Рита Браун: Puss 'N Cahoots

“Good for you.” Fair turned around to look upward. “I went into therapy for three years, and it was the best thing I ever did for myself. Jesus, it can be painful, though.”

“No pain, no gain.” Larry summed it up, using the line espoused by the health guru Jack La Lanne.

“And who would have thought this would start with Grandmother’s pin being stolen and end up with it being found?” Joan mused, then looked at Harry. “Remember I said I didn’t think I’d like what we found if we found the pin?”

“Do.” Harry nodded.

“Honey, it’s an eight-hour haul.” Fair smiled at Harry.

“Wait one minute. Birthday present.” Joan rose and went into the office, returning with a dark green plastic bag with a big pink ribbon on it. “Happy birthday from Larry, Mom, Dad, and myself. I hope you have at least forty more.” She handed the bag to Harry, who could feel what it was.

Opening the bag, Harry held up a beautiful bridle from Fennell’s. “Just what I wanted. Oh, you all.” She dropped the oiled bridle back in the bag and got up to kiss Joan, then Larry. “I’ll kiss you, too. Thanks again for Shortro.” She kissed Renata.

“That was one thing I did right.” Renata smiled. “Happy birthday, Harry.”

Fair stood up. “This is your last day to be thirty-nine. Tomorrow I’ll give you your birthday present.”

“How can it top my bridle or Shortro?” she teased him.

“Well,” he rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, then back to meet hers, “it comes along with me.”

“I like it already.”

The animals roused themselves, and Cookie walked out to the truck to say her good-byes.

“Don’t guess we’ll ever see the likes of Miss Nasty again. Imagine how Booty felt when she grabbed that glass from him that he’d loaded with snake poison. She was faster and stronger than he realized,” Cookie said.

Mrs. Murphy recalled the sight. “Funny, isn’t it, the look on his face when she grabbed the glass and how he picked her up when she died.He loved her.”

“They’re family.” Pewter giggled.

Dear Reader,

Don’t you just love Miss Nasty? Karin Slaughter likes monkeys, so I created Miss Nasty for her.

I hate monkeys, myself, but I do love horses. Mostly I play with Thoroughbreds, but there is a young Saddlebred on the farm, Blue Sky, and he’s such a sweetheart. For one thing he recognizes that I am far more intelligent than the human around here.

Hope all is well in your world. Don’t forget to give to your local animal shelter.

Yours in Catitude,

Sneaky Pie

Dear Reader,

There’s no point in responding to Sneaky’s gargantuan ego. I actually do some of the work around here.

Ever and Always.

About the Authors

RITA MAE BROWNis a bestselling author, an Emmy-nominated screenwriter, and a poet. She lives in Afton, Virginia. Her website is www.ritamaebrown.com.

SNEAKY PIE BROWN,a tiger cat born somewhere in Albemarle County, Virginia, was discovered by Rita Mae Brown at her local SPCA. They have collaborated on fourteen previous Mrs. Murphy mysteries: Sour Puss; Wish You Were Here; Rest in Pieces; Murder at Monticello; Pay Dirt; Murder, She Meowed; Murder on the Prowl; Cat on the Scent; Pawing Through the Past; Claws and Effect; Catch as Cat Can; The Tail of the Tip-Off; Whisker of Evil; and Cat’s Eyewitness, in addition to Sneaky Pie’s Cookbook for Mystery Lovers . She uses the above website, although she threatens to develop her own since she is much more exciting than her human.

Books by Rita Mae Brown with Sneaky Pie Brown

WISH YOU WERE HERE

REST IN PIECES

MURDER AT MONTICELLO

PAY DIRT

MURDER, SHE MEOWED

MURDER ON THE PROWL

CAT ON THE SCENT

SNEAKY PIE’S COOKBOOK FOR MYSTERY LOVERS

PAWING THROUGH THE PAST

CLAWS AND EFFECT

CATCH AS CAT CAN

THE TAIL OF THE TIP-OFF

WHISKER OF EVIL

CAT’S EYEWITNESS

SOUR PUSS

Books by Rita Mae Brown

THE HAND THAT CRADLES THE ROCK

SONGS TO A HANDSOME WOMAN

THE PLAIN BROWN RAPPER

RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE

IN HER DAY

SIX OF ONE

SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT

SUDDEN DEATH

HIGH HEARTS

STARTING FROM SCRATCH: A DIFFERENT KIND OF WRITERS’ MANUAL

BINGO

VENUS ENVY

DOLLEY: A NOVEL OF DOLLEY MADISON IN LOVE AND WAR

RIDING SHOTGUN

RITA WILL: A MEMOIR OF A LITERARY RABBLE-ROUSER

LOOSE LIPS

OUTFOXED

HOTSPUR

FULL CRY

THE HUNT BALL

THE HOUNDS AND THE FURY

PUSS ’N CAHOOTS

A Bantam Book / March 2007

Published by Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

This 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, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2007 by American Artists, Inc.

Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Michael Gellatly

Bantam Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brown, Rita Mae.

Puss ’n cahoots : a Mrs. Murphy mystery / Rita Mae Brown Sneaky Pie Brown ;

Illustrations by Michael Gellatly.

p. cm.

eISBN: 978-0-553-90349-2

1. Haristeen, Harry (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Murphy, Mrs. (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Women postal service employees—Fiction. 4. Women detectives—Kentucky—Fiction. 5. Horse shows—Kentucky—Shelbyville. 6. Women cat owners—Fiction. 7. Cats—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3552.R698P87 2007

813'.54—dc22

2006037253

www.bantamdell.com

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