Book #A21 in the 2004 Book Registration Challenge.

Cover art differs.

??? I thought I'd read all the 'Sneaky Pie Brown' cozy mystery series but don't recognize this one. Shucky darn, just going to have to read this mystery, I guess. *grin*

The Cozet postmistress gets a new neighbor and a murderer comes to town. Coincidence?

Released on Tuesday, December 07, 2004 at about 5:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Bookbox in Bookbox, A Bookbox Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

Off in Mystery Book Box 4 (Cozys) -- address received; I just need to pack them up tonight and get to the P.O. before it closes tomorrow.

retrieved from the MBB4 (Mystery Bookbox 4)

RELEASE NOTES:

RABCK for your OBCZ

Received in a box from Vraciousrdr for the OBCZ.

I'm finally getting around to starting on this series. (I read the 1st book before this one, and have several more of the early books in this series.) I enjoyed this book more than the 1st - I thought they might be a bit more graphic than I like (I do enjoy the cozies). Although this one had its moments, I like that the author brought the animals more into this story. I loved the scene near the end where all the animals (a cat, a dog, a possum, owl, black snake and 2 horses) are ganging up on the bad guy. And what a scene at the harvest festival - I was eating dinner in the kitchen at work (with a few others in the room), and I nearly gasped aloud when (highlight for spoiler) someone pulled the head out of the pumpkin! What a sight that must have been - guaranteed to cause nightmares!

I'm going to hold onto this for a bit - I'm thinking about doing a "cat stories" bookbox later this year and will include this if I do. Thanks to everyone for sharing this book.

Mailed out in my Cat Stories bookbox. Enjoy!

The cover-art on this one caught my eye - graveyards always appeal to me! - and I decided to claim this book from the Cat Stories bookbox. (I see it's been around for a while, too; nice to see some of these older bookplate labels again!)

Later: The cast-of-characters list at the beginning of the book suggests some of the twists to come; in addition to the human characters we have Mrs. Murphy's ex-, "a saucy tom" - and Simon, "an opossum with a low opinion of humanity"! There are charming little illustrations scattered throughout the book, too.

The story unfolds from the viewpoint of the animals and from the humans, with only occasional overlap, and with much snarky observations about humans from the animals (and sometimes vice versa). The mystery itself involves a dismembered corpse - always fun {grin} - and misleading clues, and I admit that I found the "reveal" (not to mention the perpetrator's explanations) quite intriguing. And the way the animals conspired to help out at the climax - well, let's just say that it was impressive, however unrealistic!

I plan to leave this book somewhere in the Common at around 5 or so, on my way into town for a Red Sox game. [Park benches or interesting statues would be good release spots; will update with photos if all goes well.]

Edited to add: left the book on the Edward Everett Hale statue in the Boston Garden, near some lovely roses. And I see the book's been found, and may make it to Ireland! Thanks to the finder, and I hope you enjoy the book!

I am from Northern Ireland, I found this book while visiting Boston Common, While i have the book it will be travelling to Connecticut, New York, Amsterdam and then finally be released in Dublin at Dublin International Airport :)

Found at Dublin Airport. Brought to Rome, Italy. At present, travelling to Bologna