"Purrfect who-done-it"

In the small central Virginia town of Crozet, animals speak to each other and understand what humans say even though those dumb Homo Sapiens can't understand the animals. Mary "Harry" Haristeen loves her two cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and her dog Tee Tucker who she treats as if they were her children. They feel the same way about her and many a time they saved her life when she was in the middle of a homicide investigation.

One day while Harry is taking a walk in the woods she comes across horse breeder Barry Monteith, moments away from death, his throat ripped open. Mrs. Murphy has a feeling that danger is coming. A few days later, Harry is looking over the crime scene and accidentally walks in the nearby creek and finds a gold ring that belonged to a horse breeder who disappeared over a quarter of a century ago. The autopsy reports that Barry had rabies but a human agent cut out his throat. Not to long after these revelations Barry's partner also dies from rabies and Harry is determined to find out what is really going on in her once peaceful town.

Change is in the air for Harry at work and in her personal life and she acknowledges to herself that she must make some radical decisions in her life. Readers will want to read WHISKER OF EVIL to find out what these changes are and how she once again finds out who the killer really is. Rita Mae Brown and her co-writer have written the purrfect who-done-it complete with red herrings and unexpected curves in the storyline.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 18, 2004

Summary

A mysterious death in a Virginia farm town has the locals scratching their heads?while frisky feline Mrs. Murphy and her friends, fat-cat Pewter and corgi Tee Tucker, uncover clues as they curl their way around a cold-blooded killer. This balmy summer in Crozet, Virginia, postmistress Mary Minor ?Harry? Haristeen has a lot to think about. Things have been pretty cozy between her and her ex-husband, Fair and her beloved old post office is in danger of being replaced with a modern building?and modern rules. Harry?s thoughtful contemplation is shattered the day she stumbles over a dead body near Potlicker Creek. Barry Monteith, the handsome local horse breeder, has been savagely murdered. A true ladies? man, Barry was known to have left a string of broken hearts behind him. But could a spurned lover be responsible for his untimely demise? The plot only thickens when an autopsy reveals that Barry was infected with rabies weeks before he was killed. As usual, Harry can?t resist doing a little digging?with Mrs. Murphy close by to warn of approaching danger. Harry makes a remarkable discovery in the creek?the class ring of Mary Pat Reines, a local woman who disappeared thirty years earlier along with her prized Thoroughbred stallion. Like Barry, Mary Pat was a successful horse breeder?and now all of Crozet is wondering if the two cases are linked. As the police struggle with the evidence, the pressure gets hotter than a June afternoon?especially when another person is found dead of less-than-natural causes. As usual, Mrs. Murphy and her crew are the first to sniff out the truth. But if they don?t find a way to help Harry piece together the puzzle, she could become the killer?s next target?and even Mrs. Murphy?s slinkiest moves won?t be able to save her.