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Summary
Summary
A New York Times Bestseller As the annual Dogwood Festival approaches, postmistress Mary Haristeen feels her own mating instincts stir. As for tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, her interest turns to a dead woodpecker near the back porch. Feline intuition tells her more mysteries lie ahead.
Author Notes
Rita Mae Brown was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, on November 28, 1944. She received an associate's degree from Broward Junior College in 1965, a B.A. in English and classics from New York University in 1968, a Cinematography Degree from the School of the Visual Arts in 1968, and a Ph.D. in English and political science from the Institute for Policy Studies in 1976. She was the writer-in-residence at the Women's Writing Center of Cazenovi College and a visiting instructor teaching fiction writing at the University of Virginia.
After publishing two books of poetry, she published her first novel, Rubyfruit Jungle, in 1973. Her works include The Hand that Cradles the Rock, Sudden Death, Venus Envy, Loose Lips, and Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. She writes the Mrs. Murphy Mystery series and Foxhunting Mysteries series. She also writes screenplays and teleplays including Sweet Surrender, Room to Move, Table Dancing, and The Long Hot Summer. Her work on TV earned several Emmy nominations and she received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Variety Show in 1982 for I Love Liberty.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Springtime, romance and murder all visit the peaceful little town of Crozet, Va. home of Mary Minor Hairsteen ("Harry"), her trio of feline and canine sleuths, a cast of familiar supporting characters and, of course, a few new ones. Brown's cozy formula, honed over nine previous books in the series (Claws and Effect, etc.), includes Southern traditions, romantic rivalries and gentle humor typified by the talking animals, whose commentary on human foibles provides much amusement. While the Crozet social whirl revolves around the upcoming Dogwood Festival, the theft of some unusual hubcaps sets in motion an escalating series of crimes that, inevitably, catches the interest of Harry. And Harry's old rival, BoomBoom Craycroft, does Harry the peculiar favor of fixing her up with a very handsome diplomat from Uruguay. While Harry juggles her duties as postmistress of Crozet, her farm chores and the romantic attentions of ex-husband "Fair" Hairsteen and the suave Diego Aybar, her pets the comfort-seeking, fat cat Pewter; the brave little Welsh corgi, Tee Tucker; and the wise and cunning Mrs. Murphy, a gray tiger cat apply their various talents to protect "Mom," as they call Harry. Brown's proven brand of murder and mayhem played out against a background of Virginia gentility and idealized animals is once again up to scratch. (Mar. 5) Forecast: Like its predecessors, this should find a comfortable perch on bestseller lists. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Crozet, Virginia, divided equally between First Families who settled there soon after Pocahontas freed John Smith, weekenders from nearby Washington's diplomatic corps, and pets, livestock, and ferals who archly critique the resident humans, is gearing up for the Dogwood Festival and the Wrecker's Ball. But trouble's a-brewing. Someone has denuded Miranda Hogendobber's 1961 Ford Falcon of its hubcaps; there's a dead pileated woodpecker in the road; and Seth O'Bannon's pushy brother Roger, his partner in the local salvage yard-who keeps asking out snobbish Lottie Pearson, Assistant Director for Major Gifts at the university, and getting stiffed-is soon face down in a teacup, presumably dead of natural causes. Smashingly beautiful BoomBoom Craycroft could care less. She's arranging a blind date for postmistress Harry Haristeen with dishy Uruguayan dignitary Diego Aybar, to the disgust of Harry's ex, six-feet-five veterinarian Fair. While Harry's housemates Tee Tiger the corgi, fat cat Pewter, and brainy sleuth extraordinaire Mrs. Murphy the feline traipse about the countryside observing what fools these mortals be, one man is hanged, another stabbed (with half a million dollars sitting in his safe), and it turns out pushy old Roger was poisoned. The none-too-logical resolution, tying in carjacking, internationalism, and the home-grown avaricious, will make the Wrecker's Ball the most exciting in years. Like its forebears (Claws and Effect, 2001, etc.): catnip to some, treacle to others.
Booklist Review
In a series that vacillates between corny and captivating, Brown's tenth Mrs. Murphy mystery lands in the plus column. This time most of the action (and the dialogue) features the three pets of Crozet, Virginia, postmistress "Harry" Harristeen: Tee Tucker, Harry's dog; Pewter, her fat gray cat; and tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, the brains of the operation. What starts as a simple case of stolen hubcaps rapidly turns complicated when someone finds the suspected thief hanged in the woods. As Mrs. Murphy, Tucker, and Pewter puzzle over whodunit, Harry enjoys dating handsome Diego, visiting from Uruguay, to the disgust of her still-smitten former husband, Fair. Two more murders make catching the killer critical, requiring Harry's pets to ask a nasty rat and a scary owl for help. Although some readers will be turned off by animal-lover Brown's inexplicable insistence on extolling the "beauty" of fox and coon hunting, loyal fans will be pleased to see Mrs. Murphy and cohorts back in fine form. --Jenny McLarin
Library Journal Review
When Roger Roger O'Bannon is found dead at the Wrecker's Ball, "Harry" Haristeen and feline friend Mrs. Murphy suspect it wasn't gin that done him in. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.