From School Library Journal
YA-Murders continue to be solved by English-speaking animals in the tiny town of Crozet, VA. When first one and then a second obituary are published prior to the murders, the curiosity of sleuths Harry Haristeen and her pets is set afire. The involvement of high school students and staff will appeal to teens. The quick wit and blunt speech giving the animals' perceptions of the humans involved are the special drawing cards to this series. The appealing line drawings help to pull readers into this fast-moving story.Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
In their sixth collaboration, Brown and her tiger cat Sneaky Pie move locale from historic Virginia sites, such as Monticello and Montpelier, to St. Elizabeth's, the exclusive private school in Crozet where philandering headmaster Roscoe Fletcher hopes to establish a new film department with financial assistance from director Maury McKinchie. When fake obituaries of the two are followed by their actual demise, it's up to Crozet's postmistress Mary Minor ("Harry") Haristeen and her fellow, four-footed amateur detectives--tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, fat cat Pewter, and corgi Tee Tucker--to sniff out what's rotten in St. Elizabeth's. The frailties of the human characters (mostly, who slept with whom) seem less interesting than the perspicacious, amusing, and often irreverent commentary of the talking animals, who also take an active part in affairs. Note: Readers will be pleased with indications that Harry and her ex-husband, veterinarian Fair Haristeen, may get back together again--perhaps in the next Mrs. Murphy mystery? Barbara Duree


Review
"Mrs. Murphy is [a] cat who detects her way into our hearts."
--San Francisco Chronicle & Examiner Book Review


Review
"Mrs. Murphy is [a] cat who detects her way into our hearts."
--San Francisco Chronicle & Examiner Book Review


Book Description
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. Elizabeth's, an exclusive private school that caters to Crozet, Virginia's, 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 isn't 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 Fletcher's best friend, Mrs. Murphy invites her friends, the corgi Tee Tucker, and fat cat Pewter, to do a bit of sleuthing. It's 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 Crozet's postmistress, is the first to hear all the theories on whodunit--starting with the man's 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 isn't 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.


From the Publisher
"Mrs. Murphy is [a] cat who detects her way into our hearts."
"As feline collaborators go, you couldn't ask for better."



From the Inside Flap
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. Elizabeth's, an exclusive private school that caters to Crozet, Virginia's, 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 isn't 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 Fletcher's best friend, Mrs. Murphy invites her friends, the corgi Tee Tucker, and fat cat Pewter, to do a bit of sleuthing. It's 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 Crozet's postmistress, is the first to hear all the theories on whodunit--starting with the man's 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 isn't 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.


From the Back Cover
"Mrs. Murphy is [a] cat who detects her way into our hearts."
--San Francisco Chronicle & Examiner Book Review


About the Author
Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of Rubyfruit Jungle, In Her Day, Six of One, Southern Discomfort, Sudden Death, High Hearts, Bingo, Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writers' Manual, Venus Envy, Dolley: A Novel of Dolley Madison in Love and War, Riding Shotgun, and Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet, she lives in Charlottesville, 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 five previous Mrs. Murphy mysteries: Wish You Were Here, Rest in Pieces, Murder at Monticello, Pay Dirt, and Murder, She Meowed.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
"I just spoke to him yesterday." Susan gasped in shock as she read over Harry's shoulder the name Roscoe Harvey Fletcher, forty-five, who died unexpectedly September 22.  She'd jumped up to see for herself.

"The paper certainly got it in the obit section quickly." Harry couldn't believe it either.

"Obit section has the latest closing." Susan again read the information to be sure she wasn't hallucinating.  "Doesn't say how he died.  Oh, that's not good.  When they don't say it means suicide or--"

"AIDS."

"They never tell you in this paper how people die.  I think it's important." Susan snapped the back of the paper.

"'The family requests donations be made to the Roscoe Harvey Fletcher Memorial Fund for scholarships to St. Elizabeth's. . . .'  What the hell happened?" Harry shot up and grabbed the phone.

She dialed Miranda's number.  Busy.  She then dialed Dr. Larry Johnson.  He knew everything about everybody.  Busy.  She dialed the Reverend Herbert Jones.

"Rev," she said as he picked up the phone, "it's Mary Minor."

"I know your voice."

"How did Roscoe die?"

"I don't know." His voice lowered.  "I was on my way over there to see what I could do.  Nobody knows anything.  I've spoken to Mim and Miranda.  I even called Sheriff Shaw to see if there had been a late-night accident.  Everyone is in the dark, and there's no funeral information.  Naomi hasn't had time to select a funeral home. She's probably in shock."

"She'll use Hill and Wood."

"Yes, I would think so, but, well--" His voice trailed off a moment, then he turned up the volume.  "He wasn't sick. I reached Larry.  Clean bill of health, so this has to be an accident of some kind.  Let me get over there to help.  I'll talk to you later."

"Sorry," Harry apologized for slowing him down.

"No, no, I'm glad you called."

"Nobody called me."

"Miranda did.  If you had an answering machine you'd have known early on.  She called at seven a.m., the minute she saw the paper."

"I was in the barn."

"Called there, too."

"Maybe I was out on the manure spreader.  Well, it doesn't matter.  There's work to be done.  I'll meet you over at the Fletchers'. I've got Susan and Brooks with me.  We can help do whatever needs to be done."

"That would be greatly appreciated.  See you there." He breathed in sharply.  "I don't know what we're going to find."

As Harry hung up the phone, Susan stood up expectantly. "Well?"

"Let's shoot over to the Fletchers'.  Herbie's on his way."

"Know anything?" They'd been friends for so long they could speak in shorthand to each other, and many times they didn't need to speak at all.

"No."

"Let's move 'em out." Susan made the roundup sign.

Tucker, assisted by Brooks, sneaked into the roundup.  She lay on the floor of the Audi until halfway to Crozet.  Mrs.  Murphy and Pewter, both livid at being left behind, stared crossly as the car pulled out of the driveway.

Once at the Fletchers' the friends endured another shock.  Fifty to sixty cars lined the street in the Ednam subdivision.  Deputy Cynthia Cooper directed traffic.  This wasn't her job, but the department was shorthanded over the weekend.

"Coop?" Harry waved at her.

"Craziest thing I've ever heard of," the nice-looking officer said.

"What do you mean?" Susan asked.

"He's not dead."

"WHAT?" all three humans said in unison.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

As the principal of St. Elizabeth's, an exclusive private school that caters to Crozet, Virginia's, 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 isn't 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 Fletcher's best friend, Mrs. Murphy invites her friends, the corgi Tee Tucker, and fat cat Pewter, to do a bit of sleuthing. It's 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 Crozet's postmistress, is the first to hear all the theories on whodunit - starting with the man's 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.

FROM THE CRITICS

Marilyn Stasio