Just Finished Reading Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown

A few days ago I decided to head down to my local public library to see about possibly replacing my old worn out library card.  After they told me it could still scan, I instead just went browsing and checked out a couple of books, one a mystery novel and the other science fiction.  I managed to select...from what was offered...the very first in a long series of books by Rita Mae Brown...with partial credit given to her cat Sneaky Pie Brown...called the Mrs. Murphy Mysteries.  Wish You Were Here introduces protagonist Mary Minor Haristeen, or more simply "Harry", who lives in the western Virgina town of Crozet with her cat Mrs. Murphy and corgi dog Tee Tucker.  This inaugural mystery centers around brutal murders of townspeople, preceded by the victims receiving in the mail cryptic postcards depicting gravestones with the phrase "Wish You Were Here" on the flip side.  Harry, who manages the local post office, is in the perfect location to see this unfold as the cards begin to arrive.  But she's not the only sleuth around. Mrs. Murphy and Tucker, who know everything and everyone around and who can talk fluently with each other and their other animal friends, are the main detectives: they just have trouble getting their ideas across to the often dense humans.  It's a funny book, and I appreciated how it featured a list of characters that I repeatedly referred back to as I read along.  Wish You Were Here is light, escapist reading (284 pages paperback) for folks who have an affinity (as I do) for cats and dogs. It first came out in 1990, and some twenty-odd other Mrs. Murphy novels have followed...I'm ready to get started on Book Two.  But first I think I'll tackle that sci-fi novel I also checked out...