Product Description

In this latest whodunit, Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner-in-crime-detection, Sneaky Pie Brown, return to the scene of their bestselling crimes—picturesque Crozet, Virginia. Love is in the air as spring comes to the small town, but no sooner has Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen remarried than she is rudely interrupted—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.…

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, Forland’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 routines–until a local is also found dead, killed in the same gruesome manner as Professor Forland. Now residents can’t help wondering, is this really the work of an
outsider—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 Harry’s furry entourage discovers the first critical clue. But how can they show the humans what they’ve learned? And how can they—or anyone—stop the killing?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109656 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-28
• Released on: 2006-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The 13th Mrs. Murphy mystery from bestseller Brown and her feline collaborator (after 2005's Cat's Eyewitness) opens with the comic-opera remarriage of series heroine Harry Haristeen and Fair, Harry's veterinarian ex-husband, reintroducing at length some familiar characters before turning to the novel's main focus—the vagaries of the burgeoning wine industry in the Virginia Piedmont. The prospect of having your own label or selling at a profit to another winery is too good to pass up, and even Harry and Fair have put in a quarter acre of Petit Manseng grapes. But someone is trying to scare off the competition, and the disappearance of a respected expert in the mutation of toxins sets Harry's talking pets—cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and corgi Tee Tucker—on the sleuthing trail. When a longstanding feud between rival vintners leads to murder, Harry has to read the clues before attrition gives us the answers. Brown provides a captivating look at grape growing and the passionate dedication it requires. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
This venerable mystery series has been on a good run of late. Brown does everything right here, from creating a suspenseful plot to introducing readers to Virginia vineyards and the art of winemaking. Former postmistress Harry Haristeen has forgiven and remarried her errant spouse, the aptly named veterinarian Fair, and is making a go of it as a farmer. In addition to more traditional crops, Harry is dabbling in grapes, joining an increasing number of central Virginia vintners. The tiny town of Crozet is abuzz with the talk of grapes and how to protect the finicky crop when an outspoken wine grower is murdered. A competitor is blamed for his death, and suddenly the expensive hobby takes on a much more serious tone. As Harry tries to figure out why a non-native species of insect pest has appeared in her peach orchard, her animal companions--tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, corgi Tucker, and "big boned" feline Pewter--discover another body buried in the orchard. Brown seems more relaxed and comfortable with her characters in each new adventure, reenergizing a series that could easily have grown stale over time. Wine fanciers or not, readers will happily toast the animal-loving author for creating this robust and flavorful tale. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of several books. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet, she lives in Afton, Virginia.

Sneaky Pie Brown, a tiger cat born somewhere in Albemarle County, Virginia, was discovered by Rita Mae Brown at her local SPCA. They have collaborated on fourteen previous Mrs. Murphy mysteries: Sour Puss; Wish You Were Here; Rest in Pieces; Murder at Monticello; Pay Dirt; Murder, She Meowed; Murder on the Prowl; Cat on the Scent; Pawing Through the Past; Claws and Effect; Catch as Cat Can; The Tail of the Tip-Off; Whisker of Evil; and Cat’s Eyewitness, in addition to Sneaky Pie’s Cookbook for Mystery Lovers.

Customer Reviews

this one was sour...
The original charm of this series was the delightful camaraderie and interplay of the animals, amongst themselves and with their human companions. Harry as the heroine caught us all and we got swept up in the total life of Crozet from Big Mim to Pewter and every human and critter in between. This was especially so in using the display of the superior senses of the pets with the less discerning human senses, and how the animals' keen senses would play such a masterful part in the mystery and its solution. Especially if the reader, such as myself, has both a cat and a corgi in the family.
#12 in the series disappointed me very much. I felt it was getting away from the most attractive part of this series - the animals. (After all, doesn't Sneaky Pie help author these books?) I wondered at the time if I would even buy #13. And so did many of my friends.
I am now sorry to say that I have just finished #13 and my worst fears were imagined. The whole first half of the book reads like a personal agenda that tried to belong to a storyline. Where were our beloved critters? - where was the full description we came to expect in the development of the characters and the interplay of the plot with the critters and their humans. I read these books to step out of reality for awhile and to enjoy a storyline and characters that grab my interest to the point I feel as if they lived in the next town over. If the author wanted to tell us how she has assessed current day concerns and what her resolutions might be, she should have written a book to that effect. I will be checking the reviews before I purchase #14, if there is one.

Sour Puss
Rita Mae Brown's characters are always a treat, and I look forward to each new book. But unfortunately, this one, was a a sour treatment. Too much techie information about grape growing and wineries, and not enough info about the wonderful characters and the usual antics of Mrs. Murphy, Tucker, Pewter and the horses. I have all of Ms. Brown's other books, and have loved them and re-read them often. This one, which sounded really interesting from the advance reviews and jacket info, just fell flat. A real disappointment.

Bad enough I won't buy another
I am a Rita Mae Brown fan and have been from her early novels on. I own and have read all of the "Mrs. Murphy" Mystery series. This book is awful. I can't believe she wrote it. I had to force myself to finish it. Characters did things that didn't work. The writing was just plain bad. Technical facts about wine and grapes and terrorism and you name it are thrown together and not wrapped in much story. Even the dialog is flat. I've enjoyed every topic Ms. Brown has tackled in the past because of her excellent writing so I concluded she is either ill, has writer's block, or had a crazy deadline that stopped the creative juices. Read any of the other books in the series, but don't bother with this one.