Customer Reviews

The Purrfect Murder

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I miss Miranda a lot. I miss the post office. These, to me helped provide so much of the charm in this series. The charm more than anything seems to be diminished since Miranda got a beau and Harry quit the p.o.

I'm always game for a little kitty/doggy rescue squad action, but I agree with other's in that I think now that Harry is getting careless in allowing herself to come to harm. For which we then get an obligatory rescue complete with ankle biting and the jumping on of backs.

I was a little disappointed that by the end it started rushing to conclusions. It felt a little more like a 5 minute ending on a t.v. show than the well crafted end of a good mystery book.

I'm a little mixed on the political infusion in recent books. As a flaming liberal I'm not opposed to Ms. Brown's politics so much as I feel awkward about them being in these books. I share these books with several friends who range from liberal to conservative, older to younger. I'm waiting for the more conservative or older friends to come screaming at me about lesianism and abortion being dealt with so directly. (Though oddly enough it hasn't actually happened.)

That said, perhaps these are things that should be in these books as they are ideas which should be discussed and debated more openly in our society. These books have always had a pastoral and virtuous charm and I think some people feel that liberals have no claim on pastoral virtue. It's refreshing to see good wholesome people who don't quite fit into that right-leaning ideal of country life.

In the end, this book is still witty and fun albeit a tad political, but unlike another cat series I won't mention, they are still a great deal of fun to read. I can't wait for the next one.

I've been reading this series since it started, and it's been a fun ride most of the time. While I do agree that Brown has begun to use her books as a soapbox for her views on current events--oh, well, c'est la vie. That's her choice, and it also can make the characters come more alive. I do concede that she'd be better off sharing most of her opinions in essays or a blog, however. These books are not quite the correct vehicle.

In this latest installment, Harry is once again intrigued by mysterious events, especially since her good friend Tazio Chappers seems to be the cut-and-dried murderer of a wealthy newcomer--and Harry does not for a second believe Tazio did it! I always find Harry's interest in solving crimes and her love for her friends and community endearing. The sloppiness of the plot comes from its transparency and its too-fast ending. Brown spent a lot of time on her soapbox that could perhaps have been better spent properly developing the plot and the characters in question.

I also wanted to see a bit more of the old coziness of Crozet and its townfolk. For instance, while I love Harry's new life with Fair, growing her grapes and sunflowers, not struggling quite as much for money any longer, I do miss seeing the relationship she had with Miranda, her time at the post office, etc. Seems all the characters are getting new interests that go outside of Crozet and into the wider world. Not that that's a bad thing, at all--people need to grow. But could they grow while still retaining their closeness to their home and its people?

Overall, this was a typical fun Sneaky Pie mystery, with the same loving animals, uniquely Southern name-calling (Mrs. Murphy and Pewter get into a hissy fight in the back of a car around a discussion of their nether regions, which is hilarious--I think my cats have done the same thing), and small-town community connections I've become accustomed to. Perhaps just a bit more focus on tightening the plotting of the actual mysteries in the future would be in order? This ending was not quite as dramatic as some in the past. But I'm still going to keep reading the series!

I have been finding that the Mrs. Murphy mystery series is getting a bit sloppy. There appears to be a lot of holes in the plot in this one as well. The book starts out with two storylines, that appear to meld together, and then ends up with two storylines again. It makes it a bit difficult to follow the plot. But we do have the people of Crozet (although not so much of Miranda), and that helps, and we have the animal characters which help to carry this story along. I just feel a bit disappointed because the book seemed rushed, and so much didn't make sense. I do hope that Ms. Brown will pick up in the next book because I have enjoyed Harry and her animal companions.

How very disappointing, another great series that has completely lost it. The older books in the series made you feel as though you were a part of the town and a part of all of the character's lives. "The Purrfect Murder" felt like the author couldn't wait to finish it, and neither could I. The plot was weak, the characters shallow, our heroine turned totally stupid, and there was not enough of the animals. I'm not sure that I will waste money on the next book.

That is as far as I could charitably get in this clunker. I have read every book in this series, many of which were delightful, but I have observed that the plot lines have gotten weaker as the political rhetoric has become stronger. I can handle the occasional comment, but in this volume, the author just droned on and on with her personal politics. Misbegotten comments such as "...isn't it (abortion) better than just outright killing girl babies like they do in India and China?" Hmm, is that the alternative? In the same pro-abortion discussion, the reader is also treated to "Global warming is caused as much by overpopulation as by cars." Right-wing legislators were referred to as "opportunistic buffoons." And what she says about the current administration, I dassent repeat in polite company. All that in fifty-some pages. I can only imagine what comes after. Yes, I am finished with the series. More's the pity, since the pets are charming.

I too am glad I got this from the library instead of buying it. After having read every other book in this series I couldn't even make it past page 33. What began as an exciting mystery series with a lovable cast of characters has turned into the author's political agenda with a weak storyline on the side. I thought I was sitting down with another murder mystery not pro-abortion propaganda. When abortion came up at a vestry meeting that was enough for me. Even if you are pro-choice you will find the pages of abortion dialogue nauseating and over the top.

Once again, a total disappointment. I slogged through the whole book, but it was tough. I was only thankful that I had gotten it from the library and not wasted money on it.
Like another long-term animal mystery series that shall remain nameless, it seems that the animals in these stories are just part of the formula, no longer central characters. It's an election year; if I want to subject myself to political rhetoric ad nauseum, I'll turn on the t.v. I read fiction to relax, not to press through page after page of the author's rantings from a soapbox.
If the Browns can turn back to writing like they did several books ago, writing for enjoyment and bringing in the cats, the dogs, the horses, along with the warm and comfortable relationships among the Crozet residents, I'll be back. Otherwise, I'm gone.
Or maybe Sneaky Pie just needs to write the books on her own ....

I was so looking forward to a good Mrs. Murphy mystery. I loved the series until Whisker of Evil, which seems to have begun the downhill slide. We know that Rita Mae Brown can write - the plots and characters in the early books of this series are a testimony to that. Why, then, has she allowed herself to release these past few books?
The writing in this book is abhorrent. The characters lack life. There is far, far too much of the author's soapboxing. I did like the ending, though.
Please, Ms. Brown, take the time to do it right if you plan another one.

I enjoyed the early books in this series, but like many other reviewers, am getting tired of the politics involved. Also, while I appreciate the descriptions of life in rural Virginia, is it necessary for Ms. Brown to trash people from other areas?

I'm also noticing inconsistencies, some of which have already been pointed out by others. One that I noticed that hasn't been brought up yet is that Big Mim states to Little Mim that she never had an abortion, but in an earlier book in which a doctor is poring through old medical records, it is revealed that Big Mim did, in fact, have an illegal abortion. Either Ms. Brown is getting sloppy or Big Mim lied to her daughter. Hmmm....

Please, RMB, be more thorough and get back to the plain old mystery telling and animal banter that got you your fans in the first place.

Good Bye old friends of Crozet. I will miss the Post Office, Miranda, penny pinching, and jiggley, man crazy, Boom Boom - oh, wait, they don't exist any more. I won't miss the bashing of Northerners nor the hot button topics that do not belong in this genre. As a Northern girl (who lived in Virginia for 11 years), and a former horsewoman, I've taken all of the insults that I can handle. I certainly hope that my neighbors here in Texas do not talk about me the way Rita Mae's 'southern belles' put down their Northern neighbors. I no longer eagerly await her next installment. Don't get me going about the sloppy writing and lack of beloved characters gone AWOL. Harry will have to soldier on without my hard earned, Yankee, money supporting her books. What happened to you, Dear Rita Mae?