Hotspur

Rating:
Summary: Saturation is not always enjoyable.
Review:

While I love Rita Mae Brown's ability to co-mingle the animal and human experience, I found her detailing of the incredible complexity of the fox hunting set to be more information than I need to read a mystery.

I love Jane "Sister" Arnold, the 71 year-old Master of the Hunt and her friends/hounds/horses, but the details in this book would appeal to only the most dedicated hunt fan. I did learn one good thing, however. Americans only hunt the fox to its den, not like their brutal British cousins who hunt to the death.

HOTSPUR's murder mystery takes a second -- or sometimes third -- seat to the machinations of the hunt season, the old money, the social climbers and all the ins and outs of hunt life. I suppose if you're a member of that set, these details and the constant fretting over your horse, your wardrobe and your standing in your club would make for good reading.

It just doesn't play in Peoria....or a small town in east Texas.

I'll continue to read Rita Mae Brown and hope she realizes she's exhausted the hunt and it's time to move on to other prey.

Rating:
Summary: Tally Ho
Review: An o.k. story if you can get past the talking birds and animals. Tough to be outfoxed by a fox! I thought this was the first book by Ms Brown I had read, but on checking my list of books read, I find "Riding Shotgun" which I don't recall one bit. I guess there were no talking animals in it. Guess not too much effort was put into solving the mystery at the time of Nola's disappearance cause everyone thought the 2 eloped. But had there been, it wouldn't have been difficult to uncover the culprit at that time and might have spared another person's life.
Long live the clever fox.

Rating:
Summary: Lots & lots of info on fox hunting in America!
Review: Okay, so Rita Mae indulged in her love of hunting a bit too much for some readers! I actually enjoyed learning about this, especially since I didn't know that in this country they merely chase the fox to his/her den, and try to avoid killing them. That was always the reason I avoided books on this in England, it seems an inhumane sport there on the line of cockfighting in this country. The interplay between the various animals always has me cracking up in Brown's novels. Since I have cats and dogs of my own, I am very aware they have personalities, and often consider us humans to be their pets rather than vice versa. I also remember long ago in biology they used to teach that we could not anthromorphize animals (give them human traits) like playing, but I've seen too many animals do things just for the plain fun of it rather than merely to eat and reproduce...another scientific fallacy hits the fan!

In this book, the mystery seemed more of a side plot, with the hunting information taking precedence. I am sure this is what other readers complained about. This was not a big enough flaw for me to avoid finishing the book, I actually got through it quickly because I enjoyed it. So it wasn't gory...big deal. The mystery dealt with an old cold case, that actually wasn't even a case, since no one knew what had happened to the people involved. One beautiful young woman disappears off the face of the earth, along with one of her boyfriends. Unfortunately, the inevitable change in ground and water levels, added to hunting and dogs digging brought up some old bones, proving to be human.

Sister, the head of the hunt in this area, may be older, but certainly has not lost either her riding/hunting abilities, or her concern for others. She's wise in the way we all hope we will age, losing our ability to hold grudges, finding forgiveness easier as we age, showing love when love and a kind touch are needed. She had me a bit worried at the end when she chased down the culprit of the murders, but everything worked out.

An enjoyable summer read.

Karen Sadler