The Litter of the Law

August 12, 2013
Chapter one of bestseller Brown’s enchanting 21st Mrs. Murphy mystery (after 2012’s The Big Cat Nap) finds Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen and her veterinarian husband, Fare, enjoying a drive through the central Virginia countryside one beautiful October day. A squabble among their backseat passengers—tiger cat Mrs. Murphy; Pewter, Mrs. Murphy’s gray, overweight feline sidekick; and Tucker, a corgi—prompts the couple to pull over by a cornfield. A scarecrow that they spot in the middle of the field turns out, on closer inspection, to be a dead body. While the residents of Crozet, Va., continue to prepare for the Halloween Hayride, to raise money for the town library, the death toll mounts, and Harry resolves to catch a killer. Brown demonstrates once again why she’s the queen of the talking animal cozy subgenre. Agent: Wendy Weil, Wendy Weil Agency.

September 15, 2013
Murders in a small town leave an armchair detective and her pet family with too few motives, or perhaps too many. Mary "Harry" Haristeen just can't stay out of trouble. Now, she and her loyal brood of animals stumble upon a scarecrow whose straw form has been replaced with a corpse. Harry didn't know the late Joshua Hill and can't seem to find a reason anyone would want him dead. Harry's friend Hester Martin has concerns of her own, from her resolve to save historical buildings to her determination to educate the consumers at her vegetable stand on the importance of organic foods. With Halloween fast approaching, Harry would love to get to the truth before the spooky mood settles over her little Virginia town. Before she can solve the case, however, one of Harry's friends is struck down in another grisly scene. Now, Harry's husband, Fair, insists that she carry her father's .38 and try to stay out of trouble, even though both are against her nature. On top of all this drama, sassy cat Pewter is working the last nerve of tiger-striped Mrs. Murphy and corgi Tee Tucker even though the crew have banded together to protect Harry, their mom. An animal-centric cozy that settles for educating rather than preaching, a nice shift from Brown's recent outings (Sneaky Pie for President, 2012, etc.).

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October 15, 2013
The latest in Brown's long-running series begins with a body strung up like a scarecrow in a field. Series lead, postmistress Harry Harristeen, her husband, and her indefatigable crew of fellow-sleuth animals find the body as well as another added to a Halloween display. The first is an accountant, but the second is a friend of Harry's who ran a local organic farm stand. The only connection between the two was a shared interest in and ancestry of Native Americans from Virginia. Harry and neighbor Deputy Cooper learn that the state does not recognize many local tribes and that their history has virtually been erased. Maps and land ownership researched by the two victims together point toward a motive. The difficulties of Native Americans in reclaiming their heritage provides an engrossing angle in the case of the gruesome Halloween crimes. As usual, the smart animals provide clues without getting in the way of the human interactions and plot. This is a strong addition to the popular series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)