Cat's Eyewitness

Rita Mae Brown
and Sneaky Pie Brown

Harry Haristeen and her best friend, Susan Tucker, each go up to the monastery on Afton Mountain to spend some quiet time with the statue of the Virgin Mary. Harry is trying to figure out where her life is going next and what she should do. Susan is concerned that she's growing apart from her husband. It's Thanksgiving and cold on top of the mountain. As they come up to the statue, they see the Blessed Mother's statue is crying tears of blood. They call the monks, then Susan takes her great-uncle Thomas, the oldest member of the Grayfriars, back to her home for Thanksgiving meal.

He returns to the monastery that night. Brother Thomas has wanted to see the Virgin Mary cry - there are myths that she cried right before World War I and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Two days later he is found dead, frozen, kneeling in front of the statue. He was in his 80's and pronounced dead of a heart attack. Harry believes it is more, but has no proof.

The statue is soon on the new and people flock to see the miracle. Although the head friar and many other of the brothers despair of the crowds, some of the brothers are glad to see the miracle and the money brought into their shops during the Christmas season.

When a news reporter is murdered, Harry is convinced the two deaths are related. Finally Susan requests an autopsy for her great-uncle. When his casket is opened, his body is missing. Now what? And who is responsible. It must be one of the Grayfriars, yet who wants to suspect a man of God? And which one of them could have hurt Brother Thomas, let alone the reporter?

Although the reader can see ahead to the solution, Cat's Eyewitness keeps the reader pulled in until the conclusion. The mystery of the Virgin's tears has to be solved as well as the murders. Also, Rita Mae Brown pulls in some of the ongoing relationships in Crozet, Virginia. The characters grow within the series. Relationships are solidified and past secrets are revealed.

Sneaky Pie Brown. Rita Mae Brown's cat "coauthor" keeps the animals involved as well. Tucker, Harry's Corgi, learns from a cardinal that lives near the statue that Brother Thomas was murdered. But Tucker can only tell the other animals. Harry doesn't understand the animal's talk. (Neither does Rita Mae, which is why Sneaky Pie has to help with the writing.)

Cat's Eyewitness is an escapism cozy mystery. It's part of a series that follows Harry Haristeen, her friends, the people in Crozet, and the animals. I enjoyed it and was pleased with the mystery as well. Rita Mae Brown stays true to her characters as she lets them evolve.

Notice:  Non-graphic violence

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Murder on the Prowl
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Pawing Through the Past
Claws and Effect
Catch as Cat Can
The Tail of the Tip-Off
Whisker of Evil
Cat's Eyewitness
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Puss 'n Cahoots
The Purrfect Murder
Santa Clawed
Cat of the Century
Hiss of Death