Рита Браун - A Hiss Before Dying

A Hiss Before Dying is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2017 by American Artists, Inc.

Illustrations copyright © 2017 by Michael Gellatly

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

BANTAM BOOKS and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Brown, Rita Mae, author. | Brown, Sneaky Pie, author.

Title: A hiss before dying : a Mrs. Murphy mystery / Rita Mae Brown.

Description: New York : Bantam Books, 2017. | Series: Mrs. Murphy ; 26

Identifiers: LCCN 2017002158| ISBN 9780553392494 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780553392500 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Haristeen, Harry (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Murphy, Mrs. (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Women detectives—Virginia—Fiction. | Women cat owners—Fiction. | Cats—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths. | FICTION / Humorous. | FICTION / Suspense. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction.

Classification: LCC PS3552.R698 H57 2017 | DDC 813/.54—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2017002158

Ebook ISBN 9780553392500

randomhousebooks.com

Cover design and illustration: Daniel Pelavin

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Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

The Cast of Characters

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Afterword

Dedication

Books by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown

About the Authors

The Cast of Characters

The Present

Mary Minor Haristeen, “Harry”—Hardworking, task-oriented, she runs the old family farm in Crozet, Virginia. A loyal friend to both human and animal, a quality not lost on those who care for her. If she has a weakness—perhaps best explained as a personality trait—it is that psychology has no interest for her. Harry doesn’t care why you do anything. She simply deals with the result.

Pharamond Haristeen, DVM, “Fair”—Tall, powerfully built, at forty-three he is one year older than his wife, Harry. His equine patients trust him as do most humans. He is more sensitive, more introspective than his wife.

Susan Tucker—Harry’s friend since cradle days, she loves Harry as only an old friend can. The two can disagree but will always come to each other’s aid. Susan’s deceased grandfather was a former governor of Virginia. Her husband, Ned, is a representative to the House of Delegates.

BoomBoom Craycroft—Another childhood friend who can find herself swept up into one of Harry’s messes. BoomBoom often asks the obvious question. Obvious to her.

Deputy Cynthia Cooper—She rents the old Jones homeplace, a farm next to Harry’s. As she was not raised in the country, Harry and Fair are a great help to her. She does her best to deflect Harry’s curiosity. If Susan and Fair can’t contain Harry, it’s a sure bet Coop can’t, despite her shiny law enforcement badge.

Reverend Herbert Jones—He’s known Harry all her life. She is a faithful congregant of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. He learned to lead men as a young combat captain in Vietnam. On his return after the seminary, he did his best to lead women, too, to faith, charity, and peace. He is a good pastor to his flock.

MaryJo Cranston—Smart and successful as a stockbroker, she invests for some of the Virginia tribes. Of course, she cannot reveal financial standings but no one complains. She has a nose for money and also gives to environmental causes as well as to rebuilding a school once used for tribal children, then called “Indians,” as well as African American children, then called “colored.”

Liz Potter—She works with Harry, MaryJo, Susan, and BoomBoom on wildlife projects as well as the above-mentioned school. She, herself, is African American, owns a high-end store in Barracks Road Shopping Center. She’s easygoing and well liked.

Marvella Rice Lawson—In her sixties, she will never be described as easygoing. She’s one of the powers-that-be at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She and her brother, each an art collector of vastly different tastes, have amassed art worth a small fortune. When the highly intelligent Marvella walks into a room, she parts people like the Red Sea.

NOTE:Harry was an Art History major at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. Her father couldn’t believe she’d major in something so useless. Her retort was that this was her only chance in life to do so, as once she was out of college she would need to work. Both parents were killed when she was in college, before her father had the chance to appreciate the woman she became. Now, at forty-two, some lights are being turned on upstairs. She and Marvella will wind up working together. Neither knows that in this book.

The Eighteenth Century

Catherine Schuyler—At twenty-two, intelligent, levelheaded, and impossibly beautiful, she is learning from her brilliant father about business. She already has a reputation as a leading horsewoman.

John Schuyler—A former major in the Revolutionary War, only a few years older than his smashing wife, he is powerfully built and works hard. As he is from Massachusetts he can miss some of the undercurrents of Virginia society.

Rachel West—Two years younger than her sister, Catherine, she, too, is beautiful, but her beauty is softer, sweeter. She’s easy to please, ready to help, and possessed of deep moral conviction.

Charles West—Captured by John Schuyler at the Battle of Saratoga, the then nineteen-year-old marched all the way to The Barracks prisoner-of-war camp outside Charlottesville. The second son of a baron in England, he had the good sense to stay in America. Like John, he is dazzled by his wife and knows how lucky he is.

Karl Ix—A Hessian also captured. He and Charles became friends in the camp and continue working together after the war.

Maureen Selisse—The daughter of a Caribbean banker, she was a great catch for her ruthless late-husband, Francisco. Keenly aware of her social position, she is also accustomed to getting her way. She hated that he carried on with a beautiful slave, making little attempt to hide it.