The Cat Who

The cat who solves mysteries most specifically.

Lilian Jackson Braun is the writer of this magnificent series. The full list of her books can be found here, as well as many other places. As you can see, all the books in this series begin with "The Cat Who...". This is the series nickname.

I have read/listened to several of her books, including The Cat Who Turned On and Off, The Cat Who Went Underground, The Cat Who Came To Breakfast, The Cat Who Talked Turkey, and The Cat Who Went Bananas. I would love to read the rest of the series. Possibly from the beginning. I usually try to hunt them down at yard sales or book sales.

Another Mystery

This time a book!

I've noticed that Murder mysteries tend to come in a series. On one hand, I like the concept of a series. I become familiar with a set of characters, and I enjoy following them on their adventures. On the other hand, I feel absolutely terrible that some of these "normal people" happen across so many of their friends being murdered!

In the series I'm researching now, Knitting Mystery by Maggie Sefton you meet the main character, Kelly Flynn. She's an CPA, not a detective. In the first book, she uncovers the mystery of her beloved Aunt's murder. In the second book, a friend of hers (an alpaca farmer) gets murdered. In the third book, another friend dies. In the forth book, an ex-boyfriend dies. That's only the first 4 books. There are 8 in the series. After the 3rd, I would start to be a little concerned for my own safety. But Kelly Flynn rallies on and continues to solve the mystery of the murder of all her friends. In one of the books, she does have to defend her own innocence, which, to my mind, is logical. I mean, she is connected to all these people in some way, why wouldn't you suspect her?

There is a side element to this book, making it a sort of hybrid into itself. In the series, Kelly also learns to knit, and because of this, there are lots of knitting references in the book. Also included in the book are a few patterns for things knit in the books, as well as a few recipes for dishes discussed in the book. Though it is not exclusively instructional, tips and tricks are given in the book.

A Classic Begining

I started my mystery exploration with what I had on hand, or, rather, what I could get my hands on. My roommate kindly lent me a few of her mystery movies, all of which consist of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. Agatha Christie is famous for her murder mystery series as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is famous for Sherlock Holmes. I spent last night watching an episode entitled "Cat Among the Pigeons". The movie was quite good, the actors wonderfully British. From this film I've discerned a few things about the genre.

There is a basic formula. The piece, be it film or novel, starts out with a vague introduction of characters. If it is a series, as they often are, there might be a little more focus on the main detective, who rarely is employed by the police full time. (In this particular case, the inspector called upon for the case is wary of Poirot's help at first, until he "proves" himself to be worth the effort. Poirot states early in the movie that he does not want to be "stepping on of the toes".) Then there is the first "incident". Most often it is a murder, but sometimes it is a missing object of great value. Murder tends to be most common. Sometimes there are several murders. Then follows the investigation, where strange twists and turns are revealed, as well as dirty secrets and underlying alliances. Then there is the grand finale, the accusation with undeniable proof that the murderer had done it.

I think I will be watching a few more films, as well as exploring a few books.

Mystery: the Definition

Dictionary.com has a lovely and long definition of the word mystery, but, seeing as I have provided you with a link, I will not bore you with the tediousness of reading through it. As well and fine this definition is, there is really only one part of this definition which interests me. Part 3, "a novel, short story, play, or film whose plot involves a crime or other event that remains puzzlingly unsettled until the very end: a mystery by Agatha Christie."

This shall be exhibit A of my Hybrid Genres experiment. There shall be more information to come, but for now it's off to solve some mysteries!!