Pawing Through the Past by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Started: 7/19/09
Finished: 7/30/09
Year: 2000
Pages: 275
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "Emotions are running high around tiny Crozet, VA, among the Class of 1980, as plans get under way for the upcoming twentieth high school reunion. There's nothing like a reunion to stir up memories, rivalries, and insecurities. It's even put Crozet's normally placid postmistress, Mary Minor 'Harry' Haristeen, who's on the organizing committee, on edge, as she wonders if everythng will come together on time.
"Still, when each member of the class receives an anonymous letter edged in the Crozet High School colors that reads 'You'll never get old,' Harry takes it as a compliment. Others think it's a joke. But even blitzed out on fresh catnip, Mrs. Murphy senses a much more sinister meaning.
"And the sly tiger cat is soon proven right...when divinely handsome Charlies Ashcraft, the class womanizer, turns up dead with a bullet between his eyes. At first folks around Crozet figure that when a man is sleeping with other men's wives, trouble is sure to follow. But when another threatening note to the members of the Class of 1980 is followed by the murder of a second classmate, it becomes all too clear that someone is determined to spoil this reunion...someone who has waited twenty years to take bitter revenge.
"What could have happened so long ago to trigger such rage? While Harry, whose high school memories consist of football games and first love, tries to make sense of the crimes, it's up to Mrs. Murphy, her feline pal Pewter, and the corgi Tee Tucker to try to sniff out the truth. Yet when ugly rumors surface and Harry herself has a brush with violence, Mrs. Murphy is the first to realize that in the killer's mind, Harry's been chosen Most Likely to Die. And now, unless the daring tiger cat and her animal pals can stop a relentless killer, Crozet's High's twentieth reunion may very well be Harry Haristeen's last..."
Opinion: It's been a while since I had read one of these mysteries. They are entertaining and a good read.

The Cat Who Went into the Closet by Lilian Jackson Braun

Started: 7/18/09
Finished: 7/19/09
Year: 1993
Pages: 235
Genre: mystery
Grade: C
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "The mansion on Goodwinter Boulevard is more than a retreat for crime writer Jim Qwilleran-it is the scene of another delightful Cat Who...mystery.
"Qwill rents the Gage mansion in Pickax, and soon after moving in, he and Koko discover fifteen closets jammed with several generations' worth of junk. Koko, of course, is on the case, and what he discovers will shock Pickax and Moose County. What connection could obsolete currency, canceled checks, and an old bankbook have with mail clippers, foot powder, and a man's argyle sock? Something is definitely brewing in Pickax. But what starts out as junk turns into something else.
"The action begins when Qwill decides to simulate a newscast covering the great fire of 1869. An infamous even in Moose County, this fire burned half of the county to the ground. Now Qwill is about to put Pickax back on the map with a discovery that will uncover long-buried secrets of the Gage family.
"While enjoying a new life in Florida, the mansion's former occupant, Euphonia Gage, apparently committed suicide. But why would someone as happy and full of life as Euphonia kill herself? And what is the connection between the Gage famiy and dead potato farmer Gil Inchpot-who is found in the snow with a bullet hole in his head?
"Can Qwill and the cats get to the bottom of this mystery before the winter yields another dead body?"
Opinion: A quick read but not a lot of twists and turns that I like in a mystery.

Ghost Hunting by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson

Started: 7/15/09
Finished: 7/18/09
Year: 2007
Pages: 273
Genre: Non-fiction: Ghost hunting
Grade: A
Reason for reading: fan of the show
Blurb (from back cover): "The Atlantic Parnanormal Society, also known as T.A.P.S., is the brainchild of two plumbers by day, paranormal investigators by night: Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. Their hair-raising investigations, fueled by their unique abilites and a healthy does of scientific method, have made them the subject of a hit TV Show: The SCI-FI Channel's Ghost Hunters.
"Now their experiences are in print for the first time, as Jason and Grant recount for us, with the help of veteran author Michael Jan Friedman, the stories from some of their most memorable investigations. The men and women of T.A.P.S. pursue ghosts and other supernatural phenomena with the most sophisticated scientific equipment available-from thermal-imaging cameras to electromagnetic-field recorders to digital thermometers-and the results may suprise you."
Opinion: A great companion guide to the show. Some cases were done before the SCI-FI show. A great and quick read.

The Cat Who Saw Stars by Lilian Jackson Braun

Started: 7/11/09
Finished: 7/15/09
Year: 1998
Pages: 227
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: grabbed off the TBR pile
Blurb (from book jacket): "Qwilleran, Koko, and Yum Yum are hoping for a peaceful month of July spent sitting on the porch of their cabin by a lake in Mooseville. It's not so far from home-but far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Pickax that Quill figures he might actually find some peace and quiet.
"When rumors begin to circulate that UFOs are responsible for the disappearance of a stray backpacker, whose body is later discovered on the lakeshore, Quill finds it difficult to maintain 'vacation' mode.
"Then, of course, there's the knitting craze, which is attracting some very unlikely members of the community, and some highly innovative plans for this year's Fourth of July parade, and a dog-cart race. Yet all of this is just par for the course in slightly out-of-whack Moose County...
"Things become downright eerie when Koko begins to pass hours on the porch in the dark, watching the sky for stars-or something. And as the inexplicable goings-on get stranger and stranger, Qwill starts to wonder who or what is in fact responsible, if not extraterrestrial visitors."
Opinion: An average read. Onto the next one.

Deadly Angel by Fred Rosen

Started: 7/6/09
Finished: 7/11/09
Year: 2009
Pages: 223
Genre: True Crime
Grade: B-
Reason for reading: Review for MyShelf.com
Blurb (from back cover): "Mechele Hughes came to Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 4200), looking for a new life and easy money. As an exotic dancer at the Great Alaskan Bush Company in nearby Anchorage, she was soon earning thousands a night-and getting expensive gifts from admiring male clients. Three in particular fell under her spell. Each claimed to be engaged to her...and they all lived with her together in the same house. But in May 1996, the bullet-ridden body of Kent 'T.T.' Leppink, a local fisherman and one of her fiances, was discovered in a wooded area ninety miles away-possibly slain by suitor number two, John Carlin III, at the stripper's urging.
"Ten years would elapse before the arrests and trials of Mechele Hughes Linehan and John Carlin III. Was the real Mechele a murderess, a ruthless sexual manipulator as the prosecution claimed, killing for insurance money-or the loving wife and mother she had since become, dedicated to children, animals, and charitable causes?"
Opinion: An interesting story but is was evident that not a lot of first hand interviews were received-author also makes a note of that. For a more complete review, please check out MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Hanging Time by Leslie Glass

Started: 6/29/09
Finished: 7/6/09
Year: 1995
Pages: 413
Genre: Mystery
Grade: B
Reason for reading: grabbed it off the TBR pile
Blurb (from back cover): "In an expensive boutique on New York's Upper West Side, a young salesgirl is persuaded to open the door to her death.
"In the chaos of a police station, ambition and sexual politics raise the stakes of solving a vicious crime.
"In his office, a famed psychoanalyst hears a sister's tale of emotional terrorism and madness.
"For April Woo and Jason Frank, suspense fiction's most engrossing detective team, the clock is ticking on another brutal killing."
Opinion: A strong mystery that hints at the conclusion.