In this fast-paced mystery by Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown, Mary Minor âHarryâ Haristeen and her animal friends seek to solve a whodunit rooted in eighteenth-century Virginiaâuncovering a shocking secret that refuses to stay buried.
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TALL TAIL
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At any moment a perfect summer day in Crozet, Virginiaânestled within the Blue Ridge Mountainsâmight turn stormy and tempestuous, as Harry knows too well when a squall suddenly sweeps in. In a blink, Harryâs pickup nearly collides with a careening red car that then swerves into a ditch. Harry recognizes the dead driver slumped over the vehicleâs steering wheel: Barbara Leader was nurse and confidante to former Virginia governor Sam Holloway.
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Though Barbaraâs death is ruled a heart attack, dissenting opinions abound. After all, she was the picture of health, which gives Harry and her four-legged companions pause. A baffling break-in at a local business leads Harry to further suspect that a person with malevolent intent lurks just out of sight: Something evil is afoot.
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As it happens, Barbara died in the shadow of the local cemeteryâs statue of the Avenging Angel. Just below that imposing funereal monument lie the remains of one Francisco Selisse, brutally murdered in 1784. Harryâs present-day sleuthing draws her back to Virginiaâs slave-holding past and the hunt for Selisseâs killer. Now itâs up to Harry and her furry detectivesâMrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee Tuckerâto expose the bitter truth, even if it means staring into the unforgiving eyes of history and cornering a callous killer poised to pounce.
Praise for the Mrs. Murphy Mysteries by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
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âAs feline collaborators go, you couldnât ask for better than Sneaky Pie Brown.ââThe New York Times Book Review
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âMrs. Murphy mysteries are fun, sweet, and beautifully adventurous.ââBustle
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âBrown [is] the queen of the talking animal cozy.ââPublishers Weekly