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Tall Tail on May 17, 2016 Pages: 352
Format: eARC
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At any moment a perfect summer day in Crozet, Virginia—nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains—might turn stormy and tempestuous, as Harry knows too well when a squall suddenly sweeps in. In a blink, Harry’s pickup nearly collides with a careening red car that then swerves into a ditch. Harry recognizes the dead driver slumped over the vehicle’s steering wheel: Barbara Leader was nurse and confidante to former Virginia governor Sam Holloway.
Though Barbara’s death is ruled a heart attack, dissenting opinions abound. After all, she was the picture of health, which gives Harry and her four-legged companions pause. A baffling break-in at a local business leads Harry to further suspect that a person with malevolent intent lurks just out of sight: Something evil is afoot.
As it happens, Barbara died in the shadow of the local cemetery’s statue of the Avenging Angel. Just below that imposing funereal monument lie the remains of one Francisco Selisse, brutally murdered in 1784. Harry’s present-day sleuthing draws her back to Virginia’s slave-holding past and the hunt for Selisse’s killer. Now it’s up to Harry and her furry detectives—Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee Tucker—to expose the bitter truth, even if it means staring into the unforgiving eyes of history and cornering a callous killer poised to pounce.
Tall Tail by Rita Mae Brown is the 25th book in the Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series. I jumped right in with Tall Tail, even though I have not read this series. The author provided a cast of characters at the beginning of the book which I found immensely helpful. It was great to be able to refer back if I wasn’t quite sure who someone was. (Which, I admit…happened a few times – there were a lot of characters!). I found myself a bit confused going back and forth between the time periods, but it all came together more and more as the book continued.
Things I really liked:
- The mystery was well-written.
- The furry companions.
- Harry was a great character – I liked her a lot.
- I liked Cooper, too.
Overall, this was a good mystery that I felt was fast-paced. There was a lot going on, especially with so many characters and fluctuating time periods that I felt confused a lot and needed to re-read parts. I’m not sure if the other books in the series are like this (with the back and forth time periods). I liked the characters and the mystery well enough that I would read more in the series.
Have you read any of the books in this series? I’d love to know your thoughts.
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