Pay Dirt by Rita Mae Brown, Wendy Wray
Mrs Murphy's fourth caper will be lapped up like half-and-half by the faithful.--Kirkus Reviews The best yet.--Publishers Weekly The residents of tiny Crozet, Virginia, thrive on gossip, especially in the post office, where Mary Minor Harry Haristeen presides with her tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy. So when a belligerent Hell's Angel crashes Crozet demanding to see his girlfriend, the leather-clad interloper quickly becomes the chief topic of conversation. Then the biker is found murdered, and everyone is baffled. Well, almost everyone . . . Mrs. Murphy and her friends, Welsh corgi Tee Tucker and overweight feline Pewter, haven't been slinking through alleys for nothing. But can they dig up the truth in time to save their humans from a ruthless killer? If you must work with a collaborator, you want it to be someone with intelligence, wit, and an infinite capacity for subtlety--someone, in fact, very much like a cat. . . . It's always a pleasure to visit this cozy world.--The New York Times Book Review Editorial Reviews Mrs. Murphy's fourth caper will be lapped up like half-and-half by the faithful. -Kirkus Reviews The best yet. -Publishers Weekly If you must work with a collaborator, you want it to be someone with intellignce, wit, and an infinite capacity for subtlety-someone, in fact, very much like a cat...It's always a pleasure to visit this cozy world...[t]here's no resisting Harry's droll sense of humor...or Mrs. Murphy's tart commentary.-The New York Times Book Review - From the Publisher The first word of this fourth collaboration of Rita Mae Brown and her cat (following Murder at Monticello) is, appropriately, the italicized ``Cozy.'' The dog days of summer in sleepy Crozet, Va.-where postmistress Mary Minor Haristeen, aka Harry, lives with her tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy, and her Welsh Corgi, Tee Tucker-are disrupted by a computer virus and the arrival of a drugged-up biker looking for a woman named Malibu. A few days later, the biker turns up murdered. Meanwhile, the computer virus seems to have hit Crozet National Bank, which suffers an inexplicable $2-million shortfall. Harry's stumbling onto a small clue to the bank troubles inadvertently leads to another murder, which is quickly followed by a third. One detects coauthor Sneaky Pie's self-serving little paw as Mrs. Murphy-helped by Tee Tucker and their pal Pewter, the grocer's fat cat-not only leads Harry to the truth about the murders and the money but also rescues her from the killer. As usual, the Browns have fun with a supporting cast of eccentric characters (both two- and four-legged), whose foibles and quirks flavor what is the best Mrs. Murphy adventure yet. Author tour. (Dec.) - Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly Once again murder and mayhem have come to Brown's (Wish You Were Here, LJ 11/1/90) sleepy little town of Crozet, Virginia, heralded by the arrival of a leather-clad biker who storms up to historic Ash Lawn (James Monroe's home) demanding to see the thieving slut Malibu and upsetting the docents. Later, when the biker's body is found in Sugar Hollow, postmistress/detective Harry Haristeen, accompanied by the incorrigible cat Mrs. Murphy and Welsh corgi Tee Tucker, finds herself in the middle of the investigation. A computer virus that threatens the local bank and two love triangles are only some of the complications that spice up the plot. For fans and those who dote on cute, cozy mysteries, this is the ticket.-Cynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, Mass. - Library Journal When a Hell's Angelstype biker from L.A. appears at Ash Lawn, the historic home of James and Elizabeth Monroe in Crozet, Virginia, and is later found murdered, the town's close-knit residents, already ears-deep in midsummer gossip, are only mildly curious. They are much more concerned when they learn that a computer virus has infected the Crozet National Bank (there seems to be a $2 million deficit), and the bank's president is killed. It is up to postmistress (the term she prefers) Mary Minor Harry Haristeen, aided by her tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy, and Welsh corgi, Tee Tucker, with their feline friend, Pewter, to connect the two events--not before another victim turns up--and unmask the murderers. Although the historical setting proves peripheral and some readers may find the talking, crime-solving animals a bit much, others will applaud Rita Mae and her cat coauthor Sneaky Pie Brown's fourth literary excursion into mayhem and murder. - Barbara Duree
Publication Details
Title:
Author(s):
Illustrator:
Binding: Paperback
Published by: Random House Publishing Group: , 1996
Edition:
ISBN: 9780553572360 | 0553572369
288 pages.
Book Condition: Good
Cover worn
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