Synopses & Reviews
New York Times bestselling authors Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner, Sneaky Pie Brown, return with a new mystery starring Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen, the sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and corgi Tee Tucker. But are they any match for a killer whos made an entire town suspect by committing…
Autumn has arrived in cozy Crozet, Virginia, and that means the towns inhabitants are hard at work in home and garden preparing for winter. Harry is planning to harvest her first crop of Petit Manseng grapes along with her beloved sunflowers. Meanwhile, her recent marriage to Fair and her friendship with Deputy Cynthia Cooper, whos rented nearby Blair Farm, are flourishing. But even when peace descends on the idyllic countryside, murder is lurking.
Mrs. Carla Paulson is one of the diamond-encrusted “come-here” set who has descended on Crozet with plenty of wealth and no feeling for country ways. Shes determined to make her new house the envy of all her well-heeled friendsand enemiesand shes hired architect Tazio Chappers to build it.
From the start, the projectand Mrs. Paulsonturns into a major headache relieved only by a side trip to study Thomas Jeffersons extraordinary summer home at Poplar Forest. Harry couldnt foresee that a day later Mrs. Paulson would be found stabbed to death at a gala fund-raiser with Harrys friend, Tazio Chappers, standing over her, holding the knife.
Now Harry must solve what seems to everyone else an open-and-shut case. Every other human, that is. For her four-legged friends see it Harrys way. But will they have to choose between catching the purrfect killer or saving Harry?
About the Author
Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of several books. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and 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 fifteen previous Mrs. Murphy mysteries: 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; Cats Eyewitness; Sour Puss; and Puss n Cahoots, in addition to Sneaky Pies Cookbook for Mystery Lovers.