{"id":317,"date":"2011-04-14T07:30:09","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T14:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=317"},"modified":"2011-04-14T07:58:50","modified_gmt":"2011-04-14T14:58:50","slug":"if-its-spring-it-must-be-rita-mae-and-sneaky-pie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=317","title":{"rendered":"If it’s spring, it must be Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring brings an abundance of new life and activity in the briar patch outside.\u00a0 Two bluebirds, I suppose a pair hoping to nest, have been ferociously attacking the windows of the office (a former screened porch) where I write. I\u2019d love for them to find a home close by, but I just don\u2019t think inside my office is a good choice. Not when there\u2019s a predatory tortoise-shell cat in here with me, watching their every move.<\/p>\n

Spring brings new life and activity in the book world as well. I look forward to the arrivals of new entries in favorite series. The publishers issue them this time of year so they\u2019ll be available for leisurely reading during vacation season, but I find myself unable to wait.<\/p>\n

Speaking of cats, here\u2019s a look at the latest mystery from Rita Mae Brown and her co-author, the tiger cat named Sneaky Pie Brown.<\/p>\n

By Linda Brinson<\/p>\n

HISS OF DEATH. By Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown. Bantam. 217 pages. $26.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s April in Crozet, Va., and spring is bringing warmth and color to the slopes of the Blue Ridge. Mary Minor \u201cHarry\u201d Haristeen, former postmistress turned full-time farmer, is anticipating the first real harvest of grapes from the vineyard she has worked so hard to establish.<\/p>\n

But life and death intervene, as they usually do in the novels starring Harry and her wise cat, Mrs. Murphy.\u00a0 First, Harry discovers the body of Paula Benton, a well-respected, 30-something operating room nurse at Central Virginia Hospital. An autopsy finds that Paula died of anaphylactic shock, most likely from the sting of a hornet. But there was the matter of that Egyptian stone scarab Harry\u2019s gray cat, Pewter, found in the driveway of Paula\u2019s farmhouse.<\/p>\n

Then Harry\u2019s routine mammogram detects an abnormality, and Harry, who prides herself on hard work and clean living, must take the unaccustomed role of patient. Fortunately, she has her good friends and her husband, Fair, a veterinarian, to lend their support.<\/p>\n

Just when Harry is forced to deal with the medical world much more than she would like, something seems to be very wrong among the hospital staff. Determined to rebuild her strength, Harry goes for a horseback ride with a friend, only to come upon the body of another hospital employee in definitely suspicious circumstances.<\/p>\n

Harry\u2019s faithful pets, the two cats and the Welsh corgi, Tucker, know that try as they might, they can\u2019t keep their \u201cMom\u201d from trying to solve the mystery \u2013 even if doing so jeopardizes her health and makes her run afoul of the killer. As usual, they\u2019ll just have to do whatever it takes to protect her.<\/p>\n

More than most books, I suspect, the Mrs. Murphy series are either loved or hated. Those of us who love them can\u2019t wait for each spring\u2019s new mystery. Those who don\u2019t like them probably never finish the first one they pick up. Fortunately, there are a great many people in the “love ’em” category.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s not to like? The animals \u2013 Harry\u2019s pets, her horses, her friend\u2019s pets, even wild animals they encounter \u2013 talk to one another. The humans don\u2019t understand them, of course, which makes for some humor for the readers and frustration for the animals. And Rita Mae Brown is quite willing to let the animals\u2019 conversation and her prose further whatever causes are on her mind. This time, cancer, specifically breast cancer, is on her mind.<\/p>\n

If you love animals, are willing to suspend a little skepticism and have ever wondered what your pets are \u201csaying,\u201d these books are delightful. And Brown isn\u2019t oppressively didactic when she gets on her literary soapbox; she\u2019s just direct \u2013 a lot like Harry Haristeen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spring brings an abundance of new life and activity in the briar patch outside.\u00a0 Two bluebirds, I suppose a pair hoping to nest, have been ferociously attacking the windows of the office (a former screened porch) where I write. I\u2019d love for them to find a home close by, but I just don\u2019t think inside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[66,67,27,65],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mysteries","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cats","tag-mystery","tag-rita-mae-brown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=317"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}