Review of "A Hiss Before Dying: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery" by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

In this 26th book in the 'Mrs. Murphy' series, farmer/amateur sleuth Harry Haristeen becomes involved in the investigation of two deaths.



As usual, Harry's 'talking pets' - the cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and the corgi Tucker - add their comments to the story.





The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Harry Haristeen, a lifelong resident of Crozet - in Albemarle County, Virginia - has a lot going on.



She's married to a large animal veterinarian; she takes care of her farm and horses; she's on a committee to preserve Virginia wildlife; she's in charge of buildings and preservation at St. Luke's Church; and she pokes into homicides being investigated by her friend, Deputy Sheriff Cynthia Cooper.

Harry's fur babies, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker, accompany Harry everywhere, discuss her activities, and sometimes find clues to murders being probed. Unfortunately the animals can't communicate this to people, which frustrates them greatly.



The story opens when Harry's pets observe an eagle flying off with an eyeball hanging from it's beak. Soon afterward Deputy Sheriff Cooper gets a call about an abandoned car-hauler - a truck that transports automobiles around the country. The vehicle is found on the side of the road, with no driver in sight.



When the driver is discovered, he's dead, and one of his eyeball's is missing. It looks like death by misadventure, but murder can't be ruled out.

Soon afterwards, another body is discovered, with two bullet holes in the back. This time it's clearly murder, and the victim is an African-American man wearing a slave tag on a chain. The historic tag, which has the plantation name and a number, would have been carried by a slave out and about doing the master's bidding.



The dead Black man is identified as a private detective, but his business is unknown.....as is his possible connection to the dead truck driver.

While these deaths are being investigated, there's a burglary at a Crozet shop that sells Native American garb adorned with fur/feathers from endangered species.



The use of endangered species is illegal, but Indians get special dispensation for religious reasons. Additionally, someone is setting traps for animals whose body parts are sold as aphrodisiacs and the like.

While Harry and her friends discuss the felonious occurrences in Crozet, Harry speculates that the dead men may be connected with the trade in illegal animal parts. Soon afterwards, someone starts shooting at Harry as she drives around in her truck.

The investigation into the current crimes in Crozet alternates with scenes set in the 1780s, a decade after the Revolutionary War. The newly independent colonies are rivals for trade and commerce, can't get their currency aligned, and have different attitudes about slavery. All this is the subject of discussion among local Virginians, so the reader gets a little lesson in American history.



Historic Albemarle County has two large plantations, one owned by newly widowed (and re-married) Maureen Selise Holloway - a cruel, vain woman who mistreats her slaves;



and one run by Ewing Garth and his married daughters, who are kindly slave owners.



(I'm uncomfortable with the author's somewhat rosy-ish depiction of the slave-owning Garth family - which has nothing but the slaves' best interests at heart. Really?? I suspect the author's loyalty to Virginia influenced the writing.)

In the chapters set in the old days, a young kitchen slave named Mignon, who belongs to brutal Maureen, is unfairly accused of stealing jewelry and runs away.



A bounty is put on Mignon's head, and she lives in fear of being discovered.



This drives much of the historic action, and - in the end - connects the past and present in an ingenious way.


Author Rita Mae Brown

As in her other recent books, Rita Mae Brown injects her personal politics, opinions, and interests into the story by way of discussions among the characters. Thus we read about the need for a profit-making economy; politicians serving their own self-interests; the welfare of wild creatures; correct farming practices; restoration of slave schools; art forgery; church renovation; southern manners; and more.

In truth, this really isn't much of a mystery, but more a book about central Virginia then and now. Still, I'd recommend the book to fans of the Mrs. Murphy series and/or historic novels.

Rating: 3 stars