Sour Puss

Written by Rita Mae Brown

Narrated by Kate Forbes

In this latest whodunit, Rita Mae Brown and her feline partner-in-crime-detection, Sneaky Pie Brown, return to the scene of their bestselling crimes-picturesque Crozet, Virginia. Love is in the air as spring comes to the small town, but no sooner has Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen remarried than she is rudely interrupted-by murder. And no sooner does the trouble start than curious cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, along with corgi Tee Tucker, sink their claws into the case..After an unexpected rekindling of their romance, Harry and her veterinarian ex-husband, Fair Haristeen, have happily remarried. But the excitement of their nuptials is quickly overshadowed by the murder of Professor Vincent Forland, a world-famous grape and fungal expert who was in town visiting the local vineyards. Within days of giving a lecture on how distilled fungus and cattle diseases are the current basis of chemical warfare, Forland's decapitated body is discovered. After their initial fright, the residents of Crozet believe that this was a political murder and settle back into their routines-until a local is also found dead, killed in the same gruesome manner as Professor Forland. Now residents can't help wondering, is this really the work of an outsider-or one of their own? No longer working in the post office, Harry had just planted a quarter acre of grapes, which fuels her natural curiosity over just what the two murder victims knew and had in common. Once the warmth of spring arrives, the grapevines blossom and Harry's furry entourage discovers the first critical clue. But how can they show the humans what they've learned? And how can they-or anyone-stop the killing?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 11, 2008
• ISBN: 9781449802127

Reviews for Sour Puss

[donnarowe-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was OK when she stopped going on and on about bioterrorism and actually focused on the mystery. I did a lot of skimming. The problems with raising grapes was relevant, so I didn't mind that quite so much, but there was quite a bit of detail. For those interested in the subject, it's good, but I was relieved when she got off the subject and back to the story itself.

By the time the third person died, it was pretty obvious who the murderer was, although I already had my suspicions early on.

[chazzifrazz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Harry and her ex-husband, Fair, are now husband and wife once again. Fur-family members Mrs. Murphy, Pewter and Tee Tucker couldn't be more happier.From a bit of a crazy wedding, courtesy of the fur persons, the newly weds life gets off to a quick start. It seems that the emerging vitriculture of the Crozet, Virginia area is losing some of its key members...to murder. Harry has recently planted a quarter acre in grapes and finds her curiosity on grape growing becomes second to finding out who is killing off some of the key players and what is the reason. With the help of the fur persons, and a few others, she is out to solve the mystery.This is a series that I enjoy for a quick and light read. I enjoy the characters and the puzzles of the mysteries themselves.

[jguidry-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another fabulous installment in the Mrs. Murphy series. I love the interaction of the animals in this series. They remind me of my personal animals. Their actions are whimsical yet realistic. Rita Mae Brown did a lot of research into biological warfare, and it did get a little dry at times, but the characters make it well worth reading.

[dooney-2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was the first one of this popular series by Rita Mae Brown that I have read. It may not have been the best place to start. The author had done a lot of research into viniculture and diseases that affected grapes and the story was a little heavy on factual discussions on these subjects. This might have worked had the information been more clearly tied to the mystery itself, but it was not. The mystery was in fact rather simple, but events and motives were linked together without any hint of explanation or connection: the reader knew there was a problem, but the critical steps of how one starts with assumption A and finds evidence to support conclusion B were lacking. At other times, he author went overboard in over-explaining small emotional details that had little relevance to the actual mystery. In short it was an odd mix of too much information about nothing and not enough information to support the critical points in the development of the story.It was not a bad book, I did enjoy reading it, but there was little meat and little to remember.

[kendall41_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Not very interesting. Weak voice characterization in the audio version with little help from the text made it hard to follow. The author gives us a lot of information about grapes and horses, but integrates it poorly with the story.

[paperclips_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My father has a long held belief that most writers only have six books in them that will be any good, not that they have to all be in a row, but in general any author that is too prolific , while Ms.Brown & Sneaky Pie haven’t gotten close to this list (they have written 13 to date) I was a bit let down by this latest installment. It took too much of its time bringing newbies up to speed on the cast of characters/back story, but it redeemed itself with its scientific plot (although it did get a weebit preachy at times). Unfortunately it felt as if I had read it all before…Hopefully the next book (which surely there will be) will be back to her/their old style & pacing.