Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown return with this twenty-seventh book in their bestselling Mrs. Murphy series, in which mysteries of past and present Albemarle County, Virgina continue to converge. "Harry" Haristeen and her friends and animal companions pursue the threads of a mystery dating back to Virginia's post-Revolutionary past, introduced in A Hiss Before Dying, while their 18th century predecessors continue to struggle with the challenges of the fledgling country. Harry's new friendship with Marvella Lawson, doyenne of the Richmond art establishment, will lead her back to her own artistic and academic interests, providing both personal pleasure and creative fulfillment-and new clues to current crimes!
A mystery full of colorful characters (both two- and four-legged!), gorgeous country landscapes, timeless traditions, and the breathtaking thrill of the fox hunt. The fox has made short work of the henhouse and is wreaking havoc across the once-peaceful Virginia hunt country, as Master of the Hunt "Sister" Jane Arnold, her gentleman friend Gray Lorillard, the members of the Jefferson Hunt Club, and their loyal, clever hounds confront a most challenging-and all-too-human-adversary.
Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown are back chasing a mystery with their unique circle of Southern sleuths. And though the changing colors of fall are a beauty to behold, this year the scattered leaves hide a grim surprise. Autumn is in the air in the Blue Ridge Mountain community of Crozet, Virginia-and all the traditions of the changing seasons are under way. Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen cleans her cupboards, her husband, Fair, prepares the horses for the shorter days ahead, and the clamorous barking of beagles signals the annual rabbit chase through the central Virginia hills. But the last thing the local beaglers and their hounds expect to flush out is a dead body. Disturbingly, it's the second corpse to turn up, after that of a missing truck driver too disfigured to identify. The deaths seem unrelated-until Harry picks up a trail of clues dating back to the state's post-Revolutionary past. The echoes of the Shot Heard Round the World pale in comparison to the dangerous shootout Harry narrowly escapes unscathed. Next time, it may be the killer who gets lucky. But not if Harry's furry friends Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker can help it. Lending their sharp-nosed talents to the hunt, they'll help their mistress keep more lives from being lost-and right an injustice buried since the early days of America's independence.
In this exuberant portrayal of post-WWI small-town sins and Southern mores, Rita Mae Brown revisits Runnymede, Maryland, a most beguiling Southern town and home to the beloved characters introduced in Six of One, Bingo and Loose Lips. Set against the backdrop of America emerging from World War I, Cakewalk provides an entertaining look at a small town straddling the Mason Dixon line, where the townsfolk remain split between good and bad, or love and sex, or male and female, or politics and sobriety, and the inimitable, irrepressible, distinctly free-thinking Hunsenmier sisters, Louise and Julia-otherwise known as Wheezie and Juts-and their wide circle of equally indelible friends. An outrageous, affecting, and surprising story of passion, rivalry, and small town antics only Rita Mae Brown could create.
In this fast-paced mystery by Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and her animal friends seek to solve a whodunit rooted in eighteenth-century Virginia-uncovering a shocking secret that refuses to stay buried. At any moment a perfect summer day in Crozet, Virginia-nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains-might turn stormy and tempestuous, as Harry knows too well when a squall suddenly sweeps in. In a blink, Harry's pickup nearly collides with a careening red car that then swerves into a ditch. Harry recognizes the dead driver slumped over the vehicle's steering wheel: Barbara Leader was nurse and confidante to former Virginia governor Sam Holloway. Though Barbara's death is ruled a heart attack, dissenting opinions abound. After all, she was the picture of health, which gives Harry and her four-legged companions pause. A baffling break-in at a local business leads Harry to further suspect that a person with malevolent intent lurks just out of sight: Something evil is afoot. As it happens, Barbara died in the shadow of the local cemetery's statue of the Avenging Angel. Just below that imposing funereal monument lie the remains of one Francisco Selisse, brutally murdered in 1784. Harry's present-day sleuthing draws her back to Virginia's slave-holding past and the hunt for Selisse's killer. Now it's up to Harry and her furry detectives-Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee Tucker-to expose the bitter truth, even if it means staring into the unforgiving eyes of history and cornering a callous killer poised to pounce.
New York Times bestselling authors Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown continue their fan-favorite Mrs. Murphy cozies with Tail Gait. Here spring comes to Crozet, Virginia, with a bang when a professor is gunned down in broad daylight. Now it's up to kitty sleuths Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with crime-solving corgi Tee Tucker, to sniff out the killer.
The chase is on in New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown's gripping new foxhunting mystery, featuring the irrepressible "Sister" Jane Arnold and the wily antics of her four-legged friends. In Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, a century-old crime reawakens bad will—and stirs up a scandal that chills Sister to the bone. Sister Jane and the Jefferson Hunt Club have traveled from Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains to the Bluegrass State of Kentucky to ride with the members of the Woodford Hounds—in the teeth of foul weather. Sister knows better than anyone that an ill wind blows no good. After the hunt, Sister Jane and her boyfriend, Gray Lorillard, head to a sumptuous party on a nearby estate, also home to a historic equine graveyard. The revelry is interrupted by jarring news: The discovery of grisly remains in the cemetery that are decidedly not equine. Now Sister and her hounds are on the case, digging up clues to an old murder that links three well-connected Southern families. When mayhem follows the Jefferson Hunt back to Virginia, the deadly doings become all too real: A dear friend of Sister's is found murdered. Sister and her animal friends must work fast to find a clever killer determined to keep deep-rooted secrets buried. A rollicking, riveting mystery, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie is a masterly novel full of colorful characters, gorgeous country landscapes, and the breathtaking thrill of the hunt.
Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown return with an all-new mystery starring Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen, intrepid kitty sleuths Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and Tee Tucker, the ever-faithful crime-solving corgi. This time around, Harry and her animal friends track a killer whose trail has gone as cold as the weather in December.
Winter has come to Crozet, Virginia, bringing with it a fresh blanket of snow. Harry and her husband, Fair, are hip deep in their usual end-of-the-year activities: distributing food to needy residents, and shopping for outfits for the Silver Linings youth organization’s annual fundraising gala. But buried beneath the white stuff are dark secrets from Crozet’s past—and Harry and her posse of pet detectives are determined to sniff them out.
Two Silver Linings mentors have been found dead in suspicious circumstances. If that weren’t enough to chill the bones of the locals, a pair of severed human fingers has turned up in a pencil jar in the bookkeeper’s office at St. Cyril’s church. What does this grisly display have to do with the mysterious disappearance of Harry’s voluptuous high school Latin teacher, a quarter of a century ago? Maybe nothing. But when the animals make another gruesome discovery in the woods behind Harry’s farm, it becomes clear that terrible crimes have been committed in Crozet—and somebody’s gone to great lengths to cover them up. It’s time to stop shoveling snow and start digging for clues. The truth will be revealed. A cold case will be solved. And a twenty-five-year-old love triangle is about to get untangled. The weather outside may be frightful, but Harry and her four-legged friends refuse to be spooked off the case.
Autumn has descended and crops are being harvested all over Crozet, Virginia, ideal conditions for a scenic drive for Harry and husband Fair. Bucolic views are all well and good, but Harry’s nose for trouble leads her straight to a cornfield’s macabre scarecrow—an all too real murder victim that frightens all but the noisy crows. This accountant’s gruesome death is only the first of many disturbing events in this normally pastoral corner of the world. While Harry tends her beloved grapes and sunflowers, a killer edges closer—as does Harry’s protective menagerie of animals.
In Fox Tracks, New York Times best-selling author Rita Mae Brown delivers another exciting episode in her popular foxhunting series. When Master of the Jefferson Hunt ''Sister'' Jane Arnold is confronted with two ominously similar deaths, she begins to suspect that the killings are linked- and part of a much larger plot. Voicing her opinion soon puts Jane's life in danger. Fortunately, she can turn to her four-legged friends- including horses Keepsake and Lafayette, and even the fox Aunt Netty- for hep.
With help from her friends-the irascible gray cat Pewter, the wise Corgi Tee Tucker, and Tally, the exuberant Jack Russell-Sneaky crisscrosses her home state of Virginia hoping to go where no cat since Socks Clinton has gone: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In the tradition of her heroine, Sojourner Truth, she takes her case to the masses. Journeying from the lair of the red-shouldered hawk to the nest of the tufted titmouse, from a pasture full of curmudgeonly cows to the stately halls of Monticello, the tenacious tiger cat even secures the chattering support of Thomas Jefferson's mice. Mice backing a cat for president? Yes, we can! Now, if Sneaky can get the animal community to band together for the common good, why not the humans? After all, who better to get the economy purring again than an honest tabby with authentic political stripes? Human candidates have had their chance in Washington, with dubious results of late: nowhere does it say in the Constitution that the president cannot be a cat.
The continuing success of the beloved Mrs. Murphy mystery series is given its proper due with the publication of this 20th-anniversary tale. When a local mechanic gets his odometer turned back-for good-Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen steps in to investigate. There's more to the crime than meets the eye, though, and sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with faithful corgi Tee Tucker, do their level best to keep Harry out of harm's way.
