Furmidable Foes

Furmidable Foes
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2021-04-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593130057

Mary Minor “Harry” Harristeen is on the hunt for a killer with a deadly green thumb when a day in the garden turns fatal in this exciting new mystery from Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown. Spring arrives in northern Virginia, and as the ground thaws and the peonies begin to bloom a bright magenta, the women of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church prepare for a Homecoming celebration like no other. Harry, Susan Tucker, and their friends are busy planting flowers and trimming hedges to get the church grounds in shape for the big day. But a note of a menace mars the beautiful spring: The brewery owned by Janice Childs and Mags Nielsen, two members of the gardening committee, gets robbed, with hundreds of dollars in merchandise taken off their delivery trucks in the dead of night. Is this the work of a random thief? Or is something more sinister afoot? When Jeannie Cordle drops dead at a charity auction, poisoned by a fatal weed, Harry’s worst suspicions are confirmed: a killer lurks in their midst, one with a keen understanding of poisonous plants. Although she can’t yet prove it, Harry knows the murder is related to the thefts at Bottom’s Up Brewery. With help from her feline sidekicks, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, as well as Tee Tucker the corgi and sweet puppy Pirate, Harry sets out to find the weed in St. Luke’s garden—and stop a killer before they can strike again.

Furmidable Foes

Furmidable Foes
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2020
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593130030

"Mary Minor 'Harry' Harristeen and her pet sleuths uncover a rotten scam to dupe consumers when they discover that substandard produce is being passed off for organic, upmarket groceries. As always, Harry's crime-solving cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and Tee Tucker the Corgi share her determination to sniff out the foes among friends, the spoiled among the fresh"--

Claws for Alarm

Claws for Alarm
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2021-10-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593130103

Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen gets a little help from her veterinarian husband to solve the murder of a young equine vet whose death may be linked to his new clinic in Claws for Alarm, a tantalizing mystery from Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown. Pharamond “Fair” Haristeen is known throughout Crozet, Virginia, as a good horse vet and a better man. So when Benjamin Wagner, a new vet in town, is found dead in his unopened clinic, local police turn to Fair for help getting to the bottom of things. Fair quickly realizes Ben’s clinic has been robbed of ketamine, used by doctors as a horse tranquilizer but also a popular recreational drug. Then Fair’s own ketamine goes missing from the back of his truck. Was Ben killed for his supply? Or was he mixed up in something bigger? Meanwhile, Candida Perez, one of Crozet’s oldest and most beloved citizens, is found dead at her desk. Perhaps not so alarming, given her ninety years of life. But the bickering of Candida’s children, Ballard and Constance, over her will and the family’s valuable collection of historical letters, threatens to drive the rest of the town to madness. Fair’s wife, Harry, tries to play peacemaker, but the bad blood between the two siblings runs deep. Just how far will they take their family squabble? With a little aid from hungry helpers Tee Tucker the corgi and sweet puppy Pirate, as well as feline sleuths Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, Harry and Fair team up to restore justice—and maybe a little peace and quiet—in Claws for Alarm.

Time Will Tell

Time Will Tell
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2024-11-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593873831

An eye-wateringly expensive watch is found discarded on the land days prior to a dead body turning up. “Sister” Jane Arnold sets out to find the connection between the two, with a little help from her friend—both two legged and four—in this transportive mystery from New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown. “Cunning foxes, sensible hounds, and sweet-tempered horses are among the sparkling conversationalists in this charming series.”—The New York Times Book Review Between organizing a joint session with her friends at Bull Run Hunt, leading her own Jefferson Hunt Club’s fox hunting season, and looking after her beloved hounds and horses, “Sister” Jane Arnold is as busy as can be. She and her friend Tootie Harris are helping to lure home hunt club member Cindy Chandler’s two escaped cows, Clytemnestra and Orestes, when they discover an expensive watch carelessly abandoned on an overgrown path. The last thing Sister needs is another mystery to solve, but when one falls into her lap, she can’t help but get involved. Days later, a young man is murdered, one with seemingly no connection to the pricey jewelry or a life of crime. His mother is distraught, and Sister vows to find the murderer. But when hounds on the hunt discover a truck covered in blood – with no body in sight – she quickly realizes she’s in over her head with a cunning and clever adversary. Can she find the link and stop the murderer before they strike again? Only time will tell.

Thrill of the Hunt

Thrill of the Hunt
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2023-03-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593357620

A blackmailer targeting wealthy members of “Sister” Jane Arnold’s club has turned the hunters into the hunted in this thrilling mystery from New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown. “Cunning foxes, sensible hounds, and sweet-tempered horses are among the sparkling conversationalists in this charming series.”—The New York Times Book Review It’s the start of fox-hunting season and Sister is training a new generation of hounds in eager anticipation of Opening Hunt. But before they make it to that exciting day, several members of the hunt club receive ominous videos in which they appear to be doing scandalous, career-ending deeds. The videos are doctored, but does it matter? The unknown blackmailer promises to publish the clips if they don’t get paid, and even the most upstanding citizen can be brought down by the court of public opinion. While Sister and her friends try to unmask the dastardly mind behind the videos, mysteries abound in their beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain town home. Two men die, apparently by suicide, shocking a community that never saw their deaths coming. And rumors abound that Old Paradise, the estate being lovingly restored by Crawford Howard, houses a secret stash of gold from its original owner. Does someone want the treasure badly enough to kill for? Sister and her fellow Jefferson Hunt Club members, including friends both two- and four-legged, are on the case—and with any luck, they’ll catch the criminals before the first horn sounds on opening day.

Claws for Alarm

Claws for Alarm
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2022-07-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593130111

Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen gets a little help from her veterinarian husband to solve the murder of a young equine vet whose death may be linked to his new clinic in Claws for Alarm, a tantalizing mystery from Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown. Pharamond “Fair” Haristeen is known throughout Crozet, Virginia, as a good horse vet and a better man. So when Benjamin Wagner, a new vet in town, is found dead in his unopened clinic, local police turn to Fair for help getting to the bottom of things. Fair quickly realizes Ben’s clinic has been robbed of ketamine, used by doctors as a horse tranquilizer but also a popular recreational drug. Then Fair’s own ketamine goes missing from the back of his truck. Was Ben killed for his supply? Or was he mixed up in something bigger? Meanwhile, Candida Perez, one of Crozet’s oldest and most beloved citizens, is found dead at her desk. Perhaps not so alarming, given her ninety years of life. But the bickering of Candida’s children, Ballard and Constance, over her will and the family’s valuable collection of historical letters, threatens to drive the rest of the town to madness. Fair’s wife, Harry, tries to play peacemaker, but the bad blood between the two siblings runs deep. Just how far will they take their family squabble? With a little aid from hungry helpers Tee Tucker the corgi and sweet puppy Pirate, as well as feline sleuths Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, Harry and Fair team up to restore justice—and maybe a little peace and quiet—in Claws for Alarm.

Feline Fatale

Feline Fatale
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2024-04-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593357639

Politicians fight like cats and dogs, but when things take a deadly turn at the Virginia House of Delegates, Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen calls on her beloved pets to help her crack the case and stop the fur from flying in this latest mystery from Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown. Spring flowers may be about to bloom in Crozet, Virginia, but Harry is thinking about snow. Her dear friend Ned Tucker is in the House of Delegates, advocating for a bill to improve road clearing during bad weather, and Harry and Ned’s wife, Susan, have gone down to the statehouse to support him. Tensions are high between political parties, and no one can agree on anything for long enough to get something done. The bill’s chief detractor is the glamorous Amanda Fields, a former newscaster turned delegate whose flair for the dramatic has earned her a formidable reputation—and made her more than a few enemies. Amanda’s claws-out approach to politics might have some of her colleagues wishing she was dead, but the statehouse is rocked when one of the young pages who assists the delegates dies under mysterious circumstances. Could his death be related to the political infighting? Or is something even more sinister threatening the lives of Virginia’s finest representatives? With help from her feline sidekicks, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, as well as Tee Tucker the corgi and Irish Greyhound Pirate, Harry is determined to find the answers and restore order once more to the Capitol.

Scarlet Fever

Scarlet Fever
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2021-01-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593130022

Winter blizzards bring a flurry of cases to solve in this riveting new foxhunting mystery featuring “Sister” Jane Arnold and her incorrigible hounds from New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown. Frigid February air has settled into the bones of the Blue Ridge Mountains, making for a slow foxhunting season, though “Sister” Jane Arnold’s enthusiasm is not so easily deterred. With the winter chill come tweed coats, blazing fireplaces—and perhaps another to share the warmth with, as the bold hunting scarlets worn by the men in Sister Jane’s hunting club make the hearts of women flutter—until someone’s stops entirely. Harry Dunbar, a member of the Jefferson Hunt club with a penchant for antique furniture, is found with his skull cracked at the bottom of the stairs to a local store. There are no telltale signs of foul play—save for the priceless (and stolen) Erté fox ring in his pocket. Sister and her hounds set out to uncover the truth: was this simply an accident—a case of bad luck—or something much more sinister? Steeped in the deep traditions of Virginia horse country and featuring a colorful cast of characters both two- and four-legged, Scarlet Fever is another spirited mystery from Rita Mae Brown.

Out of Hounds

Out of Hounds
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-01-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593130073

“Sister” Jane Arnold and her hounds must sniff out a thief with expensive taste when a string of missing paintings leads to murder in this exciting foxhunting mystery from New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown. “Cunning foxes, sensible hounds, and sweet-tempered horses are among the sparkling conversationalists in this charming series.”—The New York Times Book Review Spring is peeking through the frost in Virginia, and though the hunting season is coming to a close, the foxes seem determined to put the members of the Jefferson Hunt Club through their paces. Sister and her friends are enjoying some of the best chases they’ve had all season when the fun is cut short by the theft of Crawford Howard’s treasured Sir Alfred Munnings painting of a woman in hunting attire riding sidesaddle. When another painting goes missing five days later—also a Munnings, also of a woman hunting sidesaddle—Sister Jane knows it’s no coincidence. Someone is stealing paintings of foxhunters from foxhunters. But why? Perhaps it’s a form of protest against their sport. For the hunt club isn’t just under attack from the thief. Mysterious signs have started to appear outside their homes, decrying their way of life. stop foxhunting: a cruel sport reads one that appears outside Crawford’s house, not long after his painting goes missing. no hounds barking shows up on the telephone pole outside Sister’s driveway. Annoying, but relatively harmless. Then Delores Buckingham, retired now but once a formidable foxhunter, is strangled to death after her own Munnings sidesaddle painting is stolen. Now Sister’s not just up against a thief and a few obnoxious signs—she’s on the hunt for a killer.

Lost & Hound

Lost & Hound
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2024-10-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593357590

When a body is found curiously displayed on “Sister” Jane Arnold’s foxhunting grounds, members of her hunt club realize someone is sending them a dire message, in this exciting mystery from New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown. “Cunning foxes, sensible hounds, and sweet-tempered horses are among the sparkling conversationalists in this charming series.”—The New York Times Book Review Early fall in Virginia means shorter days, cooler temperatures, the blooming milkweeds of summer giving way to fields of fluffy seeds—and of course, the start of fox hunting season. It’s “Sister” Jane Arnold’s favorite time of year. And this year, the Jefferson Hunt Club is busier than ever, organizing a fundraising drive to help with the upkeep of their beloved hunting grounds. But the festive season is interrupted by the appearance of a dead body, tied to a chair and placed directly in the path of an early-season hunt. No one recognizes the victim, but the intentional placement makes it clear that someone is sending a message. Then, one huntsman’s valuable stamp collection is stolen, and they discover the victim was also a stamp collector. Sister suspects a connection, which is confirmed when just one stamp is found taped to the garage door of her friend and treasurer of the hunt club Ronnie Haslip. Could Ronnie have been involved in either the murder or the theft, or has he been marked as the next victim? Sister must uncover who has been sending these cryptic signs to her friends—before any of them wind up dead.