harry and her little friends

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Mary Minor Haristeen, Harry to her friends, trotted along the railroad track. Following at her heels were Mrs. Murphy, her wise and willful tiger cat, and Tee Tucker, her Welsh corgi. Had you asked the cat and the dog they would have told you that Harry belonged to them, not vice-versa, but there was no doubt that Harry belonged to the little town of Crozet, Virginia. At thirty-three she was the youngest postmistress had ever had, but then no one else really wanted the job.

from: Wish you were here

It’s a Small World … with Murder!

There’s a small town in Virginia, Crozet, which seems to be a small paradise – at least at first glance. It’s a quiet life around this town. The summers are lovely and full of sunshine, the winters transform the landscape with lots of snow into a winter wonderland. Fireplaces with glowing flames care for warmth and cosiness.

All residents seem to know each other, all are friendly with each other. There is quite a lot of social life. People meet for morning coffees, there are various clubs and get-togethers. There is gossip at the post office and at the bakery, in the breakfast place and … everywhere. There is a golf course as well as horses for groups of fresh air enthusiasts to ride across the fields – as well showing off their newest expensive riding gear and clothes.

People meet to discuss books and any local administration work to be cared of. There are well-off people – and there are people less well-off. They help each other …

However, there are also business deals and business affairs, there are political affairs, inheritance affairs, there are love affairs – and there are lots of interpersonal relationships going well or less well under the surface. So as a result there are also secrets, small secrets, personal secrets, old secrets, secrets buried deep …

Although it seems to be a small paradise sometimes somebody gets alert when some affair seem to be touched which is thought to be only known to this very person or family … and to nobody else. When secrets risk to come into broad daylight … When business interest go wrong … When hidden political arragements tend to crack …

… then sometimes suddenly there is a corpse.

Harry aka Harriet Minor Haristeen, postmistress and owner of a small farm with a selected menagerie, is nosy. Whenever anything happens she tries to look into the affair and the gossip. So of course any murder case in Crozet won’t be solved without her active intervention. Maybe at the beginning she is more cautious and more anxious to be on the safe side, but later … She also learns about violent attacks against her friends and also herself when somebody is desperate to hide whatever happened.

Of course she isn’t alone. (Well, at the beginning she is in the middle of a divorce affair …) Her only companions at home are Mrs. Murphy, her cat, and Tee Ticker, her dog. (There are also horses, an owl … later another dog …)

Mrs. Murphy and Tee Tucker are always keen to keep an eye on Harry and help her manage her life. As a reader you not only may follow the actions and discussions on the human side of life in Crozet, but also on the animal part of the world i. e. they talk with each other, they comment any actions around them especially they comment on human behaviour. Of course they are always a little smarter than human beings especially when dealing with the investigation of a murder case.

Mrs. Murphy and Tee Tucker are not alone in their fight for justice. There’s also Pewter, another cat, and from case to case there are other animal residents nosing around. In short: whenever Harry starts asking about a case, discussing any points of the case, Mrs. Murphy and Tee Tucker are next to her to help. Harry of course isn’t aware of most of their activities …

Time goes by … Harry gets divorced. Harry loses her job as postmistress. Harry and her former husband reunite … Always Mrs. Murphy and Tee Tucker are around – and always there is a corpse waiting to be found and a case to be analyzed.

In short: It’s just fun to read about these murder cases … Relax, get a mug of coffee or a cup of tea or a nice glass of wine … and let yourself be introduced to a happy small world with lots of suspense – true cat crime thrillers!

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a faint cold fear thrills through my veins ... william shakespeare