The Big Cat Nap: The 20th Anniversary Mrs. Murphy Mystery (Mrs. Murphy Mystery, 20th Anniversary)

Description

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the beloved Mrs. Murphy mystery series, Rita Mae Brown and her intrepid feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown return with a charming claw-biting tale starring Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen. Of course prowling faithfully at Harry’s side are the sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy, ever wise, and Pewter, reliably cranky and always primed with a razor-sharp quip. Fiercely loyal and on the alert, corgi Tee Tucker is also never far behind. This time, Harry and her menagerie throw a wrench into the gears of a killer of grease monkeys.

It’s mid-May, and Crozet, Virginia, is heating up fast, or so it seems to Harry. The town’s beloved ex–post mistress is never idle, dividing her time between raising this year’s bounty of crops; taking care of her veterinarian husband, Fair; indulging her passion for classic cars; and adding further to her reputation as a nosy neighbor. It starts when Harry’s dear friend Miranda Hogendobber takes her on a leisurely drive that ends in a narrow drainage ditch. The chaos continues when the Very Reverend Herbert Jones’s Chevy pick-up also abruptly goes kaput. But these vehicular mishaps are nothing compared to the much more distressing state of a mechanic discovered by Harry in a local repair shop: His head’s been bashed in.

Despite numerous warnings from her much-loved coterie of friends, human and otherwise, Harry rather quickly surmises that the time has come to pop the hood and conduct her own investigation. Her animal companions see disaster fast approaching but can do little except try their best to protect their foolishly intrepid human. Harry’s race to the truth leads straight to powerful forces determined to avoid scrutiny at any cost—even if it means running Harry Haristeen off the road for good.

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Hiss of Death: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery

Description

Ah, spring! The brighter days and singing birds have a way of lifting people’s spirits, as well as those of their animal companions. But the season can also bring out the first blossoms of murder. As the redbuds open in Crozet, Virginia, Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen is especially excited—until a health crisis sends her reeling into the forbidding world of hospitals and doctors, treatments and procedures. Surviving this journey will be tough, but Harry has her animal friends—and her ever-helpful husband, Fair—to support her. Others are considerably less fortunate: A promising nurse’s lifeless body is discovered without a mark on her. Then another hospital employee, who had seemed in perfect health, is also found dead. There’s a mystery afoot—and that’s one thing Harry and her menagerie can’t keep their noses out of.

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Murder Unleashed: A Novel

Description

Unscrupulous bankers, abandoned homes, and a cold-blooded killer on the loose: Mags Rogers and her wire-haired dachshund, Baxter, digg up the dirt in the second scintillating novel in New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown’s delightful new series featuring some doggedly determined canine sleuths and their intrepid human companions.

Settling into ranch life outside Reno, Nevada, with her gregarious great-aunt Jeep Reed and Jeep’s German Shepherd, King, former Wall Street trader Mags doesn’t miss the cutthroat world of investment banking—because its destructive tentacles have reached westward to the Silver State. The foreclosure crisis has taken a huge bite out of the local real estate market, where rows of homes sit unsold and forsaken—but not empty.

A group of squatters, including desperate single mothers with children, are living under the radar in the houses on Reno’s Yolanda Street—without water or electricity. Big-hearted real estate broker Babs Gallagher enlists Jeep and Mags to start a community outreach program, but that means going up against uncaring utility companies, corrupt officials, ruthless politicians—and a merciless murderer. When a former banker is found brutally slain in one of the abandoned homes, the notion of “cutthroat business practices” takes on a whole new meaning.

Baxter, King, and some other canine detectives leave no bone of contention buried as they help their human charges untangle a string of murders rooted deep in the heart of Red Rock Valley’s prominent citizenry. Though Reno deputy—and Mags’s unofficial significant other—Pete Meadows uncovers evidence of blackmail, shady real estate ventures, and rumors of lost treasure, the killer seems to hold all the cards in a city of gambling and sin. Luckily, Mags, Jeep, and Babs still have a few tricks up their sleeves. As nefarious sexploits and backroom backstabbing reverberate throughout the county, the dogs are officially off the leash—and on the hunt for a killer. Along the way, they encounter curious coyotes, human kindness and treachery, and a long-buried stash of riches.

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Sneaky Pie for President: A Novel

Description

Finally, a candidate representing all Americans—both predator and prey!
 
Tired of politics as usual? Despair not: This election year, Rita Mae Brown has thrown her cat into the ring. Her intrepid feline co-author, Sneaky Pie Brown, is taking time off from her busy schedule writing bestselling mysteries to run for President of the United States.
 
Hail to the Chief: Sneaky Pie heads to the Oval Office with an animal-friendly agenda to unify all Americans—regardless of whether they walk on two or four feet or even if they fly.
 
With help from her friends—the irascible gray cat Pewter, the wise Corgi Tee Tucker, and Tally, the exuberant Jack Russell—Sneaky crisscrosses her home state of Virginia hoping to go where no cat since Socks Clinton has gone: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In the tradition of her heroine, Sojourner Truth, she takes her case to the masses. Journeying from the lair of the red-shouldered hawk to the nest of the tufted titmouse, from a pasture full of curmudgeonly cows to the stately halls of Monticello, the tenacious tiger cat even secures the chattering support of Thomas Jefferson’s mice.
 
Mice backing a cat for president? Yes, we can!
 
Now, if Sneaky can get the animal community to band together for the common good, why not the humans? After all, who better to get the economy purring again than an honest tabby with authentic political stripes? Human candidates have had their chance in Washington, with dubious results of late: nowhere does it say in the Constitution that the president cannot be a cat.
 
Isn’t it time for real change? Vote Sneaky!

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Fox Tracks: A Novel

Description

New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown bounds to the front of the pack with Fox Tracks, the thrilling new mystery in her beloved foxhunting series featuring the indomitable “Sister” Jane Arnold and, among others, the boisterous company of horses and hounds. Now, as a string of bizarre murders sweeps the East Coast, this unlikely alliance must smoke out a devious killer who may be closer than they first think.
 
While outside on Manhattan’s Midtown streets a fierce snowstorm rages ferociously, nothing can dampen the excitement inside the elegant ballroom of Manhattan’s Pierre Hotel. Hunt clubs from all over North America have gathered for their annual gala, and nobody is in higher spirits than “Sister” Jane, Master of the Jefferson Hunt in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Braving the foul weather, Sister and her boyfriend, Gray Lorillard, pop out to purchase cigars for the celebration at a nearby tobacco shop, finding themselves regaled by the colorful stories of its eccentric proprietor, Achilles Alonzo.
 
Yet the trip’s festive mood goes to ground the next morning with the grisly discovery of Alonzo’s corpse. The tobacconist was shot in the head but found, oddly enough, with a cigarette pack of Smoky Mountain Smokes laid carefully over his heart.
 
When a similar murder occurs in Washington, D.C., Sister’s “horse sense” tells her there’s a nefarious plot afoot—one that’s winding its way from the South’s aromatic tobacco farms to the wood-paneled boardrooms of power brokers hellbent on profit.
When Sister voices her suspicions, she too becomes a target. Fortunately for her, the Master of the Jefferson Hunt may rely upon the wits and wiles of her four-legged friends—including horses Keepsake and Lafayette, and even the crabby fox Aunt Netty!
 
From Manhattan’s gritty streets to the pastoral beauty of Virginia horse country to the blue grass back fields of Kentucky, Fox Tracks features the beloved characters from past Sister Jane novels in a fascinating new intrigue. This sly, fast-paced mystery gives chase from sizzling start to stunning finish!
 
Praise for Rita Mae Brown
 
Hounded to Death
 
“Fast-paced and filled with scenes from the world of fox hunting . . . Brown delivers the brush.”—The Baltimore Sun
 
“Chock-full of suspense, twists, and humor.”—Lavender magazine
 
The Tell-Tale Horse
 
“Intriguing . . . Fans of the series will be fascinated with Jane’s evolution under Brown’s hand. With each book, Jane becomes more real—and more human—in the reader’s imagination.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
“Grabs readers from the opening scene and gallops through to the very surprising end.”—Horse Illustrated
 
The Hounds and the Fury
 
“A genteel Virginia foxhunting club makes a delicious setting for murder. How pleasant to linger among the settees and brandy snifters waiting for the bodies to pile up!”—Memphis Commercial Appeal
 
“An intriguing story.”—Associated Press

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A Nose for Justice: A Novel

Description

The thrilling start of a tail-wagging new series!

With her high-powered Wall Street job in the rearview mirror, thirty-four-year-old Mags Rogers arrives at her great-aunt Jeep Reed’s sprawling Nevada ranch to reassemble her life. In the passenger seat is Mags’s beloved wirehaired dachshund, Baxter. At Jeep’s side—to Baxter’s distress—is Jeep’s loyal German Shepherd mix, King. The growlings are mutual. Then someone pipe-bombs Red Rock Valley’s pumping station, endangering the water supply. Deputy Pete Meadows links the sabotage to a string of local murders. In her search for answers, Mags uncovers fascinating history about Jeep’s ranch, including an intriguing connection to Buffalo Bill. Drawn to each other, Mags and Pete join forces to solve various mysteries, as Baxter and King team up to protect their humans from a growing threat.

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