Astrid Wiesner-Hagedorn (from near Wuppertal, in northern Germany) wrote here about one of Rita Mae Brown's mysteries featuring cats. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed Rubyfruit Jungle several years ago. So, when I ran across Wish You Were Here, A Mrs. Murphy Mystery in the book store, I bought it. Mrs. Murphy is a cat, by the way, who, with a dog, Tucker, tries to solve the mystery. So does Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, the postmaster of the small Virginia town of Cozet.

Kathleen Norris wrote that small towns like to paper over differences between people to preserve a sense of unity. When those differences finally come out in the open, they often are more dramatic and violent than similar differences in larger societies. Brown uses that characteristic to focus this novel. When the postmaster finally realizes that two people who were murdered received postcards with tombstones on them and that another tombstone postcard has arrived, she figures it's time to do something. The cat, of course, has already been catting about sniffing up clues. Unfortunately, the communication between species isn't very good.

The story is pretty good. The characters are the best part of the book. The pets are cute. I don't think I'd buy another of Brown's books, but I might check one out if I ran across it in the library. Read one of them and tell us all what you think.

Rita Mae Brown's Home Page.