Tall Tail (Mrs. Murphy Series #25)

by Rita Mae Brown, Sneaky Pie Brown Narrated by Kate Forbes

Overview

In this fast-paced mystery by Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and her animal friends seek to solve a whodunit rooted in eighteenth-century Virginia-uncovering a shocking secret that refuses to stay buried. At any moment a perfect summer day in Crozet, Virginia-nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains-might turn stormy and tempestuous, as Harry knows too well when a squall suddenly sweeps in. In a blink, Harry's pickup nearly collides with a careening red car that then swerves into a ditch. Harry recognizes the dead driver slumped over the vehicle's steering wheel: Barbara Leader was nurse and confidante to former Virginia governor Sam Holloway. Though Barbara's death is ruled a heart attack, dissenting opinions abound. After all, she was the picture of health, which gives Harry and her four-legged companions pause. A baffling break-in at a local business leads Harry to further suspect that a person with malevolent intent lurks just out of sight: Something evil is afoot. As it happens, Barbara died in the shadow of the local cemetery's statue of the Avenging Angel. Just below that imposing funereal monument lie the remains of one Francisco Selisse, brutally murdered in 1784. Harry's present-day sleuthing draws her back to Virginia's slave-holding past and the hunt for Selisse's killer. Now it's up to Harry and her furry detectives-Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee Tucker-to expose the bitter truth, even if it means staring into the unforgiving eyes of history and cornering a callous killer poised to pounce.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

03/28/2016
At the start of bestseller Brown’s disjointed 24th Mrs. Murphy mystery (after 2015’s Tail Gait), farm owner Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen is nearly run off the road by nurse Barbara Leader, the caregiver for ailing 96-year-old Samuel Holloway, a former Virginia governor. Barbara’s car comes to a halt, but Harry finds her dead behind the wheel. The subsequent discovery of a lethal drug in Barbara’s system intensifies concern about the former governor’s safety for Susan Tucker, Harry’s friend and Holloway’s granddaughter. The political ambitions of Holloway’s state senator grandson, Edward Cunningham, who’s Susan’s cousin, complicate matters. Flashbacks to the 18th century illustrate episodes of abuse and cruelty that may have significance in the present, where a break-in at a website developer deepens the puzzle. Though readers may be enraptured by an 18th-century corgi named Piglet, poor construction relegates vital details to an afterword instead of incorporating them into the narrative. Agent: Wendy Weil, Wendy Weil Agency. (May)

From the Publisher

Praise for the Mrs. Murphy Mysteries by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
 
“As feline collaborators go, you couldn’t ask for better than Sneaky Pie Brown.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Mrs. Murphy mysteries are fun, sweet, and beautifully adventurous.”—Bustle
 
“Brown [is] the queen of the talking animal cozy.”—Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

05/01/2016
In their 25th outing (after Tail Gait), Harry and best friend Susan Tucker are embroiled in a mystery rooted in 18th-century Virginia and the murder of a horrific slave owner.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171111991
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	05/17/2016
Series:	Mrs. Murphy Series , #25
Edition description:	Unabridged

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chapter 1
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Excerpted from "Tall Tail"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Rita Mae Brown.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
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