Can you believe this is the twenty-sixth book in this
cheerful Virginia series? The chatty tabby cat Mrs Murphy
and her friends Pewter the grey cat and Tee Tucker the
corgi make a welcome return in A HISS BEFORE DYING. Autumn
colours make the countryside even more beautiful as Harry
Haristeen the farmer, and former postmistress, gets to
grips with yet another unexpected death in the community.
A truck delivering cars is abandoned on the highway and the
driver is soon found dead of no obvious cause. A few days
later, the pack of beagles comes across the scent of death
and leads the hunt to an African American man shot among
bushes. Deer shooting season hasn't opened yet, so what
happened? This victim carries a historical artefact linked
to the former owners of the farmland. To learn more, we
revisit 1785 and see how life was lived in Virginia, with
manual labour, discrimination and deadly blizzards.
Mignon, a small, abused slave, decides she is fleeing the
Garth farm and heading for a city like Richmond. Her weaver
friend Bumbee agrees to help her but it won't be long
before the girl's absence is noticed. The landowners sell
timber and farm goods, supplying a growing demand. They
also breed horses for racing. Their animals chatter among
themselves too.
In present day, Harry admires Native American heritage
products. Virginia had a history of merging Native children
with those of African descent at school and the two groups
intermarried. While modern life is more enlightened, the
residents of Crozet want to restore old schoolhouses and
create a museum. They also value the wildlife and church
buildings that enhance the community. New housing
developments crowd the Garth land. All these factors - and
a robbery - interplay in discovering the truth behind the
killings.
Those who have been following hardworking Harry's escapades
for years will be pleased to read that she's now nearly
five years clear after breast cancer surgery. This very
real-feeling character and her friends and pets reflect the
circumstances of many lives, as prolific author Rita Mae
Brown has matured Harry over time. A HISS BEFORE DYING
looks at living and past heritage and will be greatly
enjoyed by cosy mystery fans.
Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown
are back chasing mystery with their unique circle of
Southern sleuths. And though the changing colors of fall are
a beauty to behold, this year the scattered leaves hide a
grim surprise.
Autumn is in the air
in the Blue Ridge Mountain community of Crozet, Virginia—and
all the traditions of the changing seasons are under way.
Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen cleans her cupboards, her
husband, Fair, prepares the horses for the shorter days
ahead, and the clamorous barking of beagles signals the
annual rabbit chase through the central Virginia hills. But
the last thing the local beaglers and their hounds expect to
flush out is a dead body.
Disturbingly,
it’s the second corpse to turn up, after that of a missing
truck driver too disfigured to identify. The deaths seem
unrelated—until Harry picks up a trail of clues dating back
to the state’s post-Revolutionary past.
The echoes of the Shot Heard Round the
World pale in comparison to the dangerous shootout Harry
narrowly escapes unscathed. Next time, it may be the
killer who gets lucky. But not if Harry’s furry
friends Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker can help it. Lending
their sharp-nosed talents to the hunt, they’ll help their
mistress keep more lives from being lost—and right an
injustice buried since the early days of America’s
independence.
“As feline collaborators go, you
couldn’t ask for better than Sneaky Pie Brown.”—The New
York Times Book Review
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