Nature Girl

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Nature Girl

Carl Hiaasen

Alfred A. Knopf: 2006, 306 pages

Reviewed by Tori Lyons

Nature Girl is a satire set in Florida that features a comical cast of bizarre characters.  After being interrupted at her dinner table by a sales call one too many times, Honey Santana goes to extreme lengths to teach the uncouth telemarketer, Boyd Shreave, a lesson.  Certainly her obsession has nothing to do with the fact that she's off her meds.  Meanwhile, Sammy Tigertail, a one-half Seminole Indian, is on the lam after a tourist dies of a heart attack while on Sammy's airboat tour of the Everglades.  Add in Honey's stalker, Louis Piejack, and her ex-husband, Perry Skinner, set the whole thing on a remote Everglades island, and you've got the makings of a standard Hiaasen story.  While the story was definitely over the top at times, it was entertaining, and I will definitely keep the author in mind next time I'm looking for a light beach read.

The Girl Next Door

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

The Girl Next Door

Jack Ketchum

Leisure Books: 1989. 370 pages

Reviewed by Tori Lyons

When Meg and Susan's parents die in an accident, they are sent to live with their aunt Ruth in New Jersey in the 1950's.  Ruth, a single mother who has three sons of her own, is none too happy with having to take in the girls.  Ruth's pathological hatred of Meg steadily increases, and she enlists her sons and other neighborhood children to help her in teaching Meg a lesson about what it means to be a woman.  This book is definitely not for the faint of heart, as it graphically depicts torture and abuse, both physical and psychological.  Perhaps most disturbing is that this book is based on the true story of Sylvia Likens, a 16 year old girl who was tortured and murdered by her caretaker in Indiana in 1965.  I hesitate in recommending this book, as it is truly horrifying, but it does provide a thought-provoking portrait of true evil.  

The Inner Circle

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

The Inner Circle (Culper Ring #1)

Brad Meltzer

Grand Central Publishing: 2011, 449 pages

Reviewed by Ellen Dickman

This book was an enjoyable read if you like suspenseful action.  Beecher White, the main character, is an archivist who has a passion for his work in the National Archives, but it would probably be described as an ordinary, if not typically boring, job.  His life is turned upside down when an old friend, Clementine Kaye, asks him for assistance locating an archival file.  In a mishap, Beecher is thrown into a national security issue that has him solving messages and codes in an effort to protect his own life as well as creating new and unexpected alliances.  The story has many twists and turns and unexpected outcomes as Beecher questions friendships, co-workers, and even the President of the United States.

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

The Miniaturist

Jessie Burton

Ecco: 2014, 400 pages

Reviewed by Tori Lyons

Nella knows that she is in for a culture shock when she leaves her family's farm and arrives on the doorstep of her new husband's home in Amsterdam.  Living in the seventeenth century, 18 year old Nella's future was bleak when her father died, leaving her family penniless.  When a wealthy Amsterdam trader asks for her hand in marriage, she fantasizes about her glamorous new life in the city.  However, the reality proves quite different when she arrives at her new home and finds a husband who has virtually no interest in her, a sister-in-law who runs the household with an iron fist, and household servants who take too many liberties for Nella's taste.  While the prosperous trader seems like the model Amsterdamer, Nella soon discovers that each of the house's inhabitants has dangerous secrets that threaten them all.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce #1)

Alan Bradley

Delacorte Press: 2009, 374 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Set in the summer of 1950 in a small British town, our protagonist is the very precocious Flavia de Luce, an eleven year old chemistry fanatic.  Living with a reclusive father and two horrid older sisters (although to be honest, Flavia isn't exactly the example of a perfect little sister), life is quiet for Flavia.  Well, it was quiet until a dead bird with a postage stamp fixed to its beak is found on the doorstep, followed by Flavia literally tripping over a dying man in the garden.  It seems that Flavia has stumbled onto a mystery and it takes all her wit and skill to solve the crime that is somehow connected to her father's past.

Finding Audrey

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Finding Audrey

Sophie Kinsella

Delacorte Books for Young Readers: 2015, 288 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Finding Audrey focuses on fourteen year old Audrey Turner who is trying to deal with her anxiety disorders and bouts of depression after an incident happens at her old school.  She finds comfort behind her dark sunglasses and tends to stay in her house where she doesn't have to interact with people.  Readers are therefore privy to her interactions with her dysfunctional, yet hilarious, family.  Things start to change, however, when Audrey meets Linus, one of her brother's online gaming buddies.  Author Kinsella manages to take a more humorous and hopeful approach to mental illness in her YA debut.  Readers are not only drawn into Audrey's situation but they can't help becoming invested in the other characters as well.

The Wrath and the Dawn

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1)

Renee Ahdieh

G.P. Putnam's Sons: 2015, 388 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The Wrath and the Dawn is the first in Ahdieh's series that is based off the story of Scheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights.  While the author uses a few stories from the collection, the book does a good job of creating its own unique story.  Khalid is the young Caliph of Khorasan and each night he takes a bride and each morning he has her killed.  Sixteen year old Shahrzad volunteers in order to take revenge for the killing of her best friend.  Slowly, Shahrzad starts to fall in love with the Caliph and realizes that things are not all they seem and wonders what secrets her new husband is trying to hid from her.  The Wrath and the Dawn weaves magic, mystery, romance, and suspense in this wonderful retelling of a classic story.  Readers should be aware that the second book in the series will not be available until May 2016.

The Billionaire Takes a Bride

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

The Billionaire Takes a Bride (Billionaires and Bridesmaids #3) 

Jessica Clare

Intermix: 2015, 256 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

While this book is the third in the Billionaires and Bridesmaids series (which itself is a spin-off series from her Billionaire Boys Club series), readers do not have to read the books in order.  This story focuses on Sebastian Cabral, a billionaire whose family is obsessed with being famous and filming everything for their reality show, The Cabral Empire.  Sebastian wants nothing to do with it and needs a way out of it.  Chelsea is a soap-making roller derby gal who has suffered a severe trauma in her past.  She hates being alone and now her best friend is moving away.  Chance throws them together but Sebastian and Chelsea agree to enter into a marriage of convenience in order to help them both.  But as time passes, Sebastian and Chelsea both wonder whether their sham marriage is more real than fake.  Normally Clare's books are fun, sexy (note: there is strong sexual content) reads but this one is a little different.  Readers should be aware that certain conversations could be possible triggers for those who have experienced sexual assault but there is more humor than sadness in the book.  

Landline

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Landline

Rainbow Rowell

St. Martin's Press: 2014, 310 pages

Reviewed by Tori Lyons

Georgie and Neal's relationship was never easy.  While they loved each other deeply, her career as a writer for television comedies was always at odds with Neal's more reclusive nature.  But when Georgie had to forgo the family's annual Christmas visit to Neal's parents in Nebraska to focus on a new pilot she was pitching, she was devastated when Neal packed up their two daughters and went without her.  While spending the holidays at her mom's house in her childhood bedroom, Georgie discovers an unexpected way to reflect on the Christmas many years ago when Neal had proposed to her, and she wonders if maybe Neal wouldn't have been better off if it had never happened.  Landline provides an honest and genuine look at how relationships (and the people in them) change while still remaining the same.

The Blue Castle

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

The Blue Castle

L.M. Montgomery

McClelland and Stewart: 1926, 218 pages

Reviewed by Sheryl Walters

A 29 year old girl, afraid of never being loved or married, has a total transformation due to a health diagnosis.  Valancy has lived with her overbearing mother her whole life, she decides to break out of her shell and do whatever she wants to make the most of her life.  Her story is nice and has a good twist at the end.  I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for light and happy reading.

Nimona

Cover retried from Goodreads

Nimona

Noelle Stevenson

Harper Collins: 2015, 272 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Nimona is a graphic novel by Noelle Stevenson, which started as a web comic.  Nimona is a young girl who also happens to be a shapeshifter and she has a knack for causing trouble.  She becomes the sidekick to the villain Lord Ballister Blackheart.  Blackheart is out for revenge against Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics.  As Blackheart spends more time with Nimona, he begins to realize that her powers are more dangerous than he imagined.  Can he prove that the Institution is actually up to no good, finally exact revenge against Goldenloin, and keep Nimona in check?  

An Ember in the Ashes

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)

Sabaa Tahir

Razorbill: 2015, 446 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

An Ember in the Ashes is the first of Sabaa Tahir's epic series.  The author switches each chapter into the point of view of Laia, a slave, or Elias, a soldier, who live under the rule of the brutal Martial Empire (which was inspired by Ancient Rome).  Laia just wants to survive, living simply with her grandparents and brother.  But when her brother is arrested for treason against the Empire, Laia agrees to spy on the Empire at the military academy for the rebels in return for her brother's rescue.  

Elias just wants to graduate from the military academy and run away from the cruelty he's been surrounded by since he was six years old.  His plans of desertion are put on the back burner as he is chosen to compete in the Trials, a brutal series of test in which the winner not only lives but is either crowned the new Emperor or his right hand man.  It is during this time that he meets Laia and their stories begin to intertwine.  Readers should be aware that the second book in the series will not be available until the end of April 2016.

My Cousin Rachel

Cover retrieved from Wikipedia

My Cousin Rachel

Daphne du Maurier

Doubleday: 1951, 352 pages

Reviewed by Sheryl Walters

**Warning - this review contains spoilers!

Philip Ashley is heir to his older cousin, Ambrose.  They both live simple lives until Ambrose marries an Italian woman named Rachel.  He dies suddenly and Philip is set to inherit his estate when he turns 25, in less than a year.  Philip had received mysterious notes from his cousin and had went to check on him in Florence.  He was too late and Rachel was gone as well.  Upon his return to England, Rachel came to his house.  No arrangements had been made for her to have any property or money.  She stays with Philip and over time, he falls in love with her and eventually gives her everything, but she does not return his affection.  The story had the reader wondering if she is sincere or if she possibly murdered Ambrose and is money-hungry.  The question is never fully answered as she has an accident in the end, and dies, and all the property and money revert back to Philip.  I enjoyed the thrill of the book, but did feel that it dragged on and the story could have been told in much less time.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Becky Albertalli

Balzer + Bray: 2015, 303 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a great young adult book.  It focuses on 16 year old Simon, who's gay but in the closet.  He has an email correspondence with another boy in his school who is also gay but they both keep their identities a secret.  Simon's world is turned upside down when another boy at school not only finds out about the emails but uses them to subtly blackmail him to play matchmaker, since the blackmailer has a crush on one of Simon's more attractive female friends.  Simon has to figure out how to navigate through this all while dealing with changes in his friendships and family and his newly emerging crush on Blue, his email pen pal.  Albertalli does a great job creating realistic fiction that is actually real.  Readers should be advised that there is some strong language but no explicit sexual content.

Boneshaker

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Boneshaker 

Cherie Priest

Tor Books: 2009, 416 pages

Reviewed by Salina Bush

During the Civil War, a rumor of gold in the Klondike sweeps the nation and Russian prospectors set up a contest for anyone that can build a machine that can cut through ice.  Leviticus Blue creates the Boneshaker to do just that but something goes terribly wrong.  Without warning, the Boneshaker rips through downtown Seattle, destroying everything in its wake and worse yet, releasing a gas that turns humans into zombies.

Sixteen years later, Briar, Leviticus's widow, is trying to eke out a living to support herself and her son, Zeke, on the outskirts of the great wall built to contain the blight gas and the living dead that still roam the ruined city.  She has been able to keep them alive this long but all this changes the day that Zeke decides to go beyond the wall to find out what actually happened the day the Boneshaker turned everything upside down.  This means it's up to Briar to go in and bring him back out.

I really enjoyed reading about the world the author had created, and how people would live in a world not only with zombies but also covered in poisonous gas.  It was very interesting to see this alternative take on U.S. History.  Also, the characters were very likable and capable, it never felt like they were making stupid decisions just for the sake of keeping the plot going like some other books do.  Overall, this was a very enjoyable read and I will be picking up the others in the series soon.

Auggie & Me

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories

R. J. Palacio

Corgi Childrens: 2015, 303 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Auggie & Me is not a sequel to Wonder, written by the same author, R. J. Palacio.  It is a parallel to Wonder and offers the perspective of three characters from the original book: Julian, Christopher, and Charlotte.  Julian is the main antagonist and bully and his chapter answers some lingering questions that readers may have had while reading Wonder.  Christopher is Auggie's childhood best friend who moved away and Charlotte is one of Auggie's classmates and original "welcome buddy" who showed Auggie around the building before the school year began.  Again, readers gain insight as to how Auggie's presence effected those around him in numerous ways while also focusing on their own issues that seemingly every middle schooler goes through: changing friendships, family problems, worrying about popularity, and just trying to fit in and be liked.

Wonder

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Wonder

R. J. Palacio

Corgi Childrens: 2013, 315 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Auggie is about to start 5th grade after being home-schooled all his life - not because his parents are wary of the education system - but because of his rare medical issues.  Auggie was born with Treacher Collins syndrome and a cleft palate; even after enduring many surgeries, his face is still noticeably different than those around him.  Wonder switches between different narrators, such as Auggie, his sister, and his friend, Jack.  The different narrations are awesome snippets into how all these characters are somehow effected by their relationship with Auggie, whether it's for the better or for the worse.  Wonder provides readers with great insight into kindness and empathy and I recommend it for all ages, late elementary and up, even though its target audience is middle school readers.       

Dead Witch Walking

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Dead Witch Walking 

Kim Harrison

HarperTorch: 2004, 416 pages

Audiobook published by Tantor Audio

13 hours and 14 minutes

Reviewed by Jessie Park

In an alternate reality, humans live side-by-side with the paranormal entities (called Inderlanders) such as witches, vampire, werewolves, and pixies after a terrible bio-disease wiped out half the human population.  Rachel Morgan is a witch bounty hunter with the Inderland Runner Services but she's stuck in a rut.  She decides to quit and somehow ends up starting her own runner business and partnering with the Service's best runner, Ivy, a living vampire.  But the IRS does not like it when employees break their contracts and Rachel soon discovers that there's a bounty on her head!  The hunter becomes the hunted in this delightfully entertaining and funny first book of the Hollows Series.  Narrator Marguerite Gavin does a great job creating unique voices for each character.

A Star for Mrs. Blake

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

A Star for Mrs. Blake

April Smith

Knopf: 2014, 352 pages

Read by Michelle Croy

A Star for Mrs. Blake is a novel set in the 1930's about five American women - Gold Star Mothers - who travel to France to visit the graves of their sons who fought in World War I: a pilgrimage that will change their lives in unforeseeable and indelible ways.  The women meet for the first time just before their journey begins: Katie, an Irish maid from Dorchester, Massachusetts; Minnie, wife of an immigrant Russian Jewish chicken farmer; Bobbie, a wealthy Boston socialite; Wilhelmina, a former tennis star in precarious mental health; and Cora Blake, a single mother and librarian from coastal Maine.  In Paris, Cora meets a journalist whose drug habit helps him hide from his own war-time fate: facial wounds so grievous he's forced to wear a metal mask.  This man will change Cora's life in wholly unexpected ways.

-Provided by Publisher

Fledgling

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Fledgling

Octavia E. Butler

Grand Central Publishing: 2007, 320 pages

Reviewed by Salina Bush

This book is not your typical vampire book and I loved it for that reason.  It tells the story of a girl who wakes, gravely injured, and has no idea who or what she is.  She must figure out what happened to her and, more importantly, how to live with the inhuman abilities and needs that she possesses.  It was wonderful learning with the main character how to navigate the world she finds herself in and the book was a very unique take on the mythos we are all familiar with.  It was also very bittersweet reading this book.  This is the final book that Octavia Butler published before her untimely death in 2006, which made it all the more special to me.  It is a fitting capstone to a wonderful career.

Uprooted

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Uprooted
Naomi Novik
Del Rey: 2015, 435 pages
Reviewed by Salina Bush

Agnieszka and her village live on the edge of the corrupted Wood.  They rely in the powers of the wizard called the Dragon to keep it at bay.  In return he demands one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years.  Everyone expects Agnieszka's best friend, Kasia, the best and brightest among them to be chosen, but no one is more surprised than Agnieszka when she is chosen.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  I went into it thinking that it would be another beauty and the beast retelling but I was pleasantly surprised with where the story went.  It was fast paced without feeling rushed, the characters felt like real people and not tropes from a fairy tale, and I really enjoyed the dark atmosphere that was much more Grimm than Disney.  This was a great story about growing up, finding your place in the world, and learning that maybe the conventional way of doing things doesn't always work for you.

Sour Puss

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Sour Puss (Mrs. Murphy #14)

Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Bantam Books: 2006, 272 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

As Harry Haristeen dives into the world of viticulture and vineyards, the murder of a well known grape and fungal expert sends the people of Crozet, Virginia, into shock.  The local vineyards are all on alert as more grape-growing related murders pop up.  Add a bit of bioterrorism into the mix and a man from Harry's past and you've got a mystery that's as good as a refreshing glass of Riesling in the summertime.

The Girl on the Train

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Riverhead Books: 2015, 336 pages

Reviewed by Ellen Dickman

Many people compared this book to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I found the character development of the three female characters to be very engaging.  My sister said that when she was reading this book she felt "sick."  Indeed, the characters are flawed.  However, this is why the book was enjoyable because one could relate to the characters.  The fragile mind of Rachel was particularly compelling and so was the author's examination of how one can easily confuse reality and fantasy.  

Looking for Alaska

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Looking for Alaska

John Green

Speak: 2006, 221 pages

Reviewed by Ellen Dickman

This is on many lists for young adults and a few banned book lists.  I enjoyed this book; it's about a teenage boy, Miles, who attends a co-ed boarding school.  He must deal with some unexpected and difficult life events.  I would love to read this with a book club as I would enjoy other readers' perspectives of his character.  

P.S. I Still Love You

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #2)

Jenny Han

Simon & Schuster Books: 2015, 337 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

I highly recommend to those interested in this book to start with the first in the series by Jenny Han: To All the Boys I've Loved Before.  This book immediately follows where the first book left off (in a cliff-hanger, by the way) with high school student Laura Jean trying to figure out her feelings with Peter and with another boy from her past who comes back to into her life due to the events from the first book.  These books are a charming coming-of-age series that follows an innocent, family-driven protagonist who deals with love, heartache, the drama of friends and enemies, and figuring out what it means to grow up.

Cat's Eyewitness

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Cat's Eyewitness (Mrs. Murphy #13)

Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Bantam Books: 2006, 319 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

At the base of the Virginian Blue Ridge Mountains there seems to be a religious miracle: the statue of the Virgin Mary at the monastic order of Mount Carmel is crying blood.  While Harry Haristeen and her pets Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee Tucker are all skeptical, no one could have foreseen that the miracle would be followed by murder.  One of the monks is murdered but no one believed it at first, as Brother Thomas was eighty-two at the time of his death.  But with Harry's insistence, the corpse is exhumed to revel a casket weighted down with bags, not a body.  Another murder occurs and Harry keeps wondering: could the two killings be connected?  Does it have to do with the miracle at Mount Carmel?  What is happening with those seemingly benevolent monks?   

Whisker of Evil

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Whisker of Evil (Mrs. Murphy #12)

Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Bantam Books: 2004, 297 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The people of Crozet, Virginia, are in a tizzy this summer as big happenings are popping up left and right: a famous actress decides to move back to her small hometown, a murder and two human cases of rabies pop up, and new information from an old cold case emerge.  Tensions are running high, people are fearful of the past being dug up, and it seems like all the animals in Crozet need to lie low as the rabies cases are overblown by the media.  Naturally Harry and her pet animals are on the case, even if the sheriff doesn't want her to meddle, again.  But the biggest happening that Harry is worried about is the change to the small post office in Crozet.  Will she still be postmistress after all the construction dust settles?

The Tail of the Tip-Off

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

The Tail of the Tip-Off (Mrs. Murphy #11)

Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Bantam Books: 2004, 367 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Fans of the University of Virginia's women's basketball team rejoice!  This particular Mrs. Murphy mystery spends a lot of time at the basketball stadium known as "The Clam."  Local contractor H.H. Donaldson suddenly dies in the parking lot and what seems like a heart attack is actually murder, which was ingeniously carried out during a basketball game with the locals of Crozet, Virginia in attendance.  This rankles postmistress Harry Haristeen and she sets off to solve the mystery.  As more murders pile up, Harry's pets - tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, roly poly gray cat Pewter, and corgi Tee Tucker - realize that Harry is again sticking her neck in dangerous waters and they must pay special attention in order to save Harry.  They know she can't not get involved and there will be hell to pay for her interference!

Catch as Cat Can

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Catch as Cat Can (Mrs. Murphy #10)

Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Bantam Books: 2003, 334 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Spring is in the air in Crozet, Virginia and the citizens are busy preparing for the local Dogwood Festival.  While people are normally quite festive, a small car theft snowballs into an unusual death, with another mysterious death right on its heels!  Add in a shooting along the appearance of $500,000 in crisp, clean bills and you have the makings of a very confused small town.  Postmistress Harry Haristeen can't resist a mystery so she's on the hunt for the killer, along with her pets Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tee Tucker.  The only problem is that she tends to get in the way of the killer, or killers, and it seems like her number may be up!

Claws and Effect

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Claws and Effect (Mrs. Murphy #9)

Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Bantam Books: 2002, 336 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

It's winter in Crozet, Virginia, and seemingly all is well until the director of the local hospital winds up dead.  Postmistress Harry Haristeen is just as bad as her tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy, as they both sniff around the murder site and keep running into more trouble and more danger.  Harry and Mrs. Murphy both know that there is something wrong in the hospital but the question is what?  The killer has to be someone connected to the hospital but he or she is a great actor as the sheriff, his deputy, Harry, and her animals are stumped.  Can they figure it out before the killer hits closer to home?

Pawing Through the Past

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Pawing Through the Past (Mrs. Murphy #8)

Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Bantam Books: 2001, 368 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The people of Crozet, Virginia are busy as postmistress Harry Haristeen's 20th high school reunion is coming up, along with her good friend's Miranda Hogendobber's 50th high school reunion.  Things take a scary turn as more and more members of Harry's class are murdered and no one seems to know why...at first.  As Harry and her lovable animals (cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and corgi Tee Tucker) dig deeper into the lives of the murdered classmates, secrets are uncovered and more lives are at risk.  Someone is doing anything and everything they can to either exact revenge or ensure that the past stays buried.  Readers should be aware that the reason behind the murders are of a darker nature than past books and this particular Mrs. Murphy Mystery takes a darker tone than the previously books.

Cat on the Scent

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Cat on the Scent (Mrs. Murphy #7)

Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
Bantam Books: 2000, 318 pages
Reviewed by Jessie Park

Too busy preparing for the local Civil War reenactment, the citizens of small town Crozet, Virginia don't seem to notice that Tommy Van Allen has disappeared.  Mrs. Murphy, the smart tiger cat belonging to postmistress Harry Haristeen, does knows something is up.  When the reenactment ends with a real murder, Mrs. Murphy and friends are up to the task of finding out who did it and what it has to do (if it has anything to do) with Tommy's disappearance.  As usual, Harry herself can't seem to stay away from the lure of a good mystery, much to the chagrin of the local sheriff and deputy.  It's another cozy mystery that will delight readers as they catch up on favorite characters, both human and animal!

Murder on the Prowl

Cover retrieved from Goodreads

Murder on the Prowl (Mrs. Murphy #6)

Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Bantam Books: 1999, 400 pages
Reviewed by Jessie Park

The Mrs. Murphy Mystery series follows Harry Haristeen and her fellow citizens of the small town of Crozet, Virginia.  Harry has two cats, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, as well as a corgi named Tee Tucker.  Rita Mae Brown, along with her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown, delightfully narrate the animals' conversations (although none of the humans can understand) and they help to solve the mysteries that seem to plague the small, rural town.  In Murder on the Prowl, phony obituaries are being published in the local paper and while it seems like a sick joke, no one laughs when the supposedly dead men are later killed.  The killings are in connection to the local private high school, and Mrs. Murphy and friends are on the prowl to solve the crimes, unbeknownst to Harry, who also can't seem to stop her insatiable curiosity from getting her into trouble, too!  Readers don't have to have read the previous books in the series as Brown does a great job catching readers up to speed on the lives of the people in Crozet and she includes a cast of characters list at the beginning of every novel.