Nine lives to die

Harry Haristeen and her pets are back for this holiday mystery featuring current and cold cases. A brutal winter masks a murder as a heart attack, though two of the victim's fingers were gone. Meanwhile, the pets the inimitable cats, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and the sleuthing corgi, Tee Tucker work with a coyote to unearth a body long buried under a tree and give Harry the bracelet off the skeleton. She wears it, not knowing its origins, and gets strange reactions from some townsfolk. When another murder victim turns up with fingers missing, Harry tries to find the connection, with help, of course, from the full menagerie. The large cast of human and animal characters can prove confusing to sort out at times, but series regulars will be on firm ground. A nicely layered mystery with plenty of red herrings and surprises.--Alessio, Amy Copyright 2014 Booklist

Murder and mayhem are the order of the day in bestseller Brown's well-plotted 22nd Mrs. Murphy mystery (after 2013's The Litter of the Law). A winter charity function ends badly when wealthy car dealer Pete Vavilov, a leader of the Silver Linings charity, which helps the disadvantaged youth of Albermarle County, Va., is found dead in his car during a snowstorm the same night as the party. Before New Year's, another member of the Silver Linings Board disappears, series heroine Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen discovers a skeleton, and checks go missing. As usual, the four-footed characters-felines Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and their canine chum, Tee Tucker-do much of the sleuthing, as they provide wry insights into the book's human characters. Brown's idyllic world, with its Christian values, talking animals, and sympathetic middle-aged pet owners, has understandably struck a chord with many readers. Agent: Wendy Weil, Wendy Weil Agency. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.