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Puss 'n Cahoots (Mrs. Murphy)
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Manufacturer: Bantam
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Bantam
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Our Price: $7.50
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Bantam
Author: Rita Mae Brown
Publisher: Bantam
Average Customer Rating:
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Puss 'n Cahoots (Mrs. Murphy) Description
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780553586824
ISBN: 0553586823
Label: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2008-01-29
Publisher: Bantam
Product Release Date: 2008-01-29
Studio: Bantam
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780553586824
ISBN: 0553586823
Label: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2008-01-29
Publisher: Bantam
Product Release Date: 2008-01-29
Studio: Bantam
Editorial Review of Puss 'n Cahoots (Mrs. Murphy)
Instead of a proper second honeymoon, the newly remarried Harry and Fair Haristeen leave cozy Crozet, Virginia, for Shelbyville, Kentucky, site of the famous saddlebred horse show. There they’ll visit dear friends Joan Hamilton and Larry Hodge and enjoy a week among some of the finest horses, trainers, and riders in the country.
But soon after they arrive, events veer mysteriously–and murderously–off course. First, Joan’s ruby and sapphire horsehead heirloom pin is stolen from her private box at the fairgrounds. Next, a young film star’s prize three-gaited mare disappears into thin air. There is no lack of suspects, from hotheaded trainers and jealous rivals to vicious ex-spouses. Then a body is found flagrantly murdered and it’s obvious to Harry that someone at Shelbyville is sending a strong message: winning is only secondary–first prize is survival.
As Harry searches for clues, rediscovers life as a married woman, and deals with her upcoming fortieth birthday, her four-legged detective friends are already on the case. But is animal instinct any match for human depravity? Especially with two humans to protect and a killer on the prowl?
From the Hardcover edition.
But soon after they arrive, events veer mysteriously–and murderously–off course. First, Joan’s ruby and sapphire horsehead heirloom pin is stolen from her private box at the fairgrounds. Next, a young film star’s prize three-gaited mare disappears into thin air. There is no lack of suspects, from hotheaded trainers and jealous rivals to vicious ex-spouses. Then a body is found flagrantly murdered and it’s obvious to Harry that someone at Shelbyville is sending a strong message: winning is only secondary–first prize is survival.
As Harry searches for clues, rediscovers life as a married woman, and deals with her upcoming fortieth birthday, her four-legged detective friends are already on the case. But is animal instinct any match for human depravity? Especially with two humans to protect and a killer on the prowl?
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews of Puss 'n Cahoots (Mrs. Murphy)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Interesting but NOT a Winner
Review: Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy mysteries have begun to take on aspects of a soapbox...and it's irritating. What I found enjoyable in the earlier books were the interactions among the characters, human and animal, and the descriptions of the beautiful Virginia countryside. There's less and less of that now. Instead we're treated to personal harangues...and there's not even a balanced rebuttal or a respectable opposing perspective. I 've just begun reading the book after this one, "The Purrfect Murder" and it's even worse. But I'll withhold judgement until I'm finished with it. Still loyality keeps me going and I keep hoping the old Mrs. Murphy will come through in the end.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: This is a mystery, right? Hello?
Review: The Mrs. Murphy series has been a delight! While some series featuring animals prominently in the plot can easily put the reader into a diabetic coma, this series stands out because the animals have not overshadowed the main characters, who have been well-developed and have lived in a realistic world. It has been edgy and tart with good plots and murders galore in the small town of Crozet, Va., in each successive volume. We have heard the thoughts of the animals in italicized conversations that did not interrupt the unfolding of the plot and, in fact, often aided its flow. This series has had well structured plots and thoughtful character development while including the right amount of local and cultural history of that region as well as thorough but not overdone amounts of background explanatory detail of elements such as fox hunting, farming, and horses necessary to the story.
Unfortunately, however, "Puss'n Cahoots," like "Sour Puss" and "Cat's Eyewitness" before it, continues her disturbing and thoroughly annoying trend of forgetting that it's a mystery story and not a soapbox for the author's favorite cause(s) of the month. Long before the first murder, the story screeches to a halt several times with what I assume Ms. Brown believes are well-presented arguments for her currents favs: illegal immigration and performance enhancing drugs leading at the first turn. There was a time when Ms. Brown could deal with a issue she believes in with one or two well-crafted sentences without stopping the story in its tracks; perhaps she had an editor then. Now, we the reader are subjected to pages of preaching talking points ad nauseam which completely detract from the mystery, and this happens throughout the story! I actually found myself skimming through her sermonizing to try to find the story line again. When even the animals put on a surplice, Ms. Brown needs to remember that Crozet, VA. (or Shelbyville, KY) is not a part of Hyde Park, London, and get off her soapbox! Forget a tight plot with a suspenseful and foreboding atmosphere; forget a suspenseful climax; forget a tight denouement which ties up all the pieces neatly. These elements are barely present (or not here at all) as if they were afterthoughts because Ms. Brown was too busy preaching to craft a good mystery story instead of the weakly developed alleged mystery that is "Puss'n Cahoots."
I give "Puss'n Cahoots" two stars because Ms. Brown does include a lot of her trademark background information about her setting: Saddlebred horse shows and all therein. This is part of what made this series so good and once again I learned a lot. Otherwise, sadly, thumbs disappointedly down.
To rescue this series as a legitimate mystery series, Ms. Brown needs to do two things: (1) start writing real mysteries again, and (2) STOP preaching at us! Would Miranda Hogendobber put too many ingredients in her cinnamon buns and then tell us why we need to like them?
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Going downhill
Review: For this outing Fair and Harry are on their honeymoon at a horse show with all of Harry's pets along for the ride. Gone was the cozy feeling of the Post Office and her usual friends. The friendships in this book seemed forced. Too much time was spent on descriptions of horse shows. The dialog was dreadful and stilted as the author preached her political beliefs through her characters. I'm sad to say this is probably the last of the series that I'll read. In the past couple of books the author seems more concerned with preaching her political views rather than telling an engaging story. I miss the mysteries and fun of the earlier books. Heck, I even named my corgi, Tucker.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: We've lost our way
Review: Being one of the many here who have read all of the books in this series, I picked up Puss 'n Cahoots with great hope. Hope that this story would be good. Hope that the characters - especially the ones we've come to know and love - would be present in their fullness. Hope that the series would pick up where it left off a few books back. Unfortunately for fans of Mrs. Murphy, et al., that is not to be.
The animals are still in character: Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker. In fact, they seem to occupy the bulk of this story. Stories placed away from Crozet, the home of most of the earlier stories and the background characters who have been such a part of earlier books, are to be expected, perhaps even necessary. But each story loses something if the old friends aren't there.
Many readers who hoped to see Harry and Fair get back together have looked forward to seeing their marriage and renewal of their lives. But there really hasn't been much improvement. Even when the old post office closed, the story lines could have become fresh again, although it was seen by many readers with a certain dread of what was to come. As it turns out, they were right to dread it.
New readers of Mrs. Murphy should not judge the series by this book. Start at the beginning where the characters are fresh and the stories have more imagination. Some loyal readers keep picking up the new ones just in case Ms. Brown has found her way back to what made her stories unique and fun. Unfortunately she has lost her way, and so have we.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Boring, boring, boring
Review: This is by far the worst book of the series, not only because of the colors of the cover, and most certainly the last one I will touch.
Not only does the author start the book with 30 pages of background information about "Saddlebred Shows" and horses, there is no reward for ploughing through them, it does not get get any better.
Other already mentioned the views of the author being very visible. I cannot remember these opions being so unnerving. When mentioning the drive to the horse show and the huge car, the reader is told in no uncertain words that "industry pollutes more than cars", that there are no bus stops in the country, large cars are fun and that every charity organisation is corrupt anyway. Great philosophy... The idea of legalizing steroids for humans was the next low blow.
Shame about the paper the book was printed on.
Review Summary: Interesting but NOT a Winner
Review: Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy mysteries have begun to take on aspects of a soapbox...and it's irritating. What I found enjoyable in the earlier books were the interactions among the characters, human and animal, and the descriptions of the beautiful Virginia countryside. There's less and less of that now. Instead we're treated to personal harangues...and there's not even a balanced rebuttal or a respectable opposing perspective. I 've just begun reading the book after this one, "The Purrfect Murder" and it's even worse. But I'll withhold judgement until I'm finished with it. Still loyality keeps me going and I keep hoping the old Mrs. Murphy will come through in the end.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: This is a mystery, right? Hello?
Review: The Mrs. Murphy series has been a delight! While some series featuring animals prominently in the plot can easily put the reader into a diabetic coma, this series stands out because the animals have not overshadowed the main characters, who have been well-developed and have lived in a realistic world. It has been edgy and tart with good plots and murders galore in the small town of Crozet, Va., in each successive volume. We have heard the thoughts of the animals in italicized conversations that did not interrupt the unfolding of the plot and, in fact, often aided its flow. This series has had well structured plots and thoughtful character development while including the right amount of local and cultural history of that region as well as thorough but not overdone amounts of background explanatory detail of elements such as fox hunting, farming, and horses necessary to the story.
Unfortunately, however, "Puss'n Cahoots," like "Sour Puss" and "Cat's Eyewitness" before it, continues her disturbing and thoroughly annoying trend of forgetting that it's a mystery story and not a soapbox for the author's favorite cause(s) of the month. Long before the first murder, the story screeches to a halt several times with what I assume Ms. Brown believes are well-presented arguments for her currents favs: illegal immigration and performance enhancing drugs leading at the first turn. There was a time when Ms. Brown could deal with a issue she believes in with one or two well-crafted sentences without stopping the story in its tracks; perhaps she had an editor then. Now, we the reader are subjected to pages of preaching talking points ad nauseam which completely detract from the mystery, and this happens throughout the story! I actually found myself skimming through her sermonizing to try to find the story line again. When even the animals put on a surplice, Ms. Brown needs to remember that Crozet, VA. (or Shelbyville, KY) is not a part of Hyde Park, London, and get off her soapbox! Forget a tight plot with a suspenseful and foreboding atmosphere; forget a suspenseful climax; forget a tight denouement which ties up all the pieces neatly. These elements are barely present (or not here at all) as if they were afterthoughts because Ms. Brown was too busy preaching to craft a good mystery story instead of the weakly developed alleged mystery that is "Puss'n Cahoots."
I give "Puss'n Cahoots" two stars because Ms. Brown does include a lot of her trademark background information about her setting: Saddlebred horse shows and all therein. This is part of what made this series so good and once again I learned a lot. Otherwise, sadly, thumbs disappointedly down.
To rescue this series as a legitimate mystery series, Ms. Brown needs to do two things: (1) start writing real mysteries again, and (2) STOP preaching at us! Would Miranda Hogendobber put too many ingredients in her cinnamon buns and then tell us why we need to like them?
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Going downhill
Review: For this outing Fair and Harry are on their honeymoon at a horse show with all of Harry's pets along for the ride. Gone was the cozy feeling of the Post Office and her usual friends. The friendships in this book seemed forced. Too much time was spent on descriptions of horse shows. The dialog was dreadful and stilted as the author preached her political beliefs through her characters. I'm sad to say this is probably the last of the series that I'll read. In the past couple of books the author seems more concerned with preaching her political views rather than telling an engaging story. I miss the mysteries and fun of the earlier books. Heck, I even named my corgi, Tucker.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: We've lost our way
Review: Being one of the many here who have read all of the books in this series, I picked up Puss 'n Cahoots with great hope. Hope that this story would be good. Hope that the characters - especially the ones we've come to know and love - would be present in their fullness. Hope that the series would pick up where it left off a few books back. Unfortunately for fans of Mrs. Murphy, et al., that is not to be.
The animals are still in character: Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker. In fact, they seem to occupy the bulk of this story. Stories placed away from Crozet, the home of most of the earlier stories and the background characters who have been such a part of earlier books, are to be expected, perhaps even necessary. But each story loses something if the old friends aren't there.
Many readers who hoped to see Harry and Fair get back together have looked forward to seeing their marriage and renewal of their lives. But there really hasn't been much improvement. Even when the old post office closed, the story lines could have become fresh again, although it was seen by many readers with a certain dread of what was to come. As it turns out, they were right to dread it.
New readers of Mrs. Murphy should not judge the series by this book. Start at the beginning where the characters are fresh and the stories have more imagination. Some loyal readers keep picking up the new ones just in case Ms. Brown has found her way back to what made her stories unique and fun. Unfortunately she has lost her way, and so have we.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Boring, boring, boring
Review: This is by far the worst book of the series, not only because of the colors of the cover, and most certainly the last one I will touch.
Not only does the author start the book with 30 pages of background information about "Saddlebred Shows" and horses, there is no reward for ploughing through them, it does not get get any better.
Other already mentioned the views of the author being very visible. I cannot remember these opions being so unnerving. When mentioning the drive to the horse show and the huge car, the reader is told in no uncertain words that "industry pollutes more than cars", that there are no bus stops in the country, large cars are fun and that every charity organisation is corrupt anyway. Great philosophy... The idea of legalizing steroids for humans was the next low blow.
Shame about the paper the book was printed on.