Murder, She Meowed (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Rita Mae Brown (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mrs. Murphy Mysteries | Publication Date: November 1, 1996

The annual steeplechase races at Montpelier, once the home of James and Dolley Madison, are the high point in the social calendar of the horse-mad Virginians of cozy Crozet. The race meet offers a cracking good time with old friends and a chance to get even—on the racecourse—with old enemies. Postmistress Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen will be in the thick of the action on this day of high spirits and fierce competition. But the glorious thoroughbreds and the pinks and greens and purples worn by the riders do not blind Harry to the dangerous undercurrents that start to surface. There's sure to be some emotional fireworks at Montpelier. Still, no one expects the day to end in tragedy.

Found dead in the main barn is one of the day's riders, a knife plunged through the jockey's heart. The only clue is a playing card, the Queen of Clubs, impaled over the fatal wound. Within the wealthy, tight-knit world of horse owners, trainers, and jockeys, the victim had both admirers and enemies.

Was the murderer's motive greed, drugs--a pervasive evil in the race world—or sexual rivalry? Luckily for Crozet's humans, the tiger cat Mrs. Murphy is right at home in the stable yard...and on the trail of the shocking truth. But will Harry catch on in time to stop a killer grown bloodthirsty with success?

In Murder, She Meowed Sneaky Pie Brown and her co-author, Rita Mae Brown, have penned another clever and sassy mystery that probes the depths of human depravity and the heights of feline genius.


From the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The slicing Southern wit of Rita Mae Brown takes a slightly different tenor in this tale, claimed to be co-authored by Brown's cat, Sneaky Pie. There's also the voices of cats, dogs, horses, and mice in this tale, and things get fishy when several horse racing jockeys are murdered with daggers to the heart. Good thing the cat Mrs. Murphy is involved--"The day we think like humans we're in trouble," she says--who rallies her friends to go digging around and figure out what the humans can't. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

It's a day at the races for intrepid gray tiger cat Mrs. Murphy and her friends in the latest collaboration between Brown and feline coauthor Sneaky Pie (Pay Dirt). Competition is fierce at the annual steeplechase at Montpelier, the historic Virginia home of James and Dolley Madison. When a dagger in the heart takes the life of jockey Nigel Danforth, young heiress and horse trainer Adelia Valiant is distraught. Her brother and her guardian, however, can't hide their relief at the death of the man they regarded as a gold digger and who, it turns out, was not who he said he was. As the official investigation focuses on the victim's cocaine habit and his ties to a pair of drug-dealing trainers, another coked-up jockey is murdered and the dealers disappear. Mrs. Murphy and her pals, fat cat Pewter and corgi Tee Tucker, cut to the chase, believing that the recent murders are tied to the disappearance of Addie's mother five years earlier. After learning from a racehorse that the second jockey died after trying to dig up the horse's stall, Mrs. Murphy and friends strike a bargain with a sassy bunch of barn mice: a moratorium on mousing in exchange for information. But getting that information to Mrs. Murphy's owner, Crozet, Va., postmistress "Harry" Haristeen, and the other humans proves difficult?people simply don't listen. The animals spring into action to save Harry and bring the miscreant to justice as the Browns once again blend plot, character and atmosphere with plenty of wit and charm to create a delightful entertainment.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1ST edition (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568653166
• ISBN-13: 978-0553096040
• ASIN: 0553096044
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #366,600 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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Criminal Cat-Nip, May 10, 2002

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder, She Meowed (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries) (Paperback)

Crozet, Virginia is an unusual community: aside from having what must be the highest per capita murder rate in North America, it is also a place where cats and dogs sometimes assist humans to uncover killers in their midst. The premise is extremely whimsical, and hardcore mystery fans will find the plots of the "Mrs. Murphy" series very loose indeed--but Rita Mae Brown has a talent for creating memorable characters and turns of phrase, and her lighter-than-air mystery novels are an enjoyable way to wile away a lazy afternoon or two.

MURDER, SHE MEOWED has a particularly transparent plot--but even so it is one of Brown's more interesting entries in the "Mrs. Murphy" series, reacquainting us with all the Crozet residents (both human and animal) we've come to know and love and introduces one or two new ones as well. In this particular novel, Brown sets her tale against the snobbish Virginia steeplechase community, and when a jockey of questionable background is found stabbed to death in a stable the roots of the crime may be as close at hand as the local drug dealer or as far removed in time as an old missing person mystery. As usual, Brown writes with considerable flair and elan, and fans of the series will find MURDER, SHE WROTE a particularly enjoyable outing.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Murder She Meowed by Rita Mae Brown, April 12, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Murder, She Meowed (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries) (Paperback)

Harry and her witty cat, Mrs. Murphy are hot on the trail of another case. This time, it will be even more dangerous than the last. When a jockey is found dead in the stable at the Montpelier races, it is up to Harry and her animal friends to figure out who has put this horrible fright on the little town of Crozet. When a package comes to the post office in Crozet and is addressed to the Charlottesville Cuttery, she knows something is up because she has lived in this town all her life and has never heard of this place. She recognizes the handwriting on the recipe as a friend, or so she though, and is off to get this person for the murders of three Crozet people. She knows the forth will happen soon.
This book will surprise the reader every time they read it. Slowly, Rita Mae Brown will pull you off the trail of the murder and then back on it for a surprising ending. She does not drop any loose clues on the way that would give the ending away. Murder She Meowed kept me interested the whole time. This is however, is not a book that I would read over and over again.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good look at Virgina horse country., February 4, 2005

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder, She Meowed (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Although the plot is simple and the murder easy to figure out in this book, I still enjoyed it. I like the characters in this series. I also enjoyed the look at steeplechase racing that we get with the book. In the story there is someone going around Croznet killing steeplechase jockeys. There doesn't seem to be a connection between the killings, unless it was a gambling debt or drugs. Never fear, Mrs. Murphy, Tucker, Pewter and a few other animals are hot on the trail, and they figure out what's going on long before the humans do. These mysteries are a lot of fun, and especially so for animal lovers. I enjoy this light series.