A Hiss Before Dying is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by American Artists, Inc.
Illustrations copyright © 2017 by Michael Gellatly
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
BANTAM BOOKS and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Brown, Rita Mae, author. | Brown, Sneaky Pie, author.
Title: A hiss before dying : a Mrs. Murphy mystery / Rita Mae Brown.
Description: New York : Bantam Books, 2017. | Series: Mrs. Murphy ; 26
Identifiers: LCCN 2017002158| ISBN 9780553392494 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780553392500 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Haristeen, Harry (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Murphy, Mrs. (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Women detectives—Virginia—Fiction. | Women cat owners—Fiction. | Cats—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths. | FICTION / Humorous. | FICTION / Suspense. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3552.R698 H57 2017 | DDC 813/.54—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017002158
Ebook ISBN 9780553392500
randomhousebooks.com
Cover design and illustration: Daniel Pelavin
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
The Cast of Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Afterword
Dedication
Books by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
About the Authors
The Cast of Characters
The Present
Mary Minor Haristeen, “Harry”—Hardworking, task-oriented, she runs the old family farm in Crozet, Virginia. A loyal friend to both human and animal, a quality not lost on those who care for her. If she has a weakness—perhaps best explained as a personality trait—it is that psychology has no interest for her. Harry doesn’t care why you do anything. She simply deals with the result.
Pharamond Haristeen, DVM, “Fair”—Tall, powerfully built, at forty-three he is one year older than his wife, Harry. His equine patients trust him as do most humans. He is more sensitive, more introspective than his wife.
Susan Tucker—Harry’s friend since cradle days, she loves Harry as only an old friend can. The two can disagree but will always come to each other’s aid. Susan’s deceased grandfather was a former governor of Virginia. Her husband, Ned, is a representative to the House of Delegates.
BoomBoom Craycroft—Another childhood friend who can find herself swept up into one of Harry’s messes. BoomBoom often asks the obvious question. Obvious to her.
Deputy Cynthia Cooper—She rents the old Jones homeplace, a farm next to Harry’s. As she was not raised in the country, Harry and Fair are a great help to her. She does her best to deflect Harry’s curiosity. If Susan and Fair can’t contain Harry, it’s a sure bet Coop can’t, despite her shiny law enforcement badge.
Reverend Herbert Jones—He’s known Harry all her life. She is a faithful congregant of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. He learned to lead men as a young combat captain in Vietnam. On his return after the seminary, he did his best to lead women, too, to faith, charity, and peace. He is a good pastor to his flock.
MaryJo Cranston—Smart and successful as a stockbroker, she invests for some of the Virginia tribes. Of course, she cannot reveal financial standings but no one complains. She has a nose for money and also gives to environmental causes as well as to rebuilding a school once used for tribal children, then called “Indians,” as well as African American children, then called “colored.”
Liz Potter—She works with Harry, MaryJo, Susan, and BoomBoom on wildlife projects as well as the above-mentioned school. She, herself, is African American, owns a high-end store in Barracks Road Shopping Center. She’s easygoing and well liked.
Marvella Rice Lawson—In her sixties, she will never be described as easygoing. She’s one of the powers-that-be at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. She and her brother, each an art collector of vastly different tastes, have amassed art worth a small fortune. When the highly intelligent Marvella walks into a room, she parts people like the Red Sea.
NOTE: Harry was an Art History major at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. Her father couldn’t believe she’d major in something so useless. Her retort was that this was her only chance in life to do so, as once she was out of college she would need to work. Both parents were killed when she was in college, before her father had the chance to appreciate the woman she became. Now, at forty-two, some lights are being turned on upstairs. She and Marvella will wind up working together. Neither knows that in this book.
The Eighteenth Century
Catherine Schuyler—At twenty-two, intelligent, levelheaded, and impossibly beautiful, she is learning from her brilliant father about business. She already has a reputation as a leading horsewoman.
John Schuyler—A former major in the Revolutionary War, only a few years older than his smashing wife, he is powerfully built and works hard. As he is from Massachusetts he can miss some of the undercurrents of Virginia society.
Rachel West—Two years younger than her sister, Catherine, she, too, is beautiful, but her beauty is softer, sweeter. She’s easy to please, ready to help, and possessed of deep moral conviction.
Charles West—Captured by John Schuyler at the Battle of Saratoga, the then nineteen-year-old marched all the way to The Barracks prisoner-of-war camp outside Charlottesville. The second son of a baron in England, he had the good sense to stay in America. Like John, he is dazzled by his wife and knows how lucky he is.
Karl Ix—A Hessian also captured. He and Charles became friends in the camp and continue working together after the war.