CLAWS AND EFFECT
by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
Mrs. Murphy, the sleuthing cat who solves the murders of Crozet (Virginia) postmistress Harry Haristeen’s less endearing acquaintances, pits her ninth life (Pawing Through the Past, 2000, etc.) against the miscreant who sent out fundraising letters for the hospital threatening divine retribution against skinflints who didn’t contribute—and then, just to make sure the recipients got the point, killed the hospital director.