It’s no secret that cats are a mystery writer’s best friend. Just ask the bestselling team of Rita Mae Brown and her furry partner, Sneaky Pie Brown, back on the prowl with another unforgettable whodunit. This time a controversial miracle in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains sparks religious fervor–and a suspicious death. Now the indefatigable felines Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with the dogged corgi Tee Tucker, must trust their animal instincts to sniff out the worst of human nature.... With the holidays approaching, Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen and her best friend, Susan Tucker, take a much-needed time-out at the mountain monastery of Mount Carmel. There, under the benevolent gaze of the statue of the Virgin Mary, their worldly worries are soon overshadowed. For in front of their very eyes the statue begins to cry tears of blood. Legend has it that Mary’s crimson tears are harbingers of crises. And though skeptical, the ever-practical Harry can already see one on the horizon. If leaked, news of the so-called miracle could turn the monastery and the town of Crozet into a circus. What Harry doesn’t foresee is murder.… When Susan’s great-uncle Thomas, a resident monk, is found frozen to death at the base of the statue, foul play is ruled out–at first. But at Harry’s urging, the body is exhumed for an autopsy. There’s just one problem: the coffin is empty. That’s when Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker get involved. Then there’s the shocking revelation of a mystery that has perplexed the citizens of Crozet for ages. With Christmas around the corner and the monastery overrun by the faithful, all Harry’s meddling menagerie can do is stay on her trail as she jumps knee-deep into an unofficial investigation–one that becomes more dangerous when another Crozet citizen meets an untimely demise. In this case it will be a miracle if Harry stays alive....

Cat's Eyewitness (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Brown, Sneaky Pie

Brown, Rita Mae.

Mystery

Bantam]

Crozet, Virginia, postmistress Mary Haristeen gets help from her nosy tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy, in solving the strange case of a murdered Hell's Angel and a rampant computer virus

Pay Dirt Or, Adventures at Ash Lawn

Thorndike Pr

The uncannily perceptive feline, Mrs. Murphy, detects a pattern to the murders claiming the inhabitants of tiny Crozet, Virginia, which seem to be linked to a hoax in the obituary department of the local newspaper

Murder on the Prowl

When rumors of turmoil at Crozet Hospital are followed by the mysterious death of the hospital's plant manager, postmistress "Harry" Haristeen and her cat, Mrs. Murphy, take on a dangerous investigation.

Claws and Effect

The Tail of the Tip-Off

The Tail of the Tip-Off When winter hits Crozet, Virginia, it hits hard--and hangs on for months. That?s 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 Virginia?s women?s 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 wasn?t a heart attack that did him in. It just doesn?t 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 don?t 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 they?re 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. There?s no shortage of suspects, considering that H.H. was a ladies? man who?d 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 it?s the critters who are most attuned to trouble--they scent something wicked wafting Harry?s 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 it?s up to them to make sure their intrepid mom lands on her feet. From the Hardcover edition.

In this latest whodunit, Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner-in-crime-detection, Sneaky Pie Brown, return to the scene of their bestselling crimesâpicturesque Crozet, Virginia. Love is in the air as spring comes to the small town, but no sooner has Mary Minor âHarryâ Haristeen remarried than she is rudely interruptedâby murder. And no sooner does the trouble start than curious cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with corgi Tee Tucker, sink their claws into the case.â¦ After an unexpected rekindling of their romance, Harry and her veterinarian ex-husband, Fair Haristeen, have happily remarried. But the excitement of their nuptials is quickly overshadowed by the murder of Professor Vincent Forland, a world-famous grape and fungal expert who was in town visiting the local vineyards. Within days of giving a lecture on how distilled fungus and cattle diseases are the current basis of chemical warfare, Forlandâs decapitated body is discovered. After their initial fright, the residents of Crozet believe that this was a political murder and settle back into their routinesâuntil a local is also found dead, killed in the same gruesome manner as Professor Forland. Now residents canât help wondering, is this really the work of an outsiderâor one of their own? No longer working in the post office, Harry had just planted a quarter acre of grapes, which fuels her natural curiosity over just what the two murder victims knew and had in common. Once the warmth of spring arrives, the grapevines blossom and Harryâs furry entourage discovers the first critical clue. But how can they show the humans what theyâve learned? And how can theyâor anyoneâstop the killing?

Sour Puss

Traveling to the Saddlebred show in Shelbyville, Kentucky, Harry and Fair Haristeen stumble into the midst of a crime wave when their hosts are robbed on the day they arrive, a valuable mare is stolen, and a groom is found murdered.

Puss 'n Cahoots

Literature & Fiction

United States

Curiosity just might be the death of Mrs. Murphy--and her human companion, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen.  Small towns are like families:  Everyone lives very close together. . .and everyone keeps secrets.  Crozet, Virginia, is a typical small town-until its secrets explode into murder.  Crozet's thirty-something post-mistress, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, has a tiger cat (Mrs. Murphy) and a Welsh Corgi (Tucker), a pending divorce, and a bad habit of reading postcards not addressed to her.  When Crozet's citizens start turning up murdered, Harry remembers that each received a card with a tombstone on the front and the message "Wish you were here" on the back.  Intent on protecting their human friend, Mrs. Murphy and Tucker begin to scent out clues.  Meanwhile, Harry is conducting her own investigation, unaware her pets are one step ahead of her.  If only Mrs. Murphy could alert her somehow, Harry could uncover the culprit before the murder occurs--and before Harry finds herself on the killer's mailing list.

Wish You Were Here (Curley Large Print Books)

John Curley & Assoc

In small-town Crozet, Virginia, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and her feline sleuthing partners, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, investigate when her friend, local architect Tazio Chappers, becomes the prime suspect in the killing of his most difficult client, Mrs. Carla Paulson.

The Purrfect Murder: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series)

After the discovery of a body on a Christmas tree farm owned by the Brothers of Love, a semi-monastic organization, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen seeks a murderer as prominent men of Crozet, Virginia, continue to turn up dead.

Santa Clawed (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)

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