Hounded to Death

Written by Rita Mae Brown

Narrated by Cynthia Darlow

"Sister" Jane Arnold, esteemed master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, has traveled to Kentucky for one of the biggest events of the season: the Mid-America Hound Show, where foxhounds, bassets, and beagles gather to strut their champion bloodline stuff. But the fun is squelched when immediately after the competition a contestant turns up dead-stripped to the waist and peppered with birdshot. Two weeks later, back in Virginia, a popular veterinarian dies from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Sister refuses to believe that her friend killed herself and vows to sniff out the truth. But before she can make real headway, a wealthy pet food manufacturer vanishes during the granddaddy of all canine exhibitions, the Virginia Hound Show. Ever reliant on her "horse sense," Sister can't help but connect the three incidents, and what she uncovers will make her blood run colder than the bodies that keep turning up in unexpected places.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 26, 2008
• ISBN: 9781436183628

Reviews for Hounded to Death

[nodosaurus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After a hound show at a hunting club, a man, naturally hated and who mistreats animals, is murdered. Later, a woman turns up as an apparent suicide, and another body surfaces. I found the book a little difficult to get into, it is book seven in the "Sister" Jane Arnold series, and perhaps earlier books would help understand the characters. Much of the book is in dialog form. I found the dialog natural and well written, and the people were well formed. There seemed to be too little investigation, I didn't feel there was adequate information for a reader to actually figure it out. One thing that did bother me was that the animals talked. Not to humans, or at least the humans didn't understand them. I tried to interpret it as what humans interpret from their pets, but it did go beyond that. The hounds revealed the smell of the killer. It felt like something I shouldn't have known, but it didn't come into the solution. The solution seemed to appear out of the blue in the late pages of the book. This just isn't my style of book.

[caro488 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Brown, Rita Mae, Hounded to Death, "Sister" Jane Arnold, matriarch, school sponsor,hunt club master - basically does nothing to investigate or solve 2 murders - a hated club member who steals other people's dogs, and a beloved horse vet - more than you ever wanted to know about hunting - amusing 'voices' from the animals

[koalamom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great, fast read and I didn't figure out whodunit until I was told near the end of the book. I couldn't put it down and literally read it in less than 6 hours. I loved the line drawings that they put in the book as well. It really added to the story.