Bestselling authors Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner, Sneaky Pie Brown, are back for the holidays in a mystery featuring Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen, the sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and corgi Tee Tucker. Can they save the season from a killjoy who’s decided to gift the festive little town . . . with murder? As Harry well knows, there’s hardly a place on earth cozier than Crozet, … cozier than Crozet, Virginia, at Christmastime. The snowflakes drifting lazily down, the soft glow of the winter light, the sound of old carols in the streets…even cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter get into the spirit batting ornaments and climbing the holiday tree. In fact, it’s this year’s tree that Harry and her husband, Fair, have gone to fetch when they find the one they’ve chosen grimly decorated with a dead body.
The tree farm is run by The Brothers of Love, a semimonastic organization that tends to AIDS patients. The brothers live in a monastery atop the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains. Harry is surprised to find an old high-school friend associated with The Brothers of Love. Christopher Hewitt wasn’t a bad man, but good works weren’t exactly one of his priorities. But then, if even Scrooge could turn over a new leaf, certainly Chris could. And after the scandal that all but destroyed his life, there were probably few in Crozet who needed the gift of a second chance more.
Harry knows she shouldn’t take it personally, but it was her tree that someone left the corpse under. Now, as the season grows merrier, a murderer is growing bolder. One by one, prominent men of Crozet are being crossed off Christmas shopping lists and added to the morgue. And if Harry and her four-legged helpers aren’t very good—and very careful—this Christmas may be her last.
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I love the whole series!
I love books by Rita Mae Brown! Granted, talking animals aren’t very realistic, but they are sharp and witty. I also love her descriptions of the land and countryside.
I love the characters in this series, both human and animal. The plots are always good, too, and this one is no exception. The books are all stand alone, and all of them give a view into Central Virginia and the culture of this part of the country. This book is a particularly good one, but I don’t want to spoil it by giving the ending away!
I love all of Rita Mae Brown’s books. Her Sneaky Pie books are fun as are the characters, horses, dogs, cats and humans. Her Sister Jane books are a bit less whimsical, but the animals are still great characters. After each of her books, I eagerly await the next one. She can’t write fast enough for me!
Sneaky Pie Brown let me down. Simplistic with wooden characters. If you are looking for a good Christmas mystery I would give this book a pass.
really really bad