SNEAKY PIE BROWN

When winter hits Crozet, Virginia, it hits hard--and hangs on for months. Thats nothing new to postmistress Mary Minor Harry Haristeen and her friends, who keep warm with hard work, hot toddies, and rabid rooting for the University of Virginias womens basketball team at the old stadium affectionately dubbed The Clam. But the usual postgame high spirits are laid low when contractor H. H. Donaldson drops dead in the parking lot. And pretty soon word has spread that it wasnt a heart attack that did him in. It just doesnt sit right with Harry that one of her fellow fans--perhaps even an acquaintance or neighbor sitting close by in the stands--is a murderer. And as tiger cat Mrs. Murphy is all too aware, things that dont sit right with Harry make her restless, curious, and prone to poking her not-very-sensitive human nose into dangerous places. So the animals start paying closer attention to what the people around them are doing--and theyre the first ones to realize when the next murder occurs. It seems obvious to Harry that the deaths are connected--and she intends to find out exactly how. Theres no shortage of suspects, considering that H.H. was a ladies man whod left a trail of broken hearts all over town--the most recent belonging to his wife-- and that the second murder victim was not very popular in Crozet.As the police launch their investigation, Harry picks up clues through savvy questioning of everyone she knows. But its the critters who are most attuned to trouble--they scent something wicked wafting Harrys way on the tail of the next snowstorm. And as Harry draws closer to the truth about a brutal killer, Mrs. Murphy and her friends realize its up to them to make sure their intrepid mom lands on her feet.

Mrs. Murphy digs into Virginia historyand gets her paws on a killer.The most popular citizen of Virginia has been dead for nearly 170 years. That hasnt stopped the good people of tiny Crozet, Virginia, from taking pride in every aspect of Thomas Jeffersons life. But when an archaeological dig of the slave quarters at Jeffersons home, Monticello, uncovers a shocking secret, emotions in Crozet run highdangerously high.The stunning discovery at Monticello hints a hidden passions and age-old scandals. As postmistress Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and some of Crozets Very Best People try to learn the identity of a centuries-old skeletonand the reason behind the murderHarrys tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy, and her canine and feline friends attempt to sniff out a modern-day killer. Mrs. Murphy and corgi Tee Tucker will stick their paws into the darker mysteries of human nature to solve murders old and newbefore curiosity can kill the catand Harry Haristeen.

Spring fever comes to the small town of Crozet, Virginia. As the annual Dogwood Festival approaches, postmistress Mary Minor Harry Haristeen feels her own mating instincts stir. As for tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, feline intuition tells her theres more in the air than just pheromones. It begins with a case of stolen hubcaps and proceeds to the mysterious death of a dissolute young mechanic over a sobering cup of coffee. Then another death and a shooting lead to the discovery of a half-million crisp, clean dollar bills that look to be very dirty. Now Harry is on the trail of a cold-blooded murderer. Mrs. Murphy already knows who it is--and whos next in line. She also knows that Harry, curious as a cat, does not have nine lives. And the one she does have is hanging by the thinnest of threads.

It takes a cat to write the purr-fect mystery"People who love cats...have a friend in Rita Mae Brown," declares The New York Times Book Review. And nowhere is it more obvious than in this, her sixth deliciously witty foray into detective fiction written with the paws-on help of collaborator Sneaky Pie Brown, and starring that irrepressible crime-solving tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy.As the principal of St. Elizabeths, an exclusive private school that caters to Crozet, Virginias, best families, Roscoe Fletcher has proven himself to be a highly effective and vastly popular administrator. So when his obituary appears in the local paper, everyone in town is upset. Yet nothing compares to the shock they feel when they discover that Roscoe Fletcher isnt dead at all. Someone has stooped to putting a phony obituary in the newspaper. But is it a sick joke or a sinister warning?Only Mrs. Murphy, the canny tiger cat, senses the pure malice behind the act. And when a second false obit appears, this time of a Hollywood has-been who is Roscoe Fletchers best friend, Mrs. Murphy invites her friends, the corgi Tee Tucker, and fat cat Pewter, to do a bit of sleuthing. Its obvious to this shrewd puss that two phony death notices add up to deadly trouble. And her theory is borne out when one of the men is fiendishly murdered."Harry" Haristeen, in her position as Crozets postmistress, is the first to hear all the theories on whodunitstarting with the mans jealous wife. Then a second bloody homicide follows, and a third. People are dropping like flies in Crozet and no one seems to know why.Fearlessly exploring all the places where humans never think to go, Mrs. Murphy manages to untangle the knots of passion, duplicity, and greed that have sent someone into a killing frenzy. Yet knowing the truth isnt enough. Mrs. Murphy must somehow lead Harry, her favorite human, down a trail that is perilous...to a killer who is deadly...and a climax that mystery lovers will relish.