as well -- she's writing flash fanfic for the ALS association, and she's much better at writing down our nonsense.
Cover copy: Pickax's favorite columnist, James Qwilleran, is enjoying a brief vacation at the Nutcracker Inn, in the nearby town of Black Creek -- though his two Siamese, who prefer the spaciousness of their home, beg to differ. At least the many squirrels that have free rein on the grounds of the inn provide some measure of entertainment for Koko and Yum Yum, while Qwill unearths lots of material for his book-in-progress, TALL AND SHORT TALES.
But the tranquility of the place is interrupted by the discovery of a body floating down the creek - the body of a man who had been a guest at the inn. And a possible motive for his murder is suggested when several gold nuggets are found in his possession. Might he have been illegally prospecting for gold in the Black Forest Conservancy, or perhaps beneath the creek? Seems someone else wanted that gold more than he did...
With her twenty-fourth Cat Who.. mystery, Lilian Jackson Braun once again demonstrates why Qwill, Koko, and Yum Yum are purrmanent fixtures in the world of clever and crafty crime-solvers.
Gender of detective: male
Some of the mysteries I read for this bored me. Some irritated me. This is one of the few that actually left me angry. This is a well known author. This is a bestselling series. And this is some of the worst writing I encountered in my survey.
Seriously. Most of the book is spent on being unbearably cutesy: the squirrels are cute ! Koko and Yum Yum are cute! Qwill's writing is cute! The local amateur Gilbert & Sullivan production is cute! The local amateur historical production is cute! None of which has anything to do with any mystery whatsoever, it's just showing off how Qwill and his friends and his locality are Cuter Than You.
Worse, there are bits and bobs and stories dragged in that in a decent mystery would actually have some bearing on something. Here? Nope. At one point, early on, Qwill is headed to a friend's newly refurbished inn, and vaguely remembers there's a story attached to the site. Does he have to research it? Of course not! He goes to his half-written book, and reads the story he's already written up. And the story doesn't even point to a skeleton hidden in the attic, because there are no skeletons. Valuable antique furniture, yes (which is completely legitimately taken out for an exhibit that will profit the inn, all financed by Qwill, who apparently has a trust that lets him spend money like water). But no skeletons.
When the dead body finally turns up, he's all but ignored: it's more important that his death allows Qwill and the cats to move off to the now-vacant cabin, rather than the top floor of the inn. It's not until nearly the end that the book remembers it's supposedly a mystery, and then it lasts only long enough for a second murder to take place, and Qwill to declare, on very little evidence, that X is the killer with Y and Z being factors that the law will also need to take care of. Ta-da, end of book. Confrontation? Arrest? Closure? Why would we need that? Qwill's told us who the bad guys are!
Somebody help me out here, guys. Is the whole series like this, or did the author just have a bad book, or is the series experiencing writing decay? What the hell's up with this?
*
If you're following me, check out my fellow Team Mariposa member as well -- she's writing flash fanfic for the ALS association, and she's much better at writing down our nonsense.