5 Responses to “The Tail of the Tip-Off”

• By claudia Talbert on Aug 17, 2010

  I read Brown to get a belly laugh. That is about all her mysteries are good for. The rest of her books I never bother with simply because they aren’t worth the effort. It is nice to see that Brown has finally gotten around to having some Blacks as characters. It will be interesting to see how long it is before she has Blacks or other minorities as pernament characters in her series.

  Sneaky pie has certainly gotten fat along with being vain and egotistical.
  Rating: 1 / 5
• By J. Carroll on Aug 17, 2010

  I am always looking for something different and when I realized I had never checked out any of Brown’s works I figured how bad could it be. Many people seem to enjoy them and while it’s not a style of mystery I’m normally drawn to, let’s try it with an open mind.
  The good: The mystery itself is fairly clever. There are a number of red herrings and it will keep you intrigued to see how it falls together. The characters range from likeable to ridiculous stereotypes, but a new comer did not have much trouble figuring out who’s who.
  The awful: I am sure the reason these books have found a home is the presence of the talking animals. I understand and accept that. However, this “hook” is one of the most annoying affectations that I have ever come across in literature. The animals are portrayed as incredibly intelligent yet can’t convey their discoveries. The reason given is that the humans won’t pay any attention to them. The real reason is this is being portrayed as a mystery novel not a fantasy. The animal commentary is so cloying and cutesy that I actually yelled at the book for the blatant silliness of it all. It is rare that a book can cause such aggravation.I also realize that there are thousands of fans of this series that love it enough to keep it going for so long. So I will wish Mrs. Murphy and the others well on all their other adventures. I won’t be going along with them. I am sure I am now going to get hammered by all the “Sneaky Pie” fans. Sorry, that’s just the way I see it.
  Rating: 1 / 5
• By S. Kay Murphy on Aug 17, 2010

  The Mrs. Murphy mysteries are sweet and quite human tales–much like their co-author, it seems. They are not meant to be intense page-turners, just quaint stories for animal lovers. If you take them as such, they are really quite lovely. My favorite parts are always the conversations among the animal characters. In this particular mystery, there is a rousing debate about religion. Nicely done.
  Rating: 4 / 5
• By Marilyn V on Aug 17, 2010

  I just love Rita Mae Brown’s books. This is another one in the series. Mrs. Murphy and Tee Tucker are my favorite sleuths! Recommend the entire series. You will get hooked!
  Rating: 5 / 5
• By Mathew A. Shember on Aug 17, 2010

  This was my first introduction to a Rita Mae Brown novel. I was not impressed with it as I figured out “who dunnit” early.

  The book felt like it attempted to beguile the reader with many ideas. It really didn’t work as it felt as if it didn’t have focus on the design.

  I kind of liked the antics of Mrs. Murphy, Tucker, Pewter and the church cats. I especially liked the image of Tucker the Corge jumping on somebody, growling, baring teeth and screaming “die!” Overall, there were funny points and the sad story of Brinkly the dog but I was not satisfied when the story finally ended.

  Winter comes to the town of Crozet. The snowplows are working overtime but the weather does not stifle basketball fever. After a heated womens basketball game, building contractor H. H. Donaldson collapses in the parking lot and dies. The autopsy shows he was murdered by something puncturing his neck which poisoned him. Why was H.H. murdered? Was it his wife because of his frequent affairs? Was it his rival Mathew Crickenbom? What about the building inspector Fred who wrestled him away from an argument in the parking lot? Mary “Harry” Haristeen owner of Mrs. Murphy, Tucker, and Pewter decides she has to find out.

  Overall this book had potential to be great. It’s descriptions of the countryside were good. I liked the idea of the animals talking to each other and complaining about humans. The main problem with the book was the plot was not at all tight. Too many variables were not explained well and the explanations for motive were not good at all.

  All in all it’s not a bad story. It just wasn’t finished.

  Kate Forbes does a good job as the narrator.

  Rating: 3 / 5

Name (*)

E-mail (*)

Url

CAPTCHA Code *

Spam Protection by WP-SpamFree

Message