Cat's Eyewitness

By: Rita Mae Brown

Narrated by: Kate Forbes

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling Mrs. Murphy mysteries delight fans with an irresistible blend of suspense, engaging characters, and the entertaining high jinks of some quick-witted, four-legged friends. With more than two million copies in print, the series has made co-authors Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie Brown the most popular human/feline writing team in the world.

The sleepy little town of Crozet, Virginia, has seen its share of mischief and mayhem, but nothing like this. While visiting the Mt. Carmel monastery, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen witnesses a statue of the Virgin Mary cry tears of blood. Legend says this foretells crises, and soon a monk is found frozen to death near the statue. Before long the monk's body disappears, another Crozet citizen dies, and a shocking revelation to an ages-old mystery surfaces. Thankfully, Harry and her sleuthing animals are on the case, unofficially, of course.

Hear talking cat-sleuth Mrs. Murphy in these other mysteries from Rita Mae Brown.

©2005 American Artists, Inc. (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"The usual irresistible mix of talking animals and a baffling murder or two." (Publishers Weekly)

Okay, not great

I am a big Mrs. Murphy fan, so any new book by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie is going to be enjoyable to me. This book was a little on the boring side though. I felt that Ms. Brown was too interested in showing her knowledge of monk-life and caused the story to stray of course a bit. It was still entertaining, but I've enjoyed her other books more.

What I expected

Very enjoyable to listen to on my long ride to work. I liked the naration and story. Pretty much exactly what I was expecting from the author.


Mike's wife

Cat's Eyewitness

Really like Rita Mae Brown's books. A+

Just okay

I felt that it was entertaining to listen to, but that it didn't stand out as anything special. After reading later books in the series I realize that this was the beginning of a downhill plunge.

Characters Moving On

I enjoyed the monastic background for this mystery and also the fact that the main characters are moving on in their lives. I also enjoy how Rita Mae Brown's books are always strongly rooted in the weather and in the Virginia landscape.

I do get a bit tired of the mystery resolution for the Mrs. Murphy series though. At the current rate of depletion there shouldn't be anybody left in Crozet. We need a change of pace here, Rita Mae!

Another wonderful Mrs Murphy edition

It started a little slow, with numerous political and human interactions, but then picked up into a mystery I did not solve before Harry laid it out. Several main characters drop emotional bombshells, and the cats and dogs are finally caught red handed in the Communion wafer conspiracy!

Harder to Love

The story seems to ramble on, with neither the main murder nor the character developing side plots getting a satisfying amount of focus. The beloved cats are poorly used, with much of their word count spent on exposition. I recognize these are cozy mysteries, but when the cats spill all the case solving details in an after-the-fact discussion, it’s simply not as compelling as if any character (human or feline) had shown us the facts unfolding. Taking a break from this series again.

Loved All The Closeness Of The Women

Kept me guessing until the end, who murdered who? All the different ages of the ladies and everyone learning life messages from each other. Of course the animals Corgis, kittens and cats where the stars!.

Purrfect read!

I loved it! The narrator did a great job. I'm not originally from the USA and had read a number of Brown's books, but the narrator's pronunciations really helped me to appreciate the characters' vernacular!

Sorry to say I didn't finish it

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Something about the way the story was read with just a little too much time in between sentences and phrases bothered me -

Has Cat's Eyewitness turned you off from other books in this genre?

Probably - the story line seemed a little thin and didn't catch my interest

Would you be willing to try another one of Kate Forbes’s performances?

Probably not