Pawing Through the Past (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)
by Rita Mae Brown
List Price:
Our Price: $3.19
You Save: $4.80 (60%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Rita Mae BrownEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-01-30
ISBN: 0553580256
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Bantam
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780553580259
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Pawing Through the Past (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)
Book Review: Ya gotta love 'em!
Summary: 5 Stars
After having finished a string of books involving grisly murders, nightmare creating plots and toe-curling villians, I settled down with a bunch of Sneaky Pie books...and totally fell in love with all things Murphy, Pewter and Tucker. They are nice friendly little murder books that can be read with both eyes open and don't leave you jumping at things that go bump in the night (usually 2 Mrs. Murphy wannabes of my own). Harry is the kind of person you would want to have as your best friend (as long as she brings her three furry cohorts along on each visit). The rest of the population of Crozet are as endearing as they are familiar. Anyone who has ever lived in a small community knows these characters personally - maybe by other names but they are recognizeable none the less. The plots are easy to follow (most of the time)and Mrs. Murphy is there to explain them to you if you stray too far. Being a survivor of the dreaded high school reunion I read this book with relish...watching some of the mighty fall and some of the lowly elevated. I especially enjoyed Pewter's philosophizing about the silliness of humans trying to appear "better" than their peers.
There is a lot of heart in these books. The antics of it's three furry protagonists has caused me to snort my milk and cookies on occasion. RMB writes them from a cat's eye point of view that I find refreshing. The honesty is enlightening as well as entertaining. The personification of those who share their world causes me to consider the arrogance of the human race thinking we are the supreme and forgetting there has to be communication between other species on which we can only speculate. I like to think my critters would talk about me much as Mrs. Murphy, Tee Tucker and Pewter talk about Harry. In support of this I urge readers to pay particular attention to the segment where Mrs. Murphy and Pewter have absconded with half a raw chicken from Shiflet's Market. Priceless!
I'm sure there are other books out there that some would say have more social meaning and be more conscience arousing, but I read for fun. I read for escapism. These books are just plain fun. If I want to be depressed, I'll watch the news!
Summary of Pawing Through the Past (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)
"You'll never get old."Each member of the class of 1980 has received the letter. Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, who is on the organizing committee for Crozet High's twentieth reunion, decides to take it as a compliment. Others think it's a joke.
But Mrs. Murphy senses trouble. And the sly tiger cat is soon proven right ... when the class womanizer turns up dead with a bullet between his eyes. Then another note followed by another murder makes it clear that someone has waited twenty years to take revenge.
While Harry tries to piece together the puzzle, it's up to Mrs. Murphy and her animal pals to sniff out the truth. And there isn't much time. Mrs. Murphy is the first to realize that Harry has been chosen Most Likely to Die, and if she doesn't hurry, Crozet High's twentieth reunion could be Harry's last.
When a mystery author claims her cat as coauthor, it's a fairly safe bet that the team won't be producing disturbing psychological thrillers or hard-edged legal procedurals. And indeed, Rita Mae Brown and her cat, Sneaky Pie, have carved out a comfortable niche for themselves in the cozy category, spinning tales (Rest in Pieces; Murder, She Meowed; Cat on the Scent) around the goings-on in Crozet, a small Virginia town where everyone knows everyone else and recipes and gossip are exchanged over the post office counter. Mary Minor Haristeen ("Harry") is Crozet's postmistress and the proud owner of two cats, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and one corgi, Tee Tucker--animals with an uncanny ability to sniff out secrets and hidden motives as well as mice and roast beef.
Pawing Through the Past capitalizes on the myriad subtle relationships that form the backbone of small-town culture, and which Brown and Sneaky Pie have carefully woven throughout the Mrs. Murphy series. In a nicely appropriate nod to that culture's rivalries and alliances, Brown has chosen a high school reunion--traditional hotbed of simmering unease--as her mise-en-scène. When each member of the Crozet High Class of 1980 receives an anonymous note stating, "You'll never get old," most take it as a joke or a compliment. But when the class womanizer turns up with a bullet between his eyes, and more notes--and more bodies--start appearing, Harry and her menagerie find themselves at the center of a revenge plot 20 years in the making.
Brown's latest is replete with the sly asides that have endeared her to animal lovers--"Cats are by instinct and inclination dedicated anarchists"--and with the naively humorous "conversations" between the animals themselves. When Pewter, watching a team of police officers wrestling a stiff corpse out of a dumpster, wonders, "Why don't they just break his arms and legs?" Murphy replies knowingly, "They'd pass out. Humans are touchy about their dead." Unfortunately, these favorable attributes can't quite mask an incoherent plot, nor Brown's awkwardly pompous social commentary: "By and large, the women looked better than the men, testimony to the cultural pressure for women to fuss over themselves." But Brown's legions of fans will doubtlessly forgive these shortcomings, concentrating instead on the antics of a memorable four-legged and furry trio. --Kelly Flynn
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.70
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
Murder at Monticello (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)by Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 1995-09-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.45
Price in other shops:
Whisker of Evilby Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 2005-01-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.25
Price in other shops:
Murder, She Meowed (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)by Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 1997-11-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
Pay Dirt (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)by Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 1996-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.88
Price in other shops:
The Tail of the Tip-Off (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)by Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 2004-03-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.49
Price in other shops:
Catch as Cat Can (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)by Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 2003-02-04; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.87
Price in other shops:
Cat on the Scent (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)by Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 2000-04-04; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.18
Price in other shops:
Claws and Effect (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)by Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 2002-01-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.72
Price in other shops:
Puss 'n Cahoots (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)by Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 2008-01-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.47
Price in other shops:
Murder on the Prowlby Rita Mae Brown
Bantam; Published: 1999-02-02; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.71
Price in other shops: