Good

#15 Mrs. Murphy mystery, set in Crozet, Virginia. Mary Minor "Harry" Harristeen and her ex, Fair, have remarried and the second chapter of their life together starts with a bang--a couple of murders, of course. Winemaking has come to Crozet and surrounding areas, and Harry herself is getting in on it with a small plot dedicated to the grape as well as a partnered business with her friend Susan, growing nursery plants. Competition between some of the more prominent vineyards has become fierce, and when a lecturing professor of biology specializing in vineyard toxins disappears and one of the local vineyard owners ends up shot dead just minutes before Fair arrives at his farm to check out one of his animals, tensions rise even further. Was one of the vineyard owners really sabotaging the vines of the others with a virulent disease as the dead man, Toby Pittmann, claimed?

I've enjoyed most of the books in the series, some better than others. This was definitely low on the scale with too much technical information, characters jumping on various political bandwagons, not enough of the small-town sweetness and the characters we've come to know and love. Not even the stellar reading by Kate Forbes could totally save this book. I hope the author gets back on track with the next one! ( )

Not very interesting. Weak voice characterization in the audio version with little help from the text made it hard to follow. The author gives us a lot of information about grapes and horses, but integrates it poorly with the story. ( )

this was my first attempt at reading any of RMB's "mysteries"--not very good, I must say. I listened to this on CD, and the chapters seemed to end abruptly. She clearly did a lot of research, but I wasn't too impressed or engaged by the book.

Another good mystery by Rita Mae Brown. The plot was good but made even better by the renewed marriage of Harry and Fair. Plus, I learned alot about grapes, wine, and what it takes to operate a vineyard. Very interesting. Thanks again for a great story. ( )

2007 ( )

Wouldn't you know it: Just when Harry Haristeen is rekindling her romance with the good veterinarian Fair, somebody has to get murdered. The "somebody" in this case is Dr. Vincent Forland, a world-famous grape and fungal expert visiting on a tour of local Virginia vineyards. Then a Crozet resident turns up equally dead, and love takes a backseat to homicide. Fortunately, Harry's crime-sniffing felines, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker, are on the case.

My father has a long held belief that most writers only have six books in them that will be any good, not that they have to all be in a row, but in general any author that is too prolific , while Ms.Brown & Sneaky Pie haven’t gotten close to this list (they have written 13 to date) I was a bit let down by this latest installment. It took too much of its time bringing newbies up to speed on the cast of characters/back story, but it redeemed itself with its scientific plot (although it did get a weebit preachy at times). Unfortunately it felt as if I had read it all before…Hopefully the next book (which surely there will be) will be back to her/their old style & pacing. ( )

As with the previous books in the series, the authors take time to set the scene, refresh our memories of the old characters, and introduce us to the new characters. The action doesn't happen until the penultimate chapter, but Mrs. Murphy fans have come to expect that. We like spending time with our friends and family for a while before we have to get our paws...er...hands dirty with some icky murder.

The back story deals with current events and concerns regarding bioterrorism. H5N1 makes a brief appearance, as well as theories about biological weapons used by Iraq in Desert Storm. Most important to the plot is the Supreme Court decision striking down state laws that prohibit direct sales of wines to out-of-state customers. Wine drinkers rejoice.