Nine Lives to Die

NATIONAL BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SUSPENSE MAGAZINE Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown return with a mystery starring Mary Minor Harry Haristeen, intrepid kitty sleuths Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and Tee Tucker, the ever-faithful crime-solving corgi. This time around, Harry and her animal friends track a killer whose trail has gone as cold as the weather in December. NINE LIVES TO DIE Winter has come to Crozet, Virginia, bringing with it a fresh blanket of snow. Harry and her husband, Fair, are hip deep in their usual end-of-the-year activities: distributing food to needy residents, and shopping for outfits for the Silver Linings youth organization s annual fundraising gala. But buried beneath the white stuff are dark secrets from Crozet s past and Harry and her posse of pet detectives are determined to sniff them out. Two Silver Linings mentors have been found dead in suspicious circumstances. If that weren t enough to chill the bones of the locals, a pair of severed human fingers has turned up in a pencil jar in the bookkeeper s office at St. Cyril s church. What does this grisly display have to do with the mysterious disappearance of Harry s voluptuous high school Latin teacher, a quarter of a century ago? Maybe nothing. But when the animals make another gruesome discovery in the woods behind Harry s farm, it becomes clear that terrible crimes have been committed in Crozet and somebody s gone to great lengths to cover them up. It s time to stop shoveling snow and start digging for clues. The truth will be revealed. A cold case will be solved. And a twenty-five-year-old love triangle is about to get untangled. The weather outside may be frightful, but Harry and her four-legged friends refuse to be spooked off the case. Praise for Nine Lives to Die Witty and entertaining . . . a recipe for continued success and an engaging read. Richmond Times-Dispatch The unabashed loves of [Rita Mae Brown s] life . . . are infectious. Perhaps because they are so clearly heartfelt, it s easy to be swept up in the glory of her passions. New York Journal of Books Murder and mayhem are the order of the day in bestseller [Rita Mae] Brown s well-plotted twenty-second Mrs. Murphy mystery. . . . Brown s idyllic world, with its Christian values, talking animals, and sympathetic middle-aged pet owners, has understandably struck a chord with many readers. Publishers Weekly Rita Mae Brown, along with . . . Sneaky Pie, have made Harry Harristeen and her feline companion, Mrs. Murphy, household names. Library Journal Praise for the Mrs. Murphy mysteries As feline collaborators go, you couldn t ask for better than Sneaky Pie Brown. The New York Times Book Review