Catch as Cat Can

Rating:
Summary: Gosh I love these books
Review: A great delight. I love the animals,Harry's independence,her farm,her life. I love the descriptions of the Charlottesville area where I went to school. The plots are usually secondary to the characters but I find the whole series charming Thanks!

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Summary: not as good as the rest
Review: As much as I love Brown's writing style, this book went from bad to worse. Very scattered.Still love the people in her books though.

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Summary: Fantastic Addition to the Mrs. Murphy Series
Review: As Spring Fever begins taking over the small town of Crozet, Virginia, and the annual Dogwood Festival approaches, resident postmistress, and part-time sleuth, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen feels it's time to put a little romance into her life. Mrs. Murphy, however, the detective tiger cat, can tell by her feline intuition that there's something in the air, and it isn't romance. It begins with some stolen hubcaps, and ends up in the mysterious death of a young mechanic. Then another death, and a shooting lead to the miraculous discovery of a half-million dollars, that look to be the work of something "dirty." While Harry is on the trail of the cold-blooded killer, Mrs. Murphy is already definite on who the murderer is, and knows who's next in line. She also knows that her beloved owner, Harry, does not have nine lives, as she does, and the one life that she does have is grasping at straws.

As a fan of every previous Mrs. Murphy mystery, I eagerly awaited my chance to read Rita Mae Brown's CATCH AS CAT CAN, and I was not in any way, shape, or form, disappointed in the outcome. As always, Mrs. Murphy is more enjoyable than ever, with her quirky dialogue, and, at times, attitudish personality. Harry is more curious than ever in this installment in the series, as she is determined to find the killer before anymore innocent lives are taken. Fans of the previous Mrs. Murphy mysteries will enjoy the chance to travel back to the cozy town of Crozet, Virginia, and catch up with some of their old friends in CATCH AS CAT CAN.

Erika Sorocco

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Addition to the Mrs. Murphy Series
Review: As Spring Fever begins taking over the small town of Crozet, Virginia, and the annual Dogwood Festival approaches, resident postmistress, and part-time sleuth, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen feels it's time to put a little romance into her life. Mrs. Murphy, however, the detective tiger cat, can tell by her feline intuition that there's something in the air, and it isn't romance. It begins with some stolen hubcaps, and ends up in the mysterious death of a young mechanic. Then another death, and a shooting lead to the miraculous discovery of a half-million dollars, that look to be the work of something "dirty." While Harry is on the trail of the cold-blooded killer, Mrs. Murphy is already definite on who the murderer is, and knows who's next in line. She also knows that her beloved owner, Harry, does not have nine lives, as she does, and the one life that she does have is grasping at straws.

As a fan of every previous Mrs. Murphy mystery, I eagerly awaited my chance to read Rita Mae Brown's CATCH AS CAT CAN, and I was not in any way, shape, or form, disappointed in the outcome. As always, Mrs. Murphy is more enjoyable than ever, with her quirky dialogue, and, at times, attitudish personality. Harry is more curious than ever in this installment in the series, as she is determined to find the killer before anymore innocent lives are taken. Fans of the previous Mrs. Murphy mysteries will enjoy the chance to travel back to the cozy town of Crozet, Virginia, and catch up with some of their old friends in CATCH AS CAT CAN.

Erika Sorocco

Rating:
Summary: It takes a village
Review: CATCH AS CAT CAN and the entire Mrs. Murphy series belong to the "cozy" school of murder mysteries. "Cozy" refers to setting in mystery genre and Crozet, Virginia, an actual place, is certainly conceived in the tradition of the pleasant English village. Even with a body count that would rival some violent inner city neighborhoods, the author makes it irresistible, evoking the beautiful western Virginia countryside through natural seasonal imagery. The series' regular human and animal characters are appealing. It is for them and the setting that you go back to this series when in need of something disposable, the storylines and some of the characterizations having become increasingly simple, almost irrelevant over the series' development. You also go back for the satire on new South/old South values and mores. As Brown observes, it would not be a proper Southern social event if someone did not get drunk or a fight did not break out--in tuxedoes and designer dresses. Brown plays with the genre as well: less confident writers worry about making realistic circumstances by which the amateur sleuth becomes involved and solves the mystery. Not here: Crozet is a place where the sheriff feels beholden to first inform the reigning social matriarch of every development and depends upon the gossip lines and family pets to get the job done. Procedure? Never heard of it. Sly irony keeps this series afloat, saves it from the saccharine.

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Summary: Junk Into Gold
Review: Catch As Cat Can is the 10th Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae [and Sneaky Pie] Brown, and this time Mrs Murphy, Pewter [the cats], and Tee Tucker [the dog] are helping their companion human, Harry Haristeen, postmistress of Crozet, Virginia, snoop around the local salvage yard. BoomBoom Craycroft, woman of ample bosom, rich widow, and Crozet's most famous sampler of lifestyles, has taken up welding sculptures out of junk metal AND sets Harry up with a Uraguayan diplomat. Miranda, Harry's helper at the post office, has her hubcaps stolen and then recovered. Harry finds a dead woodpecker and takes it to the local taxidermist. And as always, the dead bodies begin to pile up. Trust me, it all fits together. For anybody new to the Mrs. Murphy Mysteries, suspension of disbelief will be required when dealing with the fact that the animals can talk to each other and the fact that they solve the mysteries faster than the humans. REMEMBER, THIS IS MYSTERY LITE! I enjoyed Catch As Cat Can, but can't rate it up with the best of this series. If you enjoy lite mysteries, I recommend you read Catch As Cat Can and the rest of the Mrs. Murphy Mysteries.

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Summary: A little more character development please
Review: First off, I love this series of books. I enjoy the interaction between the animals- four and two footed--as well as the descriptions of the countryside near where I went to college. So with that as a backround I have to say that I was disappointed with the last portion of the book... Despite this I still love the series and I wish the horses could share more of the plot. I was glad the owl had a bigger part to play.

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Summary: ANOTHER book report
Review: Harry and Mrs. Murphy are pulled into a murder mystery in the middle of what is supposed to be a celebration of new life. it all starts at the Spring dance that Aunt Tally throws every year. Roger, the co-owner of O'Bannon salvage, was a little over intoxicated. His date fixes him some coffee to sober up, but minuets later, he was dead. Who is his murderer? Is there moore to come? And what is up with Harry and Diego? oh well, you will just have to read(or listen) to the book to find out!

As a Murder mystery, I think Rita mae Brown did a FABULOUS job. It kept my attention, and it was very descriptive; I could put a clear picture in my mind of what the setting and things looked like.

On the other hand, when the pets talked during the story, it kept me feeling, even thogh it was cute, that the book was getting a little juvinile. I mean, when adults read the book, they don't want to read about what the animals have to say. Frankly, I would expect animals to be talking in third graders books, not adults. In saying this, I would think that you, Rita, should consider cutting the animals talking in next books, because it is going to get old fast, and the adults will not read it anymore.

Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER book report
Review: Harry and Mrs. Murphy are pulled into a murder mystery in the middle of what is supposed to be a celebration of new life. it all starts at the Spring dance that Aunt Tally throws every year. Roger, the co-owner of O'Bannon salvage, was a little over intoxicated. His date fixes him some coffee to sober up, but minuets later, he was dead. Who is his murderer? Is there moore to come? And what is up with Harry and Diego? oh well, you will just have to read(or listen) to the book to find out!

As a Murder mystery, I think Rita mae Brown did a FABULOUS job. It kept my attention, and it was very descriptive; I could put a clear picture in my mind of what the setting and things looked like.

On the other hand, when the pets talked during the story, it kept me feeling, even thogh it was cute, that the book was getting a little juvinile. I mean, when adults read the book, they don't want to read about what the animals have to say. Frankly, I would expect animals to be talking in third graders books, not adults. In saying this, I would think that you, Rita, should consider cutting the animals talking in next books, because it is going to get old fast, and the adults will not read it anymore.

Rating:
Summary: Light but fun--pets save the day again for pesky humans
Review: Harry Haristeen, her two cats, and her dog find themselves caught in the middle of a social whirlwind in Crozet, Virginia--a whirlwind that grows increasingly serious and increasingly less social as murder marrs the festivities. Something is rotten in Crozet--but exactly what is hard to detect. Fortunately for Harry and for Virginia, the pets are on the case. And with these pets, Harry is certain to be dragged along.

A large part of reading a Mrs. Murphy mystery is the countryside and society that Harry hangs in. Although Harry is only a postal worker, she is a key part of the town--a town that consists of a fascinating bunch of husband-hunting single women, aristocratic pretention, and good-ole-boys out for a good time. CATCH AS CAT CAN delivers on this promise--and even gives Harry a new beau.

Author Rita Mae Brown delivers another light mystery. The clever pets don't try to be impossible (no driving in this one) and Harry actually does some detecting and some heroing on her own. The mystery itself was a little over the top, but this is a story about talking animals, after all. If you want serious and believable mystery, you've come to the wrong place. If you like a lighthearted with plenty of Virginia atmosphere and intelligent pets to save the day, CATCH AS CAT CAN is a winner.