On This Page
Description
Fiction. Literature. Mystery. HTML:The hunt is on in this new installment of Rita Mae Brown’s clever and engaging series. Only instead of chasing foxes into their dens, the locals must track down a killer and save the life of one of the most beloved folks in town.It’s February, prime foxhunting season for the members of Virginia’s Jefferson Hunt Club. The girls at Custis Hall are finishing their last semester before heading off to college, the entrepreneurially shrewd Crawford Howard show more is still smarting from January’s breech in hound etiquette, and the Casanova Hunt Club is hosting their annual ball. New neighbors bring new friendships, and romance is in the air.
Then a shocking event alarms the community. A woman is found brutally murdered, stripped naked, and meticulously placed atop a horse statue outside a tack shop. The theft of a treasured foxhunting prize inside the store may be linked to the grisly scene, and everyone is on edge.
With few clues to go on, “Sister” Jane Arnold, master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, uses her fine-tuned horse sense to try to solve the mystery of this “Lady Godiva” murder. The septuagenarian still has a strong spring in her step and her wits about her, but that may not be enough. As Sister gets closer to the truth, she could become the killer’s next victim.
But humans aren’t the only ones equipped to sniff out the trail. The local foxes, horses, and hounds have their own theories on the whodunit. If only these peculiar people could just listen to them, they’d see that the killer might be right under their oblivious noses.
Once again, this charming southern community finds itself caught up in a bone-chilling tale of murder and greed. It’s up to everyone, two- and four-legged alike, to band together, beat the bushes, and bring to bay the evil forces that have declared the Jefferson Hunt Club fair game–because foul play is never in season. show less
Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
The mystery itself wasn't bad, particularly the 'Lady Godiva' pattern of the first two murders. I enjoyed the saints' feast days information, didn't enjoy hearing about how some companies plot to take over others, though I hope the information might help someone.
There is some balance in the adultery message -- one character's marriage is nearly wrecked by the discovery of the cheating. 'Sister' Arnold's casual attitude toward sex as desired whether or not the partner is married (and whether or not the spouse is hurt by learning about it -- spouses who have been betrayed need to just let it go, don't you know), was made worse because even while she' was pontificating on the subject she never brought up the idea that a cheating spouse has show more the responsibility to protect him/herself from getting an infection that could be passed on to the spouse. (If it's the wife and she's pregant, the infection could harm the baby, and that would be two persons harmed by the adultery.) show less
There is some balance in the adultery message -- one character's marriage is nearly wrecked by the discovery of the cheating. 'Sister' Arnold's casual attitude toward sex as desired whether or not the partner is married (and whether or not the spouse is hurt by learning about it -- spouses who have been betrayed need to just let it go, don't you know), was made worse because even while she' was pontificating on the subject she never brought up the idea that a cheating spouse has show more the responsibility to protect him/herself from getting an infection that could be passed on to the spouse. (If it's the wife and she's pregant, the infection could harm the baby, and that would be two persons harmed by the adultery.) show less
Decent mystery, but the mystery seemed to come in second place to the fox-hunting culture of the main character. Decent writing but it appeared that most all the women were better than average good looking, especially the ones over 60. There was an interesting little twist at the end about 'why' the murders happened but it wasn't a terrible surprise on who.
I got this book from my husband for Christmas. He's given me all of the books in this series as either Christmas or birthday gifts, and I've come to look forward to the installments. This is another entertaining entry in RMB's fox hunting series. This one didn't get too heavy in the hunting details, nor too soap-boxy on politics as previous books have done. It stuck a bit more to the mystery at hand, while introducing some new, interesting characters and developing some existing ones.
About three or four chapters from the end RMB dropped a gigantic clue that helped me figure out whodunnit, but that didn't really spoil it for me. I didn't fully figure out the motive, so it wasn't a complete spoiler. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed show more the previous books in this series. show less
About three or four chapters from the end RMB dropped a gigantic clue that helped me figure out whodunnit, but that didn't really spoil it for me. I didn't fully figure out the motive, so it wasn't a complete spoiler. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed show more the previous books in this series. show less
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
103+ Works 30,805 Members
Rita Mae Brown was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, on November 28, 1944. She received an associate's degree from Broward Junior College in 1965, a B.A. in English and classics from New York University in 1968, a Cinematography Degree from the School of the Visual Arts in 1968, and a Ph.D. in English and political science from the Institute for show more Policy Studies in 1976. She was the writer-in-residence at the Women's Writing Center of Cazenovi College and a visiting instructor teaching fiction writing at the University of Virginia. After publishing two books of poetry, she published her first novel, Rubyfruit Jungle, in 1973. Her works include The Hand that Cradles the Rock, Sudden Death, Venus Envy, Loose Lips, and Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary Rabble-Rouser. She writes the Mrs. Murphy Mystery series and Foxhunting Mysteries series. She also writes screenplays and teleplays including Sweet Surrender, Room to Move, Table Dancing, and The Long Hot Summer. Her work on TV earned several Emmy nominations and she received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Variety Show in 1982 for I Love Liberty. (Bowker Author Biography) Rita Mae Brown is the author of many novels, including "Outfoxed" & "Loose Lips". She & her collaborator, Sneaky Pie Brown, have written eight previous Mrs. Murphy mysteries, most recently "Pawing Through the Past". (Publisher Provided) show less
Some Editions
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Tell-Tale Horse
- Original publication date
- 2007
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 211
- Popularity
- 155,296
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.34)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 3
