Whisker of Evil (Brown, Rita Mae) | RITA MAE BROWN | Murphy, Tucker, and Pewter ride again...

Whisker of Evil (Brown, Rita Mae) | RITA MAE BROWN | I enjoyed this one

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Whisker of Evil (B...

	Whisker of Evil (Brown, Rita Mae) RITA MAE BROWN, 2004 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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Murphy, Tucker, and Pewter ride again...

First off I'd give another half-star rating, as I did enjoy the book, and I must really like the series a lot, as I keep coming back for more.
I won't summarize the plot, as that is the job of the book jacket, and many of the other reviewers have done an excellent job of that already.
I do really enjoy learning about something besides forensics (although those are pretty fascinating too), during the course of a mystery...for instance, I had no IDEA that fox hunting was such a complicated sport, I thought you just got on the horse, used good manners in the field, and chased the critter. Typical nawthenah...
The beauty, grace, complexity and depth of Southern culture is presented here in Ms. Brown's Crozet series and while of COURSE it is seen as superior to that of the Northerners and Westerners, she does not rub your face in it to the point where you just dismiss Crozetians as small-town Southern Snobs.
When having animals use human speech to communicate between species, it is difficult not to fall into either omniscience or over-cuteness, and both the Brown ladies seem to negotiate this fence line fairly well. What I have trouble with are the little errors... for instance, what sex IS Harry's horse Gin Fizz? In one book, she is a mare, in another he is a gelding, and in this book, s/he is both. Now THERE is a mystery if you like....
Also, Harry, who is by her own admission emotionally inhibited, is very much out of character with her accusation "You did it!" directed at the murderer during the burial. This may be sort of rationalized by the preceeding events just sort of blowing the cork out of the bottle, but it is not in character for Harry, who usually does think things through...and THEN she goes ahead and does something risky.
All in all, this was an improvement over the last two of the series, as things are MOVING again. I am looking forward to the next one...and must admit I AM curious as to what kind of foal Boom-Boom's mare will drop.

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I enjoyed this one

Rita Mae Brown is a very engaging writer. I really enjoy visiting Crozet, and do so often since I own her Mrs. Murphy books and re-read them.

However, it must be noted that her editor has repeatedly let her down with allowing mistakes that other authors seem to have caught in time before printing. For example, inserting characters into a scene to say something when that character was not there originally. In every one of her books you will find this, as well as name errors, including renaming Dr. Larry Johnson a time or two. As someone who has been a proofreader most of my life, it's irritating that her editors are not doing their job as well as they ought. I don't find nearly as many errors in the works of other authors.

I do wish Ms. Brown would not concentrate on her character evolving so much. I love this series because of the feel of the first few books, Murder at Monticello especially, and want it to stay the same. I want the town of Crozet to stay small and animal friendly even in the post office. That's the beauty of fiction; things can stay the same if the author allows it.

Still and all, it was a very enjoyable read and I do like the one real change she has made and that's the peace between Boomboom and Harry. That kind of maturing is refreshing.

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Looks like change is gonna come

I have to admit that as much as I used to the love the Mrs. Murphy myseries I was starting to lose interest. Perhaps Rita Mae Brown was too because the mystery part of the story seemed phoned in for this book and the last two that preceded it.

And then Brown did something a little different with Whisker of Evil that might restore the freshness to the series. She takes away some of the idealism from Crozet. To tell the truth the dear little town isn't that nice a place. It makes St. Mary Mead look like Disneyland. You're more likely to get killed there than any place else in fictional Virginia and being acquainted with Harry is like wearing a red shirt on a classic Star Trek episiode(you know the old joke: Kirk, Spock and Crewman Jones beam down to a newly discovered planet. Guess who gets killed in the first five minutes?).

She also takes Harry and gives her a bit of a rest. The people who really solve this case are the ones you'd least likely expect including one person whom you aren't supposed to like.

The best thing in the book is how she finally shakes Harry up and gets her out of the post office and hopefully into what may turn out to be a mature relationship with her ex. If this series is going to go on Harry has got to grow up.

Brown also gives Fair something to do except stand around waiting for Harry to forgive him. Four years of martyrdom was getting to be unbearable.

There are some familiar flaws in the book. I figured who the killer was way too early. Brown doesn't even try to give you a red herring. I would have preferred to see some personal growth in the characters. None of these people ever change. Must Boom Boom always be the high class tramp? When is Harry ever going to grow up? Is there one person in this town with strong convictions about faith or love?

As for the book's strong points they're obvious. It's all about the animals. Mrs. Murphy, Tucker, Pewter and their friends are wise and charming. The beauty of Crozet's countryside and its past are almost characters in themselves. Still it's obvious that this series has gotten a little stale. Hopefully the seeds of change were sown int this book. I'll give the next one a shot.

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My goodness, this book was slow! And talky!

It reminded me of sitting around visiting with people that you like but who aren't all that interesting to listen to. There's certainly a coziness to the small Virginia town of Crozet and its inhabitants (two and four-footed), but a little less philosophizing and explaining particular topics and a little more action would have been good.

Maybe I need to quit reading this author's books. The drawings of animals in the book are absolutely adorable, but I found myself bored by all the animal conversations.

And I'm not convinced that fox-hunting is as benign a sport as the author apparently believes.

I'd tell you about the plot, but there's not much to say. Basically it involves two people who contract a very rare disease (how did they get it?)-- one of whom was actually murdered before the disease he was infected with killed him, the other of whom dies of the disease-- and thoroughbred horses -- these men were partners starting up a horse-breeding business. Were both these deaths murders? Related? Do horses have something to do with this? Who killed them?

Sadly, at least as much attention is paid in this book to the future of Harry, the overqualified post-mistress who may not be able to take her cats and dog to work with her any more and who is very unhappy about this. Then there's her relationship with her ex-husband, who is interested in getting back together with her. And a series of gossipy Virginia parties for the reader to attend...

I guess you either find this small town and its inhabitants charming enough to make up for the very slow pace or you don't.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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