Cat of the Century: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Rita Mae Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2010 | Series: Mrs. Murphy Mysteries

 
Acclaimed authors Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner, Sneaky Pie Brown, are back with this new mystery starring Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen, the sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and corgi Tee Tucker. And this time they must catch a killer determined to turn a birthday party into a funeral.

Harry’s beloved and tart-tongued Aunt Tally is about to turn the big 1-0-0. The alumnae association of her alma mater sees an opportunity to honor the event and make some loot off the centennial as well. The plan is to hold a big fund-raiser in Aunt Tally’s honor to recoup some of the school revenue lost in the cratered economy. But soon there’s more at risk than investments and endowments.

First, an impending blizzard threatens to ruin the whole affair. Then a suspicious transaction is discovered in the association’s account: board member Mariah D’Angelo has mysteriously withdrawn and then replaced $25,000.
 
But was that enough to get her killed? Mariah’s car is on campus, she’s gone missing, and Tucker has found human blood near the school’s stables.

What’s behind the disappearance? Was it Mariah’s donations to crafty politicians and crooked charities? Her rivalry with fellow board member Flo Langston? And is there a connection to the forty-year-old unsolved death of an old acquaintance of Aunt Tally’s? Using animal cunning and human canniness, Harry and her menagerie of mystery solvers must sniff out the answers or—even at a hundred years old—Aunt Talley may outlive them all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shady money dealings fuel Brown's solid 18th mystery featuring Mary Minor Haristeen and her cat pal, Sneaky Pie (after 2008's Santa Clawed). Aunt Talley Urquhart is looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday at her Fulton, Mo., alma mater, real-life William Woods University, but all is not well at WWU. Stockbroker Flo Langston, class of '74, is sure her hated classmate, Mariah D'Angelo, who heads the WWU Alumnae Association, has mishandled university funds. Mariah misses Aunt Talley's party and vanishes. Then someone shoots Flo dead at home in St. Louis after Flo reveals that Mariah has been selling fake high-end watches. Taunting messages (e.g., Catch me if you can) begin arriving in computer in-boxes of various WWU alumnae, including Inez Carpenter, Aunt Talley's 98-year-old best friend. Faithful fans already familiar with the characters will enjoy the cozy antics, but others may struggle to pay attention until people start dying. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

The eighteenth Mrs. Murphy mystery is far from the best of the series. Harry, no longer postmistress, but rather full-time wife and farmer, travels to WilliamWoods University with her old friend Tally Urquhart for an alumni reception and, naturally, encounters murder and mystery. As usual, Harry’s pets, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee Tucker, travel with her and assist in the investigation. Heavy-handed dialogue intended more to deliver a message than move along the plot or develop the characters drags this one down. For dedicated series fans only. --Jessica Moyer

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (April 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553807072
• ISBN-13: 978-0553807073
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.9 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of the Sister Jane novels-Outfoxed, Hotspur, Full Cry, The Hunt Ball, The Hounds and the Fury, The Tell-Tale Horse, and Hounded to Death-as well as the Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries and Rubyfruit Jungle, In Her Day, Six of One, and The Sand Castle, among many others. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet, Brown lives in Afton, Virginia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hiss boo, what a sad book., April 22, 2010

By 

Lizz A. Belle "lizzabelle, English major nerd" (North Bend, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Cat of the Century: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I have loved most of RMB's earlier books. I have all of them except for this one. When she wrote "Sour Puss" something about her changed I think as a person and it caused her delightful, fun, engaging fiction to plunge into a dismal state of getting on soap boxes, complaining about the government and basically all around using her book as a political platform with an occasional cuteness thrown in with a comment from Mrs. Murphy, Pewter or Tucker. Except now she has even gone and corrupted the animals. They are truly still the most likeable of the bunch, including Aunt Tally's Gordon Setter, Doddles, and Enzo, Inez's dog whose breed escapes me.

I truly thought after "Puss" I would give up reading Mrs. Murphy's series because I figured out whodunit after 60 pages and didn't bother finishing the book. However, I had high hopes when she released "Santa Clawed", her last book, because it remaind truer to her previous wonderful stories rather than political jib jab and high horses. I had hoped sincerely with all the positive PR "Clawed" received that RMB would go back to what works. I was sadly mistaken.

In summary, I agree with most of the reviewers here who said they miss the old books with their playful banter and amature detection, rather than forums and pomposity. I am sick of the political forums, I would watch the news if I wanted that. Her dialogue has even changed where the characters now speak at each other rather than to each other. She adds qualifiers to everything! There is a part where Aunt Tally uses the word "Ain't" in a fairly well known colloquialism most anyone can recognize, but Brown points out she is just using the expression as Tally always has an excellent grasp of the English language and grammar. So unnecessary! The writing here is just plain awful and once again, I figured out whodunit halfway through the book.

I would normally say die hard fans should check it out and see for themselves, but this book was so bad I wouldn't even buy it in paperback when it comes out to complete my collection. Skip skip skip it unless you get it from the library and positively have nothing else to do. It is more fun to scrub your toilet than read this. I am sad to say good bye to Mrs. Murphy, but I too agree this will be my last one. There are so many other books out there to read than to hope Brown will go back to the old days.

65 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too much politicizing, not enough story, April 15, 2010

By 

PAR... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cat of the Century: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I used to really enjoy these Mrs. Murphy books, and own most of them. However, this one will be my last. Every single conversation between characters turns into a dig on the government. That is not why I read these cozy mysteries. Most of the politicizing has absolutely nothing to do with the storyline, and leaves me scratching my head as to why the author included it. Surely there is a better venue to express one's political views than a cat mystery book?

52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars had enough, April 15, 2010

By 

Bluspiders (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cat of the Century: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I have really tried to like her last three books but alas, I think this is it for me.

I am tired of the soap box and whatever tirade she is on at the time of her writing. The cats and dogs are the best part of the book.

If I want politics, and preaching I will turn on the all day news. they all do enough of it.

I read to escape and relax but Her latest books do neither. I know of two people that quit before the last two.

While I applaud the remarriage- Oh for the days when Harry and Miranda pushed the pets around the post office in a cart.