The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
- 256
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Cat Who Could Read Backwards” is a light, gently funny mystery that opens Lilian Jackson Braun’s long-running series. Former crime reporter James Qwilleran takes in Koko, a Siamese cat who can read, and the cat proves useful in a murder case set in the art world. Some readers find the long descriptions tiresome and the plot predictable. A natural pick for fans of cosy crime with a four-legged sleuth.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards is the first novel in Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who... series, published in 1966. The book introduces the main character, former crime reporter James Qwilleran, who starts to look after a Siamese cat named Koko, who is literate.
Reading order · The Cat Who...
Full order & progress →- The Cat Who Could Read BackwardsThis book
7.57.5 / 10 - The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Turned On and Off
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Saw Red
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Played Brahms
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Played Post Office
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Sniffed Glue
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Went Underground
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Lived High
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Moved a MountainThe Cat Who Moved a Mountain–Not ranked yet
- The Cat Who Wasn't There
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Went Into the Closet
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Came to Breakfast
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Blew the Whistle
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Said Cheese
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Tailed a Thief
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Sang for the Birds
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Saw Stars
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Robbed a Bank
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Smelled a RatThe Cat Who Smelled a Rat–Not ranked yet
- The Cat Who Went Up The Creek
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Brought Down the House
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Talked TurkeyThe Cat Who Talked Turkey–Not ranked yet
- The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell
–Not ranked yet - The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers
–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.3 across 60 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 29% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Crime & mystery average of 7.6. That is how 7.5 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.5 | 8 | 13% |
| Hardcover | 7.2 | 52 | 87% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Cat Who Could Read Backwards?
It has 256 pages — shorter than 91% of the ranked books in Crime & mystery.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Crime & mystery — and a score of 7.5, the closest to this book.
