Product Description

A mysterious death in a Virginia farm town has the locals scratching their heads—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 “Harry” 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 building—and modern rules. Harry’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 ladies’ 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 can’t resist doing a little digging—with Mrs. Murphy close by to warn of approaching danger. Harry makes a remarkable discovery in the creek—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 breeder—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 afternoon—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 don’t find a way to help Harry piece together the puzzle, she could become the killer’s next target—and even Mrs. Murphy’s slinkiest moves won’t be able to save her.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #285478 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-25
• Released on: 2005-01-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780553582864
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Brown (The Tale of the Tip-off, etc.) and her feline collaborator offer another winsome tale of endearing talking animals and fallible, occasionally homicidal humans, many of whom breed and raise horses in the small Piedmont town of Crozet, Va. Near Potlicker Creek, postmistress Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and her petsâ€"corgi Tee Tucker, tiger cat Mrs. Murphy and fat, gray kitty Pewterâ€"discover 34-year-old breeder Barry Monteith, "fit, handsome... and fun-loving," on the ground, his slashed throat gushing blood. "Death, often so shocking to city dwellers, was part of life here in the country." Later, Harry resigns in a pique when the overzealous, obnoxious animal-control officer prohibits her pets from the post office. A reawakening of affection for Fair, her former husband, and the building of an addition to her barn complicate things further. Her animals figure she's too distracted when Harry misses vital clues to Barry's murderâ€"and to the peculiar death of a second young breeder. The mystery thickens with a strange case of rabies that brings on the state health inspectors as well as the media. Brown perhaps overdoes the details of horse breeding, record-keeping and rabies, but fans are sure to cheer as Tee Tucker, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter rush to their mistress's rescue at the harrowing climax. Illustrations by Michael Gerraty not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–In a unique town in Virginia, the animals speak English to one another and help to solve murders. In this installment in the entertaining series, postmistress Harry finds the body of her friend Barry, a horse breeder, who seems to have been attacked by a bear. But no, it turns out that he died of rabies. When a second mysterious death occurs, the town is concerned that there will be an epidemic, and the officials refuse to let Harry's pets come to work with her. Readers learn details about rabies and horse breeding before the exciting climax in which Harry's animals fly into action to save her life. Delightful line drawings illustrate the creatures, usually in some adorable pose. Witty dialogue will bring a smile to readers' faces as the animals outsmart the humans.–Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Just when you think Brown might be running out of plotlines for her popular Mrs. Murphy series, she comes back with an intriguing new adventure featuring the titular talking cat and her animal and human friends. The story begins with a bang as protagonist Mary Minor "Harry" Harristeen, postmistress of tiny Crozet, Virginia, happens upon a dying man whose throat has been slashed. As if that weren't bad enough, he also had rabies. Snooping around the crime scene, Harry finds a ring belonging to a long-missing woman. Are the two connected? This is just one of the many puzzles that unfold in this suspenseful tale that also involves the disappearance of a famous studhorse. Along the way, Brown imparts significant knowledge about horse breeding and dispels many common myths about rabies. Fans who think of Harry as a friend will appreciate how Brown catapults the young farmer out of her comfort zone, setting the stage for an exciting new chapter in her life. Admirers of Mrs. Murphy will enjoy the expanding repertoire of animals she converses with: snakes, owls, mice, swallows, and foxes. In a somewhat uneven series, Brown comes into her own here; never has she seemed more comfortable with her characters. The pick of the litter. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Refreshing entry in series
The Mrs. Murphy mystery series is like a favorite pair of old slippers. I'll read one no matter what, but I think this particular volume shows new life. Although I don't have the objectivity of someone who has never read any of the books by the team of Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown, I think a newcomer could easily join the club with WHISKER OF EVIL. It defines old characters and references to past events and purveys the strengths of the series. Comparing this book to others in the series and to its genre, it gets 5 stars.

The chief strength I find is that Brown succeeds in satirizing the "cozy" mystery genre at the same time she pays homage to it. She has created some genial though not uncomplicated regular characters and a world that she does not puncture even when shaking things up, which she does considerably this time around. She is realistic (well, as realistic as you get when animals have their own lines of dialogue). What began in her first books as a speck on a rural map of Virginia, the town of Crozet in Albemarle County, has become urbanized rural. Government regulations plague postmistress/heroine Mary ("Harry") Hairsteen. You can see the whole South grappling with its past, present and future through this series. In deceptively simple prose, she conveys a strong sense of how time and the world catch up with the individual.

The mystery itself is predictable. But who really reads or even writes "cozies" as brainteasers? Brown is having a lot of fun. She exercises a lot of knowledge about horse culture and airs her views on growth, government, taxes, ageing, and humanity, not to mention tourists who visit the real town of Crozet and don't find it as cute as they think a setting in a "cozy" should be.

Wonderful, but not the best in the series
Rita Mae Brown, along with her cat Sneaky Pie, writes excellent mysteries set in the small town of Crozet, Virginia, with Mary Minor "Harry" Harristeen, the local postmistress, as the protagonist. Helping her are her three pets, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter--the cats--and Tucker--the corgi. All three animals carry on lively conversations and investigate along with Harry, even though none of the humans can understand them.

This mystery concerns the death of Barry Monteith, a local horse breeder. Even more mysterious is that fact that Barry, although viciously murdered, was also infected with rabies. Harry soon finds the class ring of Mary Pat Reines, a local horsebreeder who disappeared in 1967 with her prize stallion. Two more deaths soon follow, and the entire close-knit town is shaken, trying to discover the murderer and the source of Barry's rabies.

The only flaw with this book, and the reason I didn't give it 5 stars, is the author's fascination with horses. An excellent horsewoman (horseperson?) herself, she includes quite a bit of breeding information in the novel, which is interesting until she goes on for several pages about it. You can't skip it, though--there are clues enclosed in it. Fans of the series will do fairly well with the information, as Brown has given us a great deal about horses in all of her books, but it does drag after a while.

This book is very integral to the series, and many events that affect the entire series take place in it. For this reason, I don't recommend it to new readers. Pick up "Wish You Were Here" or "Rest in Pieces," the first two books in the series. Not only will you get the horse information, but you'll be better introduced to the marvelous cast of characters. Brown always includes a cast of characters in her novels--one that encompasses both animals and people--but you'll love getting the history of the characters!

Bottom Line: An excellent cozy for small-town people, cat-lovers, horse-lovers, anyone! Series-altering events take place in it, though, so it's not recommended for first-time readers. Other than that, enjoy the wonderful 3-dimensional characters and excellent plot!

A Wonderful Read
When I bought this book, I realized that it was part of a series and in fact, the very last addition in it. I thought that I may have had a hard time understanding the characters and other important facts about this book. But, it didn't matter that I read the last book. Rita Mae Brown made it possible so that you could read this book first and still understand the whole story. I thouroughly enjoyed this book.

Mary Minor "Harry" Harristeen and her fellow animal companions have another mystery up their sleeves. A local horsebreeder has been murder. The catch is that this man also had rabies. Soon, Harry is following a trail of clues and reopened the disappearance of a horse breeder from 30 years ago. She feels that the 2 cases may be connected.

At the same time, Harry's post office will be moved into a new building with new rules, prohibiting her cats and dog from helping her with her job.

This book has many unsuspecting twists. I highly recommend it to any mystery or animal lovers.