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Published Nov 2008
256 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
New York Times bestselling authors Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner, Sneaky Pie Brown, are back for the holidays in a new 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, Virginia, at Christmas-time. 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 semi-monastic 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.
"Brown's legion of pet-smitten fans will no doubt overlook the preachiness of her latest in their eagerness to spend more quality time among her fearless feline and clever canine sleuths." - Kirkus Reviews.
"....a double-edged discovery regarding the root of all evil that fans of the furry detectives and their two-legged pals will appreciate." - Publishers Weekly.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo © Mark Homan
Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of many books including Rubyfruit Jungle, In Her
Day, Six of One, Southern Discomfort, Sudden Death, High
Hearts, Bingo,, Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of
Writers' Manual, Venus Envy, Dolley: A Novel of Dolley Madison in
Love and War, Riding Shotgun, Rita Will: Memoir of a Literary
Rabble-Rouser, Loose Lips, and Outfoxed. An Emmy-nominated
screenwriter and a poet, she lives in Afton, Virginia.
Sneaky Pie Brown, a tiger cat born somewhere in Albemarle County, Virginia, was
discovered by Rita Mae Brown at her local SPCA. They have collaborated on at least 14 Mrs. Murphy mysteries.
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