The Purrfect Murder

New York Times bestselling authors Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner, Sneaky Pie Brown, return with a new mystery starring Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen, the sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and corgi Tee Tucker. But are they any match for a killer who’s made an entire town suspect by committing…

Autumn has arrived in cozy Crozet, Virginia, and that means the town’s inhabitants are hard at work in home and garden preparing for winter. Harry is planning to harvest her first crop of Petit Manseng grapes along with her beloved sunflowers. Meanwhile, her recent marriage to Fair and her friendship with Deputy Cynthia Cooper, who’s rented nearby Blair Farm, are flourishing. But even when peace descends on the idyllic show more countryside, murder is lurking.

Mrs. Carla Paulson is one of the diamond-encrusted “come-here” set who has descended on Crozet with plenty of wealth and no feeling for country ways. She’s determined to make her new house the envy of all her well-heeled friends—and enemies—and she’s hired architect Tazio Chappers to build it.

From the start, the project—and Mrs. Paulson—turns into a major headache relieved only by a side trip to study Thomas Jefferson’s extraordinary summer home at Poplar Forest. Harry couldn’t foresee that a day later Mrs. Paulson would be found stabbed to death at a gala fund-raiser with Harry’s friend, Tazio Chappers, standing over her, holding the knife.

Now Harry must solve what seems to everyone else an open-and-shut case. Every other human, that is. For her four-legged friends see it Harry’s way. But will they have to choose between catching the purrfect killer or saving Harry? Mrs. Murphy show less

People are moving into Crozet with lots of money to burn. They are building huge homes with no regard to the lifestyle or history of the area. Also no manners.

Carla Paulson is one of these newcomers. She has hired local architect, Tazio Chappars, to design and build her new estate. A good gig, except for the fact that Tazio is dealing with an over demanding client and the most difficult building inspector in Abermarle County.

Things really get topsy-turvy for Tazio when her client is found stabbed to death at a gala charity event and Tazio is standing over her holding the knife.

Anyone who knows Tazio doesn't believe she did it, but the circumstances of the scene of the crime, and that many knew Tazio was having a difficult time with her show more client say otherwise.

Harry is determined to find out who the killer is. Fair, Harry's husband, is determined to keep Harry safe. Meanwhile the furry sleuths, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter and Tee Tucker perform their own investigation and also try to keep Harry out of trouble.

There are some interesting secrets that are discovered, during the investigation. Secrets common to a number of Crozet citizens, that the owner don't want revealed.

This is a series I've enjoyed over the years. An entertaining cozy with some good twists and turns. show less

This is my umpteenth Mrs. Murphy Mystery. I kind of don't know why I keep reading them, because they always frustrate me - her political "this-is-the-way-the-world-works" expositions are beyond heavy-handed and boring as fuck. I guess the appeal is that it's easy to drop into - I know all the characters so all I have to do is learn a few new ones (who are always killed or end up being the killers) and then try to figure out how Harry will almost be killed trying to solve the mystery and how her pets will save her butt. A mediocre summer read. ;)

I enjoyed this book and didn't mind the storyline about the OB/GYN. I do think there are a lot of corrupt local officials in Crozet. The one thing that bothered me was the ending seemed rushed and you never really find out what happened to Taszio. I assume the charges were dropped but it wasn't clear in the book.

Just finished it yesterday. I had been so fed up with Rita and her getting on a soapbox in every book that I had resigned to NEVER read her again. Still I LOVED this series and something made me pick it up and read it. Hooray--she doesn't get preachy. SHe does a really good job. Now if she could only learn to write a straight love scene (even gays can read enough of them to get the hang of that--maybe she needs a ghost writer for those parts???)

Another enjoyable mystery from RMB. Not really outstanding - more of the same, you know?

I love this series and enjoyed this book, but I don't know if I'll listen to any more of these, if the reader doesn't change. Her accent was perfect, but during conversations, I couldn't figure out which character was talking. I don't expect all the readers to be Jim Dale (Harry Potter), but some differences would be helpful! Otherwise, I like this one very much.