Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9780593130032
Bantam
304 Pages
$28.00; $13.99 Amazon
May 19, 2020
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Spring arrives in northern Virginia, and as the ground thaws and the peonies begin to bloom a bright magenta, the women of St. Luke's Lutheran Church prepare for a Homecoming celebration like no other. Harry, Susan Tucker, and their friends are busy planting flowers and trimming hedges to get the church grounds in shape for the big day.
But a note of a menace mars the beautiful spring: the brewery owned by Janice Childs and Mags Nielsen, two members of the gardening committee, gets robbed, with hundreds of dollars in merchandise taken off their delivery trucks in the dead of night. Is this the work of a random thief? Or is something more sinister afoot?
When Jeannie Cordie drops dead at a charity auction, poisoned by a fatal weed, Harry's worst suspicions are confirmed: a killer lurks in their midst, one with a keen understanding of poisonous plants. Although she can't yet prove it, Harry knows the murder is related to the thefts at Bottom's Up Brewery.
With help from her feline sidekicks, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, as well as Tee Tucker the corgi and sweet puppy Pirate, Harry sets out to find the weed in St. Luke's garden -- and stop a killer before they can strike again.
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It's the time of year in Virginia when everything is blooming, and Harry is at her happiest. She lives on her farm with her husband, Fair, a veterinarian, and her four pets -- two cats, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter; and two dogs, Tee Tucker and Pirate. She's involved with the Dorcas Guild in making the churchyard gardens beautiful for the upcoming Homecoming celebration, along with lifelong friend Susan Tucker, and others.
But two of the friends -- Janice and Mags, own a brewery named Bottoms Up. One of their trucks is stolen, along with all its contents and no one knows why. Then at a charity auction, another friend, Jeannie Cordie, drops dead suddenly and no one knows how. Harry, with her strong sense of curiosity, is driven to find the answers to these questions.
In between, the church is still trying to figure out who belonged to the old bones which were found on top of a couple who died in the 1700's, wearing a set of priceless jewels. It's another question Harry wants an answer to, but rightly, it will have to wait in favor of the other problems. When the bones of a much more recent murder are discovered by none other than Pewter, Harry now needs to piece together a more modern mystery, and hope she doesn't lose her own life in the process...
I've been following this series for a long time, and own all of the books. It is that enjoyable. Not only are we watching Harry in her usual quest for answers and looking for a killer, but we have the added bonus of a book-within-a-book. For, you see, Virginia has a rich history, and Ms. Brown melds past with present seamlessly.
We also have the story of the Holloways and the Ewings, two wealthy neighboring families who were part of this country in the aforementioned 1700's, and who have their own mysteries to solve. Watching their stories unfold is almost like having your own window to the past, where while you are in the present, you see bits and pieces of things that have come before. Yes, this is fiction, but as in the present, there are pieces of history interspersed with the story that is completely fascinating.
When we watch Harry go about her daily routine, it is amusing to hear the animals tell their own stories in their own ways and put their own spin on everything. I love listening to their tales of woe (as cats and dogs are wont to do when they don't get their own way); and as a pet owner myself, I can relate.
It all seems so simple -- Harry and her friends are doing no more than any of us would -- go to lunch, prepare gardens, etc.; but it is the mystery itself that is the most absorbing -- who would want to kill a woman who supposedly had nothing to do with anything? Harry's investigation, while it does not involve asking people questions, involves only her using her wits, and she is indeed one who is able to put things together quickly.
When we get close to the end and it all comes together, I have to say that it leaves me wanting more: more of the historical side, and the next book in this series. My only hope is that I won't have to wait long to read the next one. Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Furmidable-Foes-Mrs-Murphy-Mystery/dp/0593130030/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3228253503
More on Rita Mae Brown's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/rita-mae-brown/
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