What? Brown Behind Brown

"Things have been pretty exciting lately in Crozet, Virginia–a little too exciting if you ask resident feline investigator Mrs. Murphy.  Just as the town starts to buzz over its Civil War reenactment, a popular local man disappears.  No one's seen Tommy Van Allen's single-engine plane, either–except for Mrs. Murphy, who spotted it during a foggy evening's mousing.  Even Mrs. Murphy's favorite human, postmistress Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, can sense that something is amiss.  But things really take an ugly turn when the town reenacts the battle of Oak Ridge–and a participant ends up with three very real bullets in his back.  While the clever tiger cat and her friends sift through clues that just don't fit together, more than a few locals fear that the scandal will force well-hidden town secrets into the harsh light of day.  And when Mrs. Murphy's relentless tracking places loved ones in danger, it takes more than a canny kitty and her team of animal sleuths to set things right again..."

~ Cat on the Scent

Need I say anything more, considering I just talked about the previous Mrs. Murphy book with so much delight? No? Good, because the same joy still applies concerning my love of this cozy mystery series. As you can see, I immediately followed Murder on the Prowl (Mrs. Murphy #6) with Cat on the Scent (Mrs. Murphy #7) because I just did not get enough. So if I had a copy of book 8, I would be all over it at the moment.

Nevertheless, Cat on the Scent is standard Brown; loads of characters, talking pets, and small-town murders. I would say the pacing of Cat on the Scent slowed down from the rush of the previous book.  However, the new premise of “ruthless women and sexily cunning wiles” was equally as wonderfully delivered. Here and there, Brown’s characters continue to share pieces of their opinion over real-world topics.  One of those topics was the necessary versus unnecessary need for the Civil War. If you pay attention, you can see which line Brown is on.

An interesting aspect of Cat on the Scent comes somewhat as a spoiler; the villain(s) wins.  I suppose you'll just have to read the book to find out the stakes, lengths, and how.

Anyway, what more can I say besides I love this series?  I suppose I'm not hard to please.  I say, let's order the next five books!