The Tell-Tale Horse: A Novel
by Rita Mae Brown
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rita Mae BrownEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-30
ISBN: 034550626X
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of The Tell-Tale Horse: A Novel
Book Review: Not much to it
Summary: 2 Stars
Many writers use the mystery genre to write about something else. This writer has produced a slap-dash murder mystery set among the fox hunting set in Virginia. People who are fanatic about something are a self-absorbed lot about it and these foxhunters are no exception and the writer pads the book with fairly repetitive details of a number of hunts that occur. An interesting, but rather precious device (in this book at least), is that the animals can converse with each other. Other than some thin humor, however, the writer does nothing particularly interesting with this device. It might have been interesting to have a little of the fox's perspective on being chased by dogs and horses. I cannot imagine it ever being pleasant, but in this book the implication seems to be that the jelly beans and peanut butter and such put out to feed them is a fair trade-off. Hmm.
Oh that's right, the murder mystery. Never a good sign when one becomes bored with reading the details and skips ahead to see if anything of significance will ever happen. In real life there are chance discoveries and blurted confessions, but to use such in a mystery novel is a great disappointment. A good mystery unfolds before the reader and is written so that little things one easily might pass over are later shown to have great significance. That's why Presumed Innocent was such a good mystery and this book is not.
Summary of The Tell-Tale Horse: A Novel
It's February, prime foxhunting season for the members of Virginia's Jefferson Hunt Club, when a shocking event alarms the community. A woman is found brutally murdered, stripped naked, and meticulously placed atop a horse statue outside a tack shop. The theft of a treasured foxhunting prize inside the store may be linked to the grisly scene, and everyone is on edge.With few clues to go on, "Sister" Jane Arnold, master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, uses her fine-tuned horse sense to try to solve the mystery of this "Lady Godiva" murder. But Sister isn't the only one equipped to sniff out the trail. The local foxes, horses, and hounds have their own theories on the whodunit. If only these peculiar humans could just listen to them, they'd see that the killer might be right under their oblivious noses-and that Sister could become the killer's next victim.
Praise for The Tell-Tale Horse:
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BESTSELLER
"[A] charming and engrossing series . . . Sister Jane Arnold is Master of the Foxhounds as well as one of the most entertaining amateur sleuths since those of Agatha Christie."
-Booklist
"Intriguing . . . Fans of the series will be fascinated with Jane's evolution under Brown's hand. With each book, Jane becomes more real-and more human-in the reader's imagination."
-Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Grabs readers from the opening scene and gallops through to the very surprising end."
-Horse Illustrated
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