This book is hilarious--several times I found myself laughing out loud at something she said. I minused out one star because of her blatant southern-centricism--she thinks most of us Yankees are rude, and that only southerners possess real manners. My little tabby cat Sammy says PFFFFFTTT to that.
Her account of the Martina/Judy galimony brouhaha is especially hilarious, with poor Rita Mae stuck in the middle, trying to encourage the two to settle things amicably. She gives a highly unflattering (but probably true) portrait of Judy Nelson. Her first impression of Judy was: "How often do you meet a woman whose hair can be ruined by a ceiling fan?" That one cracks me up every time. She talks about some of her relationships with women, most notable those with Martina Navratilova, Fannie Flagg, and Judy Nelson.
She relates the struggles she went through getting a college education and establishing her writing career, but she manages to keep things light by peppering amusing anecdotes of family life (and reactions) in between the more serious passages. She talks about her days as an lesbian feminist activist with Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, which I found to be of great interest, as she worked closely with these famous women. She is not kind to Billie Jean King, declaring, "Some people get the face they deserve as they grow old; Billie Jean also got the thighs she deserved." MEOOWWW. Sneaky Pie must have contributed that one.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable read, full of Southern wit and charm. If you're a fan of Rita Mae's work, you'll love reading her real-life story.

Anyone who has read Rita Mae Brown's earlier works or heard her as a public speaker would agree that she's one of the smartest, quick witted and entertaining female writers on the scene today. Her Autobiography is another example of her strong intellect, courage and humor while sometimes sounding a bit self-indulgent and egotistical. In spite of its narcissistic tone I really enjoyed this book.

Rita Mae's vast knowledge of historical, social and political issues was incredibly impressive and her own transcendance from a farm girl to a social icon for Lesbianism places her among some of the most significant writers in American Women's History.

She's a smart lady with an honest heart who knows what she believes and is unafraid to stand up and be counted irregardless of the cost. As a younger woman, I feel eternally grateful to have her as a dependable advocate for womens' and minorities' issues. RITA WILL not only gives the reader a surprising view of the authors life story but also a slice of Women's History from the perspective of an active participant.

...I'm a tennis fan who was curious about the author's insights on Martina Navratilova. What I ended up with was a tremendously interesting and engaging book. Rita Mae Brown has perspectives and experiences unlike my own and I could not put the book down. I liked the parts about her family also. Certainly there are political messages here, but they are based on her own experiences and are not "preachy" or coming from someone who lives in theories only. If you are a fan of her books, this will be a big treat for you. If you don't know her, read this book for a different life perspective, particuarly about women's issues, including lesbian issues. If these issues offend you, or you don't like reading about them, then this book is probably not for you. It's not an integral part of the book, but it is there. The book is about a person. The book reads like you are talking to her, and she is very interesting. Also, I always suspected Billie Jean King was wretched personally, so I really liked the parts where my opinion is all but supported by someone in the know!
This is an autobiography. Of course the book is about her. Dah! There are a few instances where she comes off a little haughty in my opinion, but I haven't published books or earned the money to have a farm in Virginia, and I didn't struggle through poverty for years to get there either, so I think she's entitled to a little license, folks. The only part I didn't like was when she discussed Fannie Flagg's former lover and only gave her a pseudonym with a vague but "see if you can guess" description. I'm a born gossip and love stuff like that! I think I figured out her hints, but I hate having to do that. It's such a silly exercise. Maybe that was the point in doing that, who knows. Anyone in the closet ought to read this regarding her depiction of Jerry Pfeiffer. I think the silliness of that lifestyle is well exposed simply by recounting the facts. Anyway, very good read!

The publisher promised "witty & warm" I found nothing close to either. In my opion,the book was pooly written, no charm, humor or even believable. The setting was Montgomery Alabama, 1900,it could have been LA, Chicago or New York and almost any year with the lack of real reference to the time and place. The author tried way too hard to come up with unusual names for her characters to the point that it was ridiculous . I just didn't believe the characters and didn't care.

This book was a little different than the other Rita Mae Brown books i've read, but just as enjoyable.
It takes place during the 20's in a southern town... and tells the story of people from all walks of life - blacks, the wealthy whites, and some white prostitutes. She tells the story of each group of people in a very authentic way and gives each group a sense of pride. And of course... the stories mingle as the characters begin mingling outside theor social circles.
The way i'd say this book was different than some of her others (and i've read about 10), is that it's more... well... more like a soap opera. (along the lines of V.C. Andrews). There is incestual sex, illigitamate pregnancies, etc.
This book was definately fun to read though... and has a beautiful message...

One of my favorite books of all time. I laughed and laughed...when my father read it, even he was rolling on the floor in stitches!

To really enjoy Rita's Mrs. Murphy mystery series one must first get past the utter nonsense which constitutes both the "Introduction" at the beginning of each novel and the page at each novel's conclusion where "Sneaky Pie" tries to pawn her tie-in merchandise. Then once into the body of the novel itself one has to get past Rita's rather sloppy use of law enforcement terminology and her even sloppier descriptions of law enforcement procedures.

Blair Bainbridge is the only three dimensional character in this entire novel and he isn't even mentioned in the "Cast of Characters" (which is odd considering he is one of the regulars). At least with this novel the crime being committed is a white collar crime. These are the only two things in its favor.

The 4th book in this series... again, proves to be a cute read.
Mrs. Murphy and Tee Tucker return with Harry to solve a murder. This book brings the return of Blair, Harry's possible romance, and develops a lot of the character relationships more.
I will be reading more in the series... (i think it's on #10 now!)
Very cute, easy read.

I absolutely love Rita Mae Brown's characters! I have approximately three more to read and I will have read all she has out at present. Through reading her Mrs. Murphy Mysteries, I have a very vivid appearance of each and every character in Crozet. They're family! Mrs. Murphy, Tucker and Pewter are like my two cats and one dog. Pay Dirt is a wonderful mystery as are all of her stories. I just can't get enough!

Unlike some others, I will never put Brown in the same league as Agatha Christie. Brown is so sophomoric in comparison. If you want to read a really good mystery, read Christie. If you want to be merely entertained by a mystery, read Lilian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who..." series. Braun is a better writer than Brown. She even has a better imagination. If you want purely escapist fare in your mysteries then Brown is precisely the ticket you want. In this particular novel, Brown took a perfectly good idea or two and proceeded to be perfectly mediocre in her treatment of it.

The second in the Mrs. Murphy series... "Rest in Pieces" is equally as cute as the first one, "Wish You Were Here." The plot is very simple, the ending predictable... but fun nonetheless.
The relationships between the animals (and this book includes more than just the cat and the dog... but a possum, 2 horses, a snake, and an owl as well) is fun and cute to read. And the relationships between the characters are developing well... the reader is introduced to everyone in the first book... and reading the second one is like being re-united with old friends. And i am looking forward to the third one to see if the budding romance from this novel continues.

Whereas i'd hardly call this book quality literature... it was a lot of fun for a rainy saturday afternoon... and for [money] is a lot better than most of the movies in theaters now! It's a great read for animal/mystery lovers.

The characters have grown on me - and surprised me! No kidding, eh? Okay, it is not the most complex writing, but still, enjoyable.

Liking Harry, Mrs. Hogendobber, and Blair very much. Hoping the exploration of each character continues in the next book. But what nasty surprises lurk there? Eh?

This was more grizzly than the last tale - that dismembering thing, and the shotgun to the kneecap was more than a bit queasy-making. The throwback with postcard mailings was a strange bit. The extreme detail of the horse/fox hunt scene and even a bit of golf was interesting, yet...

Hot maple syrup in the snow? Sounds like a "might try sometime" idea.

Going back to her religion soapboxing - she is clearly trying to divide the Holy Light and Lutheran and Catholic types. She gives Harry a lot of philosophizing about our place in time and the universe. Very thought provoking.

Other odd inclusions: p.60, referring to the Middle East as the "lavatory of the human race," while affecting an Iraqi accent. Odd. p.139 referring to an animal that behaves bitchy and has been named Streisand. p.201 writing that evokes how "indians swooped down to kill whites." Yes, that surely happened, but it wasn't because they were whites, it was because they were encroaching on the indians land and weren't hesitating to kill the indians.

NEW VOCAB FOR ME
hectoring - intimidating, bullying
hoi polloi - ordinary people (Greek for "the many")
glad-hander - to offer somebody a friendly greeting or handshake, often insincerely or for motives of self-advancement
dilettante - superficial: typical of somebody who has only a superficial understanding of something
impecunious - poor: having little or no money, and so unable to lead a comfortable life (formal)

The animals cussing each other out was one thing that set me off on the early parts of this book. The people rarely cuss (which is refreshing), but Mrs. Murphy & Tucker sniping ... at one another and other similar language seemed out of place and really not necessary.

Looking forward to the next book in the series...

I read Brown to get a belly laugh. That is about all her mysteries are good for. The rest of her books I never bother with simply because they aren't worth the effort. It is nice to see that Brown has finally gotten around to having some Blacks as characters. It will be interesting to see how long it is before she has Blacks or other minorities as pernament characters in her series.

Sneaky pie has certainly gotten fat along with being vain and egotistical.

It looks as if I'm in the minority here but I was not overly impressed with "The Tail of the Tip-Off." This latest Mrs. Murphy mystery novel is not a terrible read, but it is not vintage Rita Mae Brown either. For me, this book lacked focus. The mystery was an interesting one with plenty of promise, with lots of really interesting character realizations, and the usual humourous antics of Mrs. Murphy, Tucker and Pewter (plus their assorted friends) -- but I still finished the book feeling fairly unsatisfied.

The town of Crozet, Virginia is currently in the grip of both winter and basketball mania. And while tempers are running a little high, no one expected murder to work its way into the latest University of Virginia's women's basketball game. But that's exactly what happens when building contractor H. H. Donaldson suddenly collapses and dies after a game, and an autopsy soon reveals that he was mysteriously poisoned during the game. Bored and restless, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen (post mistress of Crozet, amateur sleuth and owner of Mrs. Murphy, Tucker and Pewter) is eager to figure out the who, why and how of the murder. (Anything is better than trying to decide once and for all if she should allow her ex-husband, Fair, to work his way back into her life on a more intimate footing.) Was H. H. murdered because of some past project and because he crossed someone in business? Or was he murdered because of his extracurricular marital affairs? How did the murderer manage to poison him in the full view of everyone at the stadium? Was his murderer his long suffering wife, Anne? Or a spurned lover? Harry and her furry friends, Mrs. Murphy, Tucker and Pewter are determined to get to the bottom of this latest murder...

There were loads of things I liked about this novel -- like the descriptions of the Virginian countryside in all its glory; the conversations that the animals had with each other; the (hopefully) new characters that Ms Brown has added to the series; and the murder plot premise. But, there were also (for me at least) things that detracted -- like the fact the plot was not quite tight enough, and the pacing a little off, and the fact even to the very end, the motives and actions of some characters (like the H. H. & the murderer) were never really clearly explained/realised. And there was the fact that the authour doesn't really deal with the fact that the second murder victim might have been saved. Oh, Tucker feels the guilt and the remorse, but the humans never really talk about this. I found this very baffling, and a little disconcerting.

All in all, while "The Tale of the Tip-Off" was not a bad read, it was not one of the better Mrs. Murphy mystery novels either (at least no where near "Rest in Pieces" & "Wish You Were Here"), and as a fan, I was a tad disappointed with this book.

Life in rural Virginia seems simple, committee meetings to determine whether the church can afford new carpeting, snowfall, University of Virginia woman's basketball, and casual meetings of women to discuss the weather, children, and relationships. But these superficial goings on don't completely hide the reality of adultery, crime, and murder. When post office manager Harry Harristeen sees a construction contractor die of an apparent heart attack, and then learns that it was a cleverly disguised murder, she resolves to find out the truth. Harry is aided in her relentless curiosity by her two cats and one dog, all superhumanly intelligent but saddened by humans' inability to understand what they say oh too clearly.

Harry has her own problems--problems relating to her ex-husband, Fair, and the woman that Fair once had an affair with (Boomboom). She can't get Fair's unfaithfulness out of her system, but she doesn't want to let him go either. As for Boomboom, Harry likes to believe the worst of her, despite Boomboom's assurances that the affair happened only after Harry and Fair had separated.

Author Rita Mae Brown, along with her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown, create a compelling tone of rural life and death. Brown details a social structure that seems to have survived intact from pre-civil war days with women dominating the important events of the society and men providing entertainment and heartache. Pets, of course, are hugely important and the animal insights into humanity, religion, and nature, add to the enjoyment.

Brown resrains her pets in this story--there are no pet-driven vehicles, for example, but the animals manage to save the day once again as Harry's impetuous curiosity comes close to getting her killed.

I adore Brown's work in general. She has an amazing mind and a charismatic way with words. Those of you who love her fiction first and foremost may not appreciate her poetry though, it is absolutely in a different voice then that in which her prose is written. But, as a poet, and from a poetry standpoint - it is concise, moving, and still very much the Rita we know and love. Definitely worth a read - mine is beat-up, dog-eared and very well travelled.

This book is a tiny paperback composite of Rita Mae Brown's early poetry (from the 1970's or maybe before!)
I am a huge fan of hers... and i loved many of her novels (In Her Day, Rubyfruit Jungle, Alma Mater, etc.) maybe i'm not a huge fan of poetry in general... but i didn't LOVE this book of poetry. It just doesn't have the same kind of vivaciousness that her novels contain. Each book seems to have a life of its own... but this poetry book... was just words on the page.
Rita Mae Brown is an awesome novelist, mostly because she creates such realistic characters... and these poems lack that.

(also, this book is out of print, and therefore really expensive. I would just recommend "In Her Day" instead.)

I have enjoyed all of the Mrs. Murphy mysteries, in part because I'm a cat-and-dog person. The illustrations are a plus, done by people who really know and love animals. OUTFOXED is written in Ms. Brown's easy-to-stay-with style, with lots of commentary from the animals involved. The book may tell more about foxhunting than you might care to know, but Rita Mae Brown makes the human and animal characters so likable that you keep wanting to know what happens to them next. I hope she will give us more books in this style, as well as keeping on in her collaboration with Sneaky Pie Brown in stories about Mrs. Murphy's doings.

I think my background as a former foxhunter, horse and hound (both foxhounds and bassets) owner, increased my enjoyment of this book. Origionally a "hunting to ride" participant, I evolved into a "riding to hunt" person. Consequently, the dialogue of the hounds, foxes, and horses seemed very reasonable and natural. The politics, egos, plus good and bad manners and horsemanship of the characters were true to my experiences. At times I paid more attention to the dialog and actions than to the mystery to be solved. It was nice not to have someone killed within the first 30 pages. Instead there was ample time for the story's geographic, social, and technical settings to be painted for the reader. Since one pleasure of reading I enjoy is the chance to learn about new things, I recommend this book as an outstanding introduction to foxhunting.

If you are looking for another Sneaky Pie Brown "type" book, this is and it isn't one of those. Yes, the animals talk, but it's mainly a "people" book. It's also just as interesting a read as her other fiction books, and the information about fox hunting was fascinating---if you like to learn about things while you read, this is a good book for that. I never realized there was so much tradition involved with this sport. The main character, Sister, is a wonderful woman. I enjoyed meeting her and seeing life through her eyes as an older woman who has lived most of her life already. Would love to hear more about her and the rest of the characters in this book.

I've read and loved the Sneaky Pie mysteries for years, but had fallen 2 books behind when I picked up Pawing Through the Past and Claws and Effect. Now, I realize I'm in a specialized area and am nitpicking this book because of my personal experiences, but this book really bugged me. Through 7 books we've been exposed to "tiny" Crozet, Virginia (in one book, its population was given as 1700 people). But here we are supposed to believe it has a world-class teaching hospital which has a pediatric intensive care unit (Tussie Logan at one point refers to a child from Guatemala she's taking care of), specialists like orthopedic surgeons (Buxton, "one of the leading knee specialists in the country"!)and worst, A TRANSPLANT CENTER!!! I work in a hospital in a city of 500,000 people, and none of our 5 hospitals has a transplant center (there's only one in the state, in the capital city). I came from a city of 20,000 which has a 25-bed hospital, with a usual census of 5-10 patients! Harry speculates that 3 people with healthy organs die per week at Crozet Hospital (remember, a town of 1700 people). It just goes on and on!

I am disappointed that Ms. Brown has such a low opinion of her readers (or that she doesn't feel it's necessary to at least make these mysteries minimally realistic because they're making her millions).

If you need to read this one to complete the series, do it. If you're starting here, it's obvious to me Ms. Brown is just grinding these stories out because she has a successful franchise. Go back and read the first books, they're fun and, while not totally believable, at least not ludicrous. We'll see how Catch as Cat Can goes... I may have to give them up.

Like all of Rita Mae Brown's "Mrs. Murphy" series, CLAWS AND EFFECT reintroduces us to the residents of tiny Crozet, Virginia, a community of small-town archetypes in which the animal friends of various residents occasionally help their humans solve a murder in their midst. And this time the murder is a particularly bloody one: a member of the hospital staff is found with his throat cut ear to ear in the hospital boiler room. As usual, the mystrey entices Postmistress Mary "Harry" Harristeen--and when her own safety is threatened, her two cats (Mrs. Murphy and Pewter) and dog (Tee-Tucker) come to the rescue by investigating the crime for themselves.

The Mrs. Murphy series is light reading, of course, and taking it too seriously undermines the fun. As usual, the great attraction here is not the plot--for Brown has never really bothered to work out the tightly puzzle prized by hard-core mystery fans--but the way in which the thing is written: frothy, funny, and amusing. Unfortunately, CLAWS AND EFFECT has little of the froth we usually expect, and it may be that Brown has begun to tire of her creation, but it still makes for an entertaining way to pass an evening. Fans will enjoy it.

When workers at the Crozet Hospital begin turning up dead, Harry with the help of her pet companions Mrs. Murphy and Pewter (the cats) and Tee Tucker (the dog) begin searching for the killer. But before they can solve the mystery, more bodies turn up, and soon the police and Harry know that the murder is someone whom is an acquaintance to everyone in the samll town of Crozet, Virginia. Now they just need to find out who.

This was a very interesting cozy, perfect for animal lovers. My only pet peeve about this series (as another reviewer stated before), is the amount of characters. The story can become quite confusing when there are characters such as Big Mim and Little Mim. But the story is still good, and quite interesting, and will have readers thirsting for more.

This, like all of the other Mrs. Murphy mysteries, was very entertaining and was an exciting read. There are a few problems, however. The author expects us to know Thomas Jefferson's entire life history, all of his relatives, all of his slaves, and everything ever written about Monticello. Raise you hand if you know these things! There is a family chart at the front of the book, but, if you're like me, it hinders more than it helps. Also, as I said earlier, "Old Sins" is correct. Most of the book is about discovering who murdered a man 175 years ago. What are they going to do when they find out who did it? Prosecute the murderer?

Okay - I didn't like this story as much as the previous to. I think it was way to distracted with a thin thread of an idea that the author was interested in pursuing and so the story was built around that idea - of slave/master interbreeding - of the Jefferson debate (which was more recently tied closer to the man by genetic testing in 1998, this book was published in 1994) - of sickle cell anemia as a distinctive trait that can't be removed as proof of racial intermingling no matter how strong the prejudices of the person affected QUOTE: The results of the study established that an individual carrying the male Jefferson Y chromosome fathered Eston Hemings (born 1808), the sixth and last child born to Sally Hemings. There were approximately 25 adult male Jeffersons who would have carried this chromosome living in Virginia at that time, and a few of them are known to have been at Monticello. Nonetheless, the study's authors said "the simplest and most probable" conclusion was that Thomas Jefferson had fathered Eston Hemings.

I was a little sad that Blair was missing on a shoot somewhere. But then, Fair seems to be having some personal revelation that may bring him back into Harry's life - so good news there. I was also pleased that no more of the main characters were bumped off in this story. Near misses, but no deaths. I love Miranda Hogendobber.

On the whole, the book was an interesting idea - but a weak execution. 3 out of 5. I've been near Charlottesville, but never to Monticello. Now I have a bug to visit... thus my peeping in on the website for Monticello.

I lived in Charlottesville for 6 years before moving to NJ, and at that time, I was reading this book, and it brought back a lot of good memories. I highly recommend people to read it (although I read it before this whole new Jefferson/Sally DNA thing started, so now there might be a different perspective, but it's still good nonetheless.). Mrs.Murphy and Tucker are really cool, and their thoughts are a very nice addtion to the book.

I'm a huge fan of the Mrs. Murphy series; they're my favourites of all the cat/crime genre. Unfortunately, the latest volume doesn't come up to the standard set forth in the series so far. It reads like a rough draft turned in under a deadline. While the actual premise is interesting enough, it's both unoriginal and so far-fetched that it's hard for this ordinary person to care about it. The writing is wooden and stilted, more a recitation of events than a good story. The new characters are lifeless -- not even a budding romance has any real zing -- and the old characters are predictable. Nothing new is happening in the town of Crozet; let's eat some orange glazed cinnamon buns. Even the animals can't really save this one; they talk a lot but don't really contribute much. A fan of the series will want to read _Catch as Cat Can_, but get it out of the library.

Harry Haristeen, her two cats, and her dog find themselves caught in the middle of a social whirlwind in Crozet, Virginia--a whirlwind that grows increasingly serious and increasingly less social as murder marrs the festivities. Something is rotten in Crozet--but exactly what is hard to detect. Fortunately for Harry and for Virginia, the pets are on the case. And with these pets, Harry is certain to be dragged along.

A large part of reading a Mrs. Murphy mystery is the countryside and society that Harry hangs in. Although Harry is only a postal worker, she is a key part of the town--a town that consists of a fascinating bunch of husband-hunting single women, aristocratic pretention, and good-ole-boys out for a good time. CATCH AS CAT CAN delivers on this promise--and even gives Harry a new beau.

Author Rita Mae Brown delivers another light mystery. The clever pets don't try to be impossible (no driving in this one) and Harry actually does some detecting and some heroing on her own. The mystery itself was a little over the top, but this is a story about talking animals, after all. If you want serious and believable mystery, you've come to the wrong place. If you like a lighthearted with plenty of Virginia atmosphere and intelligent pets to save the day, CATCH AS CAT CAN is a winner.

I should say first that I have read and own all of the books in the Mrs. Murphy series. Secondly, I assure you that I don't compare them to the Sharon McCone series or others with more serious plots. These books are so much fun! They are quick to read, perfect for a flight, a waiting room, anywhere that you want to be quickly absorbed into a story. What more can you ask from a "cozy"? This is one of my favorites. The variety of new characters mixed into the familiar Crozet crowd during spring social events was tantalizing. I also found the illustrations to be excellent. If you are reading for fun and you can "suspend disbelief" long enough to allow for talking animals, try these. You just might like them!