Puss 'n Cahoots (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)
by Rita Mae Brown
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rita Mae BrownEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-01-29
ISBN: 0553586823
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of Puss 'n Cahoots (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)
Book Review: They PAY editors to let this kind of trash go to press?
Summary: 1 Stars
My mom found (literally "found") this book in her travels. She couldn't get past the first ten pages and passed it along to me. Her explanation was that she doesn't enjoy books with loads of characters. Now I've read sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, romance, heck even a little horror. I'm new to the RMB Cat series, and I'm just about half way through the book, but still can find little to recommend it. There are storycrafting techniques barely worthy of a first novel...certainly not a fortieth! For instance:
There are more characters in this story than are really necessary. Whenever an author puts a list of characters in the front (or back) of the book, that always sends up a red flag for me. If the reader can't keep track of the characters, the author has done a poor job bringing them to life. Does Harry really need to have TWO cats AND TWO dogs? True, I may have just ticked off all of RMB's fans with this, but a good author needs keep in mind that not everyone who reads this book has read everything else before it and needs to have EVERY character from EVERY previous installment appear (I'm looking at YOU, Spider Robinson!)
Do we have to make things extra confusing by giving our two main characters gender-confusing names? The guy is called "Fair" and the gal is called "Harry".
All of our protagonists have nothing but good qualities. This is so "Mary-Sue" it's insipid. The closest thing that comes to a fault is that Pewter is fat. Oh, and the humans can't sense as acutely as the animals. Oh, gee whiz!
On the one hand, there is w-a-a-a-y too much information on Saddlebred horses, and on the other, the information given seems rather pointless and is awkwardly jammed into the narrative...it doesn't flow from the characters' mouths. Fiction shouldn't have sidebars.
Probably the worst sin of all, is that the story has a lot of TELLING and very little SHOWING. What few descriptions there are seem to be brief, mechanical, and cursory. I know Pewter is gray, Murphy's a tiger, and Tucker's a corgi...but it took I don't know how many pages to find out that Cookie was a dog, much less a Jack Russel. I couldn't tell you what the humans looked like, other than Renata was beautiful, and Fair was tall and around 41.
I never thought I'd rip an author a new one over something as trivial as the Acknowledgments, but the sheer arrogance of those in this book earns RMB this rare privilege. Who the heck thanks their researcher in the first paragraph, a local physician in the second, and then writes this as a third paragraph, "You know how authors always write 'Whatever mistakes are made are entirely my own'? I much prefer to blame the above."?
I will not pay money to read anything by this author. Ever. I don't like giving my money to arrogant people.
I'm sorry, Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie, but this book is just plain sophomoric. I don't know which one of you is doing the majority of the writing, but I think it's time to pass it over to your partner. One of you is not doing a good job.
Summary of Puss 'n Cahoots (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries)
Instead of a proper second honeymoon, the newly remarried Harry and Fair Haristeen leave cozy Crozet, Virginia, for Shelbyville, Kentucky, site of the famous saddlebred horse show. There they?ll visit dear friends Joan Hamilton and Larry Hodge and enjoy a week among some of the finest horses, trainers, and riders in the country.But soon after they arrive, events veer mysteriously?and murderously?off course. First, Joan?s ruby and sapphire horsehead heirloom pin is stolen from her private box at the fairgrounds. Next, a young film star?s prize three-gaited mare disappears into thin air. There is no lack of suspects, from hotheaded trainers and jealous rivals to vicious ex-spouses. Then a body is found flagrantly murdered and it?s obvious to Harry that someone at Shelbyville is sending a strong message: winning is only secondary?first prize is survival.
As Harry searches for clues, rediscovers life as a married woman, and deals with her upcoming fortieth birthday, her four-legged detective friends are already on the case. But is animal instinct any match for human depravity? Especially with two humans to protect and a killer on the prowl?
From the Hardcover edition.
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