I have been a fan of the Mrs. Murphy series by Rita Mae Brown (with the assistance of Sneaky Pie Brown) since the very beginning when Mary Minor "Harry'' Harristeen was the postmaster of Crozet, Virginia and took her lovely pets to work with her at the post office. The series now has 26 books! Alas, I have not read all of them.....life got in the way and somewhere back just after Harry remarried her ex-husband Fair (the local vet) I lost track of the series. Now that I'm a bit older (just how old I refuse to admit discuss lol) and no longer have little ones getting in to everything, I have more time to read. I've come back to one of my most favorite mystery series! When I saw this newest book as available for review, I jumped right on it! I wanted to know just what Harry, Fair, Mrs. Murphy, Tee Tucker, Pewter, Boom Boom and all the other lovely folks in Crozet have been up to in my absence.

A Hiss Before Dying is a mystery within a mystery. Two men are murdered in present day Crozet. One of the men had just purchased a bronze slave pass medallion dating from the post-revolution era in Virginia. That medallion ties in with events that occurred in the 1780s. The story switches back and forth between present and past. At first it was a bit difficult keeping the characters straight with all the switching back and forth, but luckily the author included a list of all the characters in the front of the book. When I got confused about who was who in the post-revolutionary story line, I just paged back to the list and got a reminder.

While I'm not normally a big fan of stories that jump back and forth in time, I enjoyed the double-mystery. I didn't know what a slave pass (or chit) was and I found the historical information the author provided to be very interesting. The story is well-written and paced. I enjoyed how the two mysteries intertwined. The antics of Harry's furry pals are still much the same as earlier in the series, adding a bit of humor and animal wisdom to the story. Harry is still her pragmatic, hard-working, spunky self, surrounded by a cast of friends and citizens of Crozet who make these stories so enjoyable. I definitely need to backtrack a bit and read the books in the series that I missed. All 11 of them! :) I have a lot of reading to do!

It really isn't necessary to read the other books before this one. It's enough of a stand-alone story that a reader could jump in at book 26 and still enjoy the story. The series is great though, so I highly recommend reading the earlier books.

Rita Mae Brown is the author of many books including Rubyfruit Jungle and the Sister Jane series. For more information on the author and her books, check out her website: http://www.ritamaebrownbooks.com/

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Random House Publishing via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Another intriguing entry in this great series. Here story lines from two different times : 2016 and 1783 are intertwined. In 1783 an abused save runs away. Her plight and the troubles of her slave owners and their neighbors are told against the rising economic chaos of the period.

In present-day Crozet there are two murders that have few clues.

While written with the usual great characters and wonderful style, the two parts of the story don't really connect; they are just continuations of the stories of characters we know. The book would be stringer if more tightly written.

Long time series...This cat can write and yet again I learned history as well as had a good time with the mystery.

This book is one in a series about a small town named Crozet in Albermarle county Virginia. This particular mystery regards a throw back to the 1789with a family who owned acres of land in the area. This family kept slaves and some items had been found in the area and were primarily stored in the huge vault beneath St Luke's church built during the 89 period. Two men are discovered murdered in the area. Their deaths do not seem to be connected but the main character a woman named Harry and her friends Susan and assistant Sheriff Cooper become involved in solving the murders and the antique items history. A lovely story with two cats and one small dog that often point the way. To the answers.

I found the two stories (present time and past time), plus the animals talking, rather a lot to keep sorted out as I read.

This is a long running series with animals narrating the story. Usually a murder to solve has Sneaky Pie and her friends helping Mary solve the case. The last couple of books in this series have been using the duel timeline which is not my favorite style of reading. Set in the Blueridge mountains the story is always good and animal lovers will enjoy the cats, dogs, horses and wild animals interacting. Rita Mae Brown also writes the Sister Jane books which share the animal interaction.

The storyline in the 1700s is more interesting than Harry and the others. Crozet characters seem to perfect and there is too much describing of character traits and environment. This book really had no major mystery in current time. This book seemed like she focused more on the past ( which I actually enjoyed). If the next is only centered on Harry and Susan I don't think I will continue with the series. It seems she is setting up for more 1700 which will make me continue.

LOVED IT! This book and the characters made me so happy. It is definitely a stress melter. Can't wait to read more