Nine Lives to Die
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Description
Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown return with a 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.
NINE LIVES TO DIE
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.
Praise for Nine Lives to Die
"Witty and entertaining . . . a recipe for continued success and an engaging read."-Richmond Times-Dispatch
"The unabashed loves of [Rita Mae Brown's] life . . . are infectious. Perhaps because they are so clearly heartfelt, it's easy to be swept up in the glory of her passions."-New York Journal of Books
"Murder and mayhem are the order of the day in bestseller [Rita Mae] Brown's well-plotted twenty-second Mrs. Murphy mystery. . . . Brown's idyllic world, with its Christian values, talking animals, and sympathetic middle-aged pet owners, has understandably struck a chord with many readers."-Publishers Weekly
"Rita Mae Brown, along with . . . Sneaky Pie, have made Harry Harristeen and her feline companion, Mrs. Murphy, household names."-Library Journal
Praise for the Mrs. Murphy mysteries
"As feline collaborators go, you couldn't ask for better than Sneaky Pie Brown."-The New York Times Book Review
Book Information
Posts
This 22nd mystery in the Mrs Murphy series is once again set in Crozet, Virginia. Winter has arrived and masses of snow are falling. In this snow chaos two members of Silver Linings, a local youth's organization, are found dead in their cars. Both deaths first seem natural, but then it is discovered that the bodies are each missing an index- and a middle-finger... At the same time Harry's cats and dog discover a skeleton burried under a tree in the mountains behind Harry's farm. Who is the dead person and are the two deaths connected? After several years of very mediocre books in this series, Rita Mae Brown has once again written a story that can be thoroughly enjoyed. In the past books there was always one thing that annoyed me: Harry was always suddenly completely involved in activities or organizations that hadn't existed or weren't mentioned in previous novels (and often aren't mentioned again in any future books). Now Crozet is a small place and Harry's time is also limited (as is mentioned often enough) so that a story line like that seems very unlikely. This time just one new organization makes appearance and Harry also isn't directly involved with it. This was a definite plus. Another positive aspect was the lack of politics. In the past novels Rita Mae often mixed a lot of political topics into her stories or let her characters have conversations about them. While I agree with most of her view, when I read a cozy mystery I don't want to read about politcs or at least not so much. Rita Mae Brown wrote a very decent mystery with a few good red herrings. All deaths would have been perfect murders if it hadn't been for one detail (I'm not saying more here). If it hadn't been for this detail I would have given the book an even higher rating. I know she had to use it to make the known that the deaths were murders. But I'm a fan of perfect murders and so this spoiled the story a bit for me. All in all, a very enjoyable cozy mystery. I'd particularly recommend it to fans of the series, even former ones who gave up on it. Give Rita Mae another chance! (I received a free digital copy via NetGalley)
Description
Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown return with a 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.
NINE LIVES TO DIE
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.
Praise for Nine Lives to Die
"Witty and entertaining . . . a recipe for continued success and an engaging read."-Richmond Times-Dispatch
"The unabashed loves of [Rita Mae Brown's] life . . . are infectious. Perhaps because they are so clearly heartfelt, it's easy to be swept up in the glory of her passions."-New York Journal of Books
"Murder and mayhem are the order of the day in bestseller [Rita Mae] Brown's well-plotted twenty-second Mrs. Murphy mystery. . . . Brown's idyllic world, with its Christian values, talking animals, and sympathetic middle-aged pet owners, has understandably struck a chord with many readers."-Publishers Weekly
"Rita Mae Brown, along with . . . Sneaky Pie, have made Harry Harristeen and her feline companion, Mrs. Murphy, household names."-Library Journal
Praise for the Mrs. Murphy mysteries
"As feline collaborators go, you couldn't ask for better than Sneaky Pie Brown."-The New York Times Book Review
Book Information
Posts
This 22nd mystery in the Mrs Murphy series is once again set in Crozet, Virginia. Winter has arrived and masses of snow are falling. In this snow chaos two members of Silver Linings, a local youth's organization, are found dead in their cars. Both deaths first seem natural, but then it is discovered that the bodies are each missing an index- and a middle-finger... At the same time Harry's cats and dog discover a skeleton burried under a tree in the mountains behind Harry's farm. Who is the dead person and are the two deaths connected? After several years of very mediocre books in this series, Rita Mae Brown has once again written a story that can be thoroughly enjoyed. In the past books there was always one thing that annoyed me: Harry was always suddenly completely involved in activities or organizations that hadn't existed or weren't mentioned in previous novels (and often aren't mentioned again in any future books). Now Crozet is a small place and Harry's time is also limited (as is mentioned often enough) so that a story line like that seems very unlikely. This time just one new organization makes appearance and Harry also isn't directly involved with it. This was a definite plus. Another positive aspect was the lack of politics. In the past novels Rita Mae often mixed a lot of political topics into her stories or let her characters have conversations about them. While I agree with most of her view, when I read a cozy mystery I don't want to read about politcs or at least not so much. Rita Mae Brown wrote a very decent mystery with a few good red herrings. All deaths would have been perfect murders if it hadn't been for one detail (I'm not saying more here). If it hadn't been for this detail I would have given the book an even higher rating. I know she had to use it to make the known that the deaths were murders. But I'm a fan of perfect murders and so this spoiled the story a bit for me. All in all, a very enjoyable cozy mystery. I'd particularly recommend it to fans of the series, even former ones who gave up on it. Give Rita Mae another chance! (I received a free digital copy via NetGalley)