Читать онлайн «Murder, She Meowed»

Автор Рита Мэй Браун

MURDER, SHE MEOWED

A Bantam Book / December 1996

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the publisher.

For information address: Bantam Books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brown, Rita Mae.

Murder, she meowed / Rita Mae Brown Sneaky Pie Brown; illustrations by Wendy Wray.

p. cm.

ISBN-0-S53-09604-4

1. Montpelier Hunt Races, Montpelier Station, Va. —Fiction. 2. Haristeen, Harry (Fictitious

character)—Fiction. 3. Murphy, Mrs. (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 4. Women detectives—

Virginia —Fiction. S. Women cat owners—Virginia —Fiction. 6.

Cats—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3552. R698M89 1996

813'. S4—dc20 96-20727

CIP

Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words "Bantam Books" and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U. S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BVG 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedicated to Pooh Bear and Coye who love and guard Mrs. William O. Moss

Cast of Characters

Mary Minor Haristeen (Harry), the young postmistress of Crozet, whose curiosity almost kills the cat and herself

Mrs. Murphy, Harry's gray tiger cat, who bears an uncanny resemblance to authoress Sneaky Pie and who is wonderfully intelligent!

Tee Tucker, Harry's Welsh corgi. Mrs. Murphy's friend and confidante; a buoyant soul

Pharamond Haristeen (Fair), veterinarian, formerly married to Harry

Mrs. George Hogendobber (Miranda), a widow who thumps her own Bible!

Market Shiflett, owner of Shiflett's Market, next to the post office

Pewter, Market's fat gray cat, who, when need be, can be pulled away from the food bowl

Susan Tucker, Harry's best friend, who doesn't take life too seriously until her neighbors get murdered

Big Marilyn Sanburne (Mim), queen of Crozet

Rick Shaw, Albemarle sheriff

Cynthia Cooper, police officer

Herbert C. Jones, Pastor of Crozet Lutheran Church, a kindly, ecumenical soul who has been known to share his sermons with his two cats, Lucy Fur and Elocution

Arthur Tetrick, distinguished steeplechase officer and lawyer

Charles Valiant (Chark), young to be a steeplechase trainer but quite talented

Adelia Valiant (Addie), she turns twenty-one in November, catapulting her and Chark into their inheritance. She's a jockey—headstrong and impulsive

Marylou Valiant, Chark and Addie's mother, who disappeared five years ago

Mickey Townsend, a trainer much loved by Addie and much deplored by Chark

Nigel Danforfh, recently arrived from England, he rides for Mickey Townsend

Coty Lamont, the best steeplechase jockey of the decade