Рита Браун: Nine Lives To Die

Nine Lives to Die is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by American Artists, Inc.

All rights reserved.

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

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

Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Michael Gellatly

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brown, Rita Mae.

Nine lives to die : a Mrs. Murphy mystery / Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown; illustrated by Michael Gellatly. pages cm

ISBN 978-0-345-53050-9

eBook ISBN 978-0-345-53974-8

1. Murphy, Mrs. (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Haristeen, Harry (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Women detectives—Virginia—Fiction. 4. Women cat owners—Fiction. I. Gellatly, Michael, illustrator. II. Title.

PS3552.R698N57 2014

813’.54—dc23 2014000989

www.bantamdell.com

Jacket design: Beverly Leung

Jacket illustrations: © Shutterstock/Nebojsa S (cat), © Shutterstock/Alhovik (claws marks)

v3.1

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Cast of Characters

The Really Important 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

Dedication

Other Books by This Author

About the Authors

Cast of Characters

Mary Minor Haristeen—“Harry,” just forty-one, a Smith graduate who wound up being Crozet, Virginia’s postmistress for sixteen years, is now trying to make some money by farming. She survived breast cancer and prefers not to think about it. She more or less lives on the surface of life until her curiosity pulls her deeper.

Pharamond Haristeen, D.V.M.—“Fair” specializes in equine reproduction. After graduating from Auburn he married his childhood sweetheart, Harry. He reads people’s emotions much better than his wife does. He is a year older than Harry.

Susan Tucker—Outgoing, adept at any and all social exchange, she’s Harry’s best friend since cradle days. She loves Harry but worries about how Harry just blunders into things.

The Very Reverend Herbert Jones—A Vietnam Veteran, Army, he is pastor at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, which is well over two hundred years old. He is a man of deep conviction and feeling. He’s known Harry since her childhood.

Deputy Cynthia Cooper—Tall, lean, and Harry’s next-door neighbor as she rents the adjoining farm, she loves law enforcement. Harry meddles in Cooper’s business from time to time but the Smith graduate has an uncanny knack of finding important information.

Aunt Tally Urquhart—This 101-year-old aunt of Marilyn Sanburne, Sr., does what she wants when she wants. She’s not in too much evidence in this volume, which gives everyone a rest.

Marilyn Sanburne, Sr.—“Big Mim,” known as The Queen of Crozet. She runs everything and everyone except her aunt. Big Mim is a political animal.

Miranda Hogendobber—A second mother to Harry, a devout member of the evangelical Church of the Holy Light, she, too, isn’t much in evidence in this volume. Like Big Mim, she’s in her seventies and has no idea how she got there so fast.

Sheriff Rick Shaw—The sheriff of Albemarle County, he is overburdened, underfunded, and overworked. Despite that, he likes law enforcement and has learned to trust Cooper. Originally, he wasn’t thrilled about having a woman in the department.

BoomBoom Craycroft—Another childhood friend of Harry’s, she had an affair with Harry’s husband years back. It was a mess, of course. Everyone has recovered and in many ways is the better for it. BoomBoom runs her late husband’s concrete business. She is conventionally beautiful.

Alicia Palmer—Now here’s a showstopper. Alicia was a movie star in the fifties, whipped through a few husbands, affairs, etc., made pots of money, inherited more from an old flame. She returned to Crozet, fell in love with BoomBoom, and is blissfully happy.

Jessica Hexham—Well-educated, outgoing, ready to help a good cause, she’s becoming part of the girls’ group with Harry and her old school friends.

Brian Hexham—Jessica’s husband leads a nonprofit, Silver Linings, organized to help disadvantaged boys. No one involved in this organization, housed at St. Cyril’s Church, takes any salary.

Arden Higham—A bit high-strung, married to a successful businessman, she tries to keep peace between her husband and her son. She does the books, again for no pay, for Silver Linings.

Louis Higham—Started and runs an ad agency that is quite profitable. He’s a former high school football star as are many of the men involved with Silver Linings. He has a domineering streak.

Tyler Higham—At fourteen he’s a tech head, gets along well enough with his classmates but is woefully unathletic to the embarrassment of his father.

Coach Al Toth—Retired and in his early seventies, he was head coach at Crozet High School during their glory football days throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He helps at Silver Linings and is admired by all.

Esther Mercier Toth—She, too, does her bit for Silver Linings and is utterly devoted to Al. Once one of the math teachers at Crozet High, she is burdened by caring for her older sister.

Peter Vavilov—Another football star guided by Coach Toth, he became a Ford dealer, makes pots of money, and loves the car business.

Charlene Vavilov—She, too, runs the dealership and like her husband has learned to love a tough business. She hopes her two sons, once out of college, wind up somewhere in the auto industry.

Father O’Connor—As a young parish priest at St. Cyril’s, he was sent to help the aging Father O’Brien. Regarding church politics, he keeps his head down and concentrates on his parishioners.

Cletus Thompson—Once one of the math teachers at Crozet High, a school well regarded for their math department. He is retired and lives with his ancient dog, The Terminator. Battles with the bottle have ravaged his once handsome face. He is a decent man struggling with a demon.

Flo Rice—Peculiar doesn’t really cover it, but she’s bright, well-read, suspicious of most people. She fights with Esther Toth, her younger sister. Buster, her dog, is a happy spot in her life.