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Die Weihnachtskatze: Ein Fall Für Mrs. Murphy (2008)

by Rita Mae Brown(Favorite Author)

3.64 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

3550087608 (ISBN13: 9783550087608)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Ullstein Verlag

series

Mrs. Murphy

review 1: I think the moral of the story is, don't reread authors that you loved in junior high because they will NOT measure up in adulthood. I...pretty much hated this. I mean, it was okay but it was NOT great. It became increasingly annoying having the author interject her own political opinions into the story at every opportunity and in the ham-fisted way that Brown does. Ugh. I don't think I'll be visiting Crozet, Virginia again.
review 2: 2008, #17 Harry Haristeen, Crozet, Virginia; fantastical cosy/amateur sleuths. Not recommended for those who like their mysteries on the dark and gritty side. Recommended for those who enjoy a small-town cosy (with minimal bloodiness and just enough scurrilous detail) or are looking for a holiday treat for someone who does, as th... moreey'll find it very enjoyable. For long-time fans of the series it's a wonderful visit with old friends, and simply perfect for a quiet afternoon's read.Review originally written for, and published in, Mystery News Reviews, November, 2008:The Brothers of Love run a fairly profitable monastery on a mountain top near Crozet, Virginia, selling Christmas trees in the wintertime and accepting donations for their hospice and good works year-round. They're a quiet part of the local community and well-liked in general, so when one Brother gets his throat cut amongst the for-sale Christmas trees, it puts a bit of a damper on the holidays. The body is, of course, found by Harry Haristeen, who has fallen over a great many bodies in the past (this is the 17th in the series). Sweet little Crozet is right up there with Cabot Cove in being a not-too-healthy place to live, statistically speaking. But it's a nice little town otherwise, with mostly decent folks, and is a fairly comfortable place to visit as long as you do so vicariously.Strong plotting, an excellent setting and very good, if sometimes sketchy, characterizations, and an extremely likable lead character made this an enjoyable and quick read. However, despite the wonderful "Cast of Characters" so thoughtfully provided, if you are new to the series or have read earlier entries fairly long ago you may find that for about the first sixty or so pages things seem incredibly confused and annoying, with far too many new faces to assimilate and too much detail about life in Crozet to absorb.But Rita Mae's writing is, as always, excellent, and she managed to pull me into the story eventually. The use of animal dialogue is something which she does very well; her observations of animals are generally spot-on and the conversations between the animals quite believable to an animal lover like myself (the animals only talk to each other, never to humans). But there is so much of it early on in the story that it gets in the way of the plot and the pacing. Perhaps the fact that many fans particularly enjoy it has induced her to pile it on? And while initially annoying, I must admit that it became acceptable by the middle, and at the end was almost enjoyable even to a curmudgeon like myself, as it factors heavily into one of the best scenes, a bit of fem-jep that actually "works". Like I said, RMB is an excellent writer...A complex plot with nicely placed bits of sly humor, (a lot of cash shows up in strange places, the Brothers have many, many secrets, several of Harry's friends are in trouble, and Christmas is coming and everybody is scurrying around trying to find The Right Gift), all mixed well and very enjoyable. Another success for Rita Mae Brown. less

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