Review of "Furmidable Foes: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery" by Rita Rae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown

Ricki Lake as 'Harry Haristeen' with Mrs. Murphy (cat) and Tucker (dog)

In this 29th book in the 'Mrs. Murphy' series, farmer/amateur sleuth Harry Haristeen investigates two murders, to the chagrin of her 'talking pets' - who fear for her safety. The animals are two cats - Mrs. Murphy and Pewter; the corgi - Tucker; and the half-grown Irish wolfhound - Pirate. The book can be read as a standalone.





*****

The story, set in the town of Crozet, Virginia, ping pongs between the present (2019) and the time right after the Revolutionary War (1787).

In the present, Harry Haristeen and her best friend Susan Tucker are leading members of the Dorcas Guild, the women's group at Crozet's St. Luke's Lutheran Church.



The Dorcas Guild is planning several upcoming church events: a June 2nd homecoming that doubles as a surprise birthday party for 80-year-old Reverend Herbert Jones; a charity auction and dance; and a float - covered with a large model of St. Luke's church - for the July 4th parade.

The women's group is assisted by its brother organization, St. Peter's Guild, which contains Harry's husband Fair, Susan's husband Ned, and other men from St. Luke's.



To prepare for the homecoming revelries, the Dorcas Guild is landscaping St. Luke's grounds, recreating the original gardens as they appeared in 1787.



While Harry and her friends work they discuss a recently vandalized grave in the church cemetery, which was found to contain the skeleton of a woman on top of two long buried caskets.



Authorities determine that the woman, who was interred with expensive jewelry, was buried in the late 1700s, but her identity remains unknown. To add to the mystery, Harry discovers three more skeletons as she's puttering around St. Luke's grounds.



Harry and her friends wonder about the identity of the dead people, speculating that they may have been slaves from one of Crozet's historic plantations.

Crozet also has additional drama. A beer truck belonging to 'Bottoms Up' brewery - owned by Harry's friends Janice and Mags - is stolen; an abandoned still and a recent corpse are discovered above Harry's farm; and a lovely woman named Jeannie Cordle is murdered at St. Luke's charity auction.



The sheriff's department investigates the modern homicides, but Harry feels compelled to help out, and launches her own inquiries.



Harry's cats and dogs, who've saved her from perps in the past, discuss their concerns for her well-being. The pets and their animal friends also talk about history, politics, finances, church matters, etc. This is all highly amusing, and adds fun to the story.



The modern story is interspersed with events that occur in 1787, when the Holloways and Garths own plantations in Crozet. Mrs. Maureen Selisse Holloway, a vicious woman who owns the Big Rawly plantation, is furious about a missing necklace and earrings, which she thinks were stolen by a slave named Sheba.



Now two other Big Rawly slaves have run away, and Maureen hires slaves catchers to retrieve them. The cruel treatment of slaves by Maureen and the bounty hunters is horrible and shocking, and forms a dissonant note in a cozy mystery (in my opinion).



Ewing Garth owns Crozet's second plantation, named Cloverfields, and he and his married daughters are kinder slave owners than Maureen. Ewing is trying to get Maureen Holloway to allow her black stable manager to marry his black cook, and the negotiations are tricky.

Even though the Garths are gentler slave holders than Maureen, owning people - and controlling their lives - is clearly a despicable business.



As the story unfolds, a death that harks back to 1787 is solved, as are the recent killings. However, all this occurs in a rather offhand manner, with very little 'investigation.' Thus the book's billing as a cozy mystery is somewhat misleading.

The modern part of the story is mostly about the gardens of St. Luke's Lutheran Church - which are described in great detail - and the various church events. The historic part of the book is mostly about plantation life, slaves, and slave catchers. Thus the novel is much more fiction than mystery.

The author, activist Rita Mae Brown, has become more political in her recent fiction, and this book follows that trend. Still, the story is interesting, and would probably appeal to fans of gardening and historical fiction.


Author and activist Rita Mae Brown

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Rita Mae Brown), and the publisher (Bantam Books) for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3 stars