Nine Lives to Die: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery

Murder and mayhem are the order of the day in bestseller Brown’s well-plotted 22nd Mrs. Murphy mystery (after 2013’s The Litter of the Law). A winter charity function ends badly when wealthy car dealer Pete Vavilov, a leader of the Silver Linings charity, which helps the disadvantaged youth of Albermarle County, Va., is found dead in his car during a snowstorm the same night as the party. Before New Year’s, another member of the Silver Linings Board disappears, series heroine Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen discovers a skeleton, and checks go missing. As usual, the four-footed characters—felines Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and their canine chum, Tee Tucker—do much of the sleuthing, as they provide wry insights into the book’s human characters. Brown’s idyllic world, with its Christian values, talking animals, and sympathetic middle-aged pet owners, has understandably struck a chord with many readers. Agent: Wendy Weil, Wendy Weil Agency. (June)