Author Lilian Jackson Braun dead at 97

LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- U.S. author Lilian Jackson Braun has died in a hospice in Landrum, S.C., her family said. She was 97.

The BBC confirmed the scribe's Saturday death but did not specify the exact cause.

A former feature writer for the Detroit Free Press, Braun is best known for her "The Cat Who ... " series of 29 mystery novels, the first of which was published in 1966.

The author of two short story collections retired in 2007 after the publication of "The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers," the British broadcaster said.