rita mae brown & sneaky pie brown books

Itâ??s no secret that cats are a mystery writerâ??s best friend. Just ask the bestselling team of Rita Mae Brown and her furry partner, Sneaky Pie Brown, back on the prowl with another unforgettable whodunit. This time a controversial miracle in Virginiaâ??s Blue Ridge Mountains sparks religious fervorâ??and a suspicious death. Now the indefatigable felines Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with the dogged corgi Tee Tucker, must trust their animal instincts to sniff out the worst of human nature….
With the holidays approaching, Mary Minor â??Harryâ? Haristeen and her best friend, Susan Tucker, take a much-needed time-out at the mountain monastery of Mount Carmel. There, under the benevolent gaze of the statue of the Virgin Mary, their worldly worries are soon overshadowed. For in front of their very eyes the statue begins to cry tears of blood.
Legend has it that Maryâ??s crimson tears are harbingers of crises. And though skeptical, the ever-practical Harry can already see one on the horizon. If leaked, news of the so-called miracle could turn the monastery and the town of Crozet into a circus. What Harry doesnâ??t foresee is murder.â?¦
When Susanâ??s great-uncle Thomas, a resident monk, is found frozen to death at the base of the statue, foul play is ruled outâ??at first. But at Harryâ??s urging, the body is exhumed for an autopsy. Thereâ??s just one problem: the coffin is empty. Thatâ??s when Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker get involved. Then thereâ??s the shocking revelation of a mystery that has perplexed the citizens of Crozet for ages.
With Christmas around the corner and the monastery overrun by the faithful, all Harryâ??s meddling menagerie can do is stay on her trail as she jumps knee-deep into an unofficial investigationâ??one that becomes more dangerous when another Crozet citizen meets an untimely demise. In this case it will be a miracle if Harry stays alive….

From the Hardcover edition.
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Best review for Cat’s Eyewitness (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)

A mysterious death in a Virginia farm town has the locals scratching their headsâ??while frisky feline Mrs. Murphy and her friends, fat-cat Pewter and corgi Tee Tucker, uncover clues as they curl their way around a cold-blooded killer.
This balmy summer in Crozet, Virginia, postmistress Mary Minor â??Harryâ? Haristeen has a lot to think about. Things have been pretty cozy between her and her ex-husband, Fair and her beloved old post office is in danger of being replaced with a modern buildingâ??and modern rules. Harryâ??s thoughtful contemplation is shattered the day she stumbles over a dead body near Potlicker Creek. Barry Monteith, the handsome local horse breeder, has been savagely murdered. A true ladiesâ?? man, Barry was known to have left a string of broken hearts behind him. But could a spurned lover be responsible for his untimely demise?
The plot only thickens when an autopsy reveals that Barry was infected with rabies weeks before he was killed. As usual, Harry canâ??t resist doing a little diggingâ??with Mrs. Murphy close by to warn of approaching danger. Harry makes a remarkable discovery in the creekâ??the class ring of Mary Pat Reines, a local woman who disappeared thirty years earlier along with her prized Thoroughbred stallion. Like Barry, Mary Pat was a successful horse breederâ??and now all of Crozet is wondering if the two cases are linked. As the police struggle with the evidence, the pressure gets hotter than a June afternoonâ??especially when another person is found dead of less-than-natural causes. As usual, Mrs. Murphy and her crew are the first to sniff out the truth.

But if they donâ??t find a way to help Harry piece together the puzzle, she could become the killerâ??s next targetâ??and even Mrs. Murphyâ??s slinkiest moves wonâ??t be able to save her.

From the Hardcover edition.
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Best review for Whisker of Evil

In this latest whodunit, Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner-in-crime-detection, Sneaky Pie Brown, return to the scene of their bestselling crimesâ??picturesque Crozet, Virginia. Love is in the air as spring comes to the small town, but no sooner has Mary Minor â??Harryâ? Haristeen remarried than she is rudely interruptedâ??by murder. And no sooner does the trouble start than curious cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with corgi Tee Tucker, sink their claws into the case.â?¦
After an unexpected rekindling of their romance, Harry and her veterinarian ex-husband, Fair Haristeen, have happily remarried. But the excitement of their nuptials is quickly overshadowed by the murder of Professor Vincent Forland, a world-famous grape and fungal expert who was in town visiting the local vineyards.
Within days of giving a lecture on how distilled fungus and cattle diseases are the current basis of chemical warfare, Forlandâ??s decapitated body is discovered. After their initial fright, the residents of Crozet believe that this was a political murder and settle back into their routinesâ??until a local is also found dead, killed in the same gruesome manner as Professor Forland. Now residents canâ??t help wondering, is this really the work of an
outsiderâ??or one of their own?
No longer working in the post office, Harry had just planted a quarter acre of grapes, which fuels her natural curiosity over just what the two murder victims knew and had in common. Once the warmth of spring arrives, the grapevines blossom and Harryâ??s furry entourage discovers the first critical clue. But how can they show the humans what theyâ??ve learned? And how can theyâ??or anyoneâ??stop the killing?
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Best review for Sour Puss (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)

Mrs. Murphy thinks the new man in town is the  cat’s meow…. Maybe she should think again.  Small towns don’t take kindly to strangers–unless  the stranger happens to be a drop-dead gorgeous and  seemingly unattached male. When Blair Bainbridge  comes to Crozet, Virginia, the local matchmakers  lose no time in declaring him perfect for their  newly divorced postmistress, Marry Minor “Harry  Haristeen.” Even Harry’s tiger cat, Ms.  Murphy, and her Welsh Corgi, Tee Tucker, believe he  smells A-okay. Could his one little imperfection  be that he’s a killer? Blair becomes the most  likely suspect when the pieces of a dismembered corpse  begin tuming up around Crozet. No one knows who  the dead man is, but when a grisly clue makes a  spectacular appearance in the middle of the fall  festivities, more than an early winter snow begins  chilling the blood of Crozet’s very best people.  That’s when Ms. Murphy, her friend Tucker, and her  human companion Harry begin to sort throughout the  clues . . . only to find themselves a whisker away  from becoming the killer’s next  victims.
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Best review for Rest in Pieces (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)

Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen is back with sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and corgi Tee Tucker. And this time they must catch a killer determined to turn a birthday party into a funeral.

Harry’s beloved and tart-tongued Aunt Tally is about to turn the big 1-0-0. The alumnae association of her alma mater sees an opportunity to honor the event and make some loot off the centennial as well. The plan is to hold a big fund-raiser in Aunt Tally’s honor to recoup some of the school revenue lost in the cratered economy. But soon there’s more at risk than investments and endowments.

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Best review for The Cat of the Century (Thorndike Basic)