The Hounds and the Fury

August 21, 2006
In bestseller Brown's diverting fifth foxhunting mystery (after 2005's The Hunt Ball
), "Sister" Jane Arnold, the 73-year-old master of foxhounds at central Virginia's Jefferson Hunt Club, and a host of anthropomorphized dogs, horses, foxes and birds have their work cut out for them. As Sister prepares for the winter hunt, arrogant arriviste Crawford Howard acquires an "outlaw" pack of hounds and proceeds to set up a rival event on land long used by the Jefferson Hunt, a plan that threatens to tear the community apart. "People are like teabags. You never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water," notes Sister, who with her usual panache sorts out a murder, an attempted murder, an insurance scam and a huge sum of money gone missing from a local company. Cozy fans and animal lovers will be charmed, but the general reader may lose patience with the talking critters.

October 1, 2006
The fifth entry in Brown's fox-hunting series (after "The Hunt Ball") focuses more on her anthropomorphic hounds than previous books. The hounds know where the dead body is buried, yet it's up to the humans, especially Sister Jane Arnold, to catch the killer. The reader knows quite soon who the bad guys are, and the book's finale is no big surprise. Sister, the 72-year-old master of the hunt, is a little too much to be believed (physically very fit, sexy, excellent equestrienne, and detective to boot). However, any reader curious about fox-hunting culture will enjoy this book as Brown, herself a master of the hunt, goes into great detail on what makes a good hound and a good huntsman. Recommended for medium to large public libraries and where Brown's other mysteries are popular. Brown lives in Alston, VA."Patsy E. Gray, Huntsville P.L., AL"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2006
As post-Christmas snow falls, "Sister Jane" Arnold, master of hounds of Jefferson Hunt Club, fears Crawford Howard will withdraw his support--25 percent of the annual budget--of the club. Howard's bought his own potentially dangerous "outlaw pack," whose destructiveness, should some hounds break loose, will likely be blamed on the club. Sure enough, some of Howard's hounds break loose. Also, "interest rates are rising; the Dow is falling, [and] the banks are nervous," which spells "a-u-d-i-t," which reveals $2 million in fake invoices. Add a shooting to the mix and plenty of seamlessly integrated horse-and-hounds facts for another enjoyable Brown mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)