I liked this audiobook.

Normally, I love Rita Mae Brown's books. Mystery, cats, dogs, and occasionally other animals as characters, people I like. In this one, though, she does, repeatedly, a thing that annoys me, a basic factual error, that isn't particularly important to the story--except it's apparently very important to one of the characters, given how often it comes up with that character. But more about that later.

Two of the women in the Dorcas Guild, at St. Luke's Lutheran Church, are running a craft brewery, and they're getting wider notice now. Unfortunately, they've had storage broken into, and a delivery truck broken into, and in both cases the beer stolen.

Meanwhile, the Dorcas Guild is reworking St. Luke's gardens to more closely reflect how the church grounds looked in the 1780s. This of course includes the grave of the unknown woman, buried on top of another grave in 1786, wearing an elaborate, extremely valuable pearl necklace. Forensic analysis of the bones shows that this was a black woman, so almost certainly a slave. Moreover, she was murdered--her neck was broken. Why then was she buried with that valuable necklace? It seems to make no sense, but they'll probably never know the answers. Also, the necklace is the subject of some contention within the church community. Should it be sold to raise money for the church? Put on display? Placed in a museum?

This, of course, ties in to the part of the story that is set in 1787 and 1788. It's in this part of the story that we do, in fact, learn who the woman was, why she was murdered, and why the necklace was buried with her. This also means following the stories of three runaway slaves, and the owners of the two plantations they come from. Big Rawly is owned and run by Mrs. Maureen Selisse Holloway, who is very cruel and just plain mean for the sake of mean. Mr. Ewing Garth Cloverfields, and is a much more kindly father to his family and owner of his slaves. He's mostly thought of by the people around him, He's certainly nicer than Maureen Holloway.

He's still a slave owner, and his thoughts on slavery and possible abolition are, well, disappointing. He does not think it would be a good thing--for the slaves, you know. They're "not ready for it." Right.

Ewing Garth is the person who keeps thinking about the state of the new United States, in which the new Constitution has been written, but not yet ratified. In thinking about slavery, and the state of the country, he keeps saying that there are only two free states in the country, Pennsylvania and Vermont. And that's wrong.

The states that had abolished slavery by 1787 were:

Vermont -- 1777
Pennsylvania -- 1780
Massachusetts -- 1781
New Hampshire -- 1783
Connecticut -- 1784
Rhode Island -- 1784

So six states abolished slavery before 1787. And this is pretty easy to check, and one would think the politically aware Ewing Garth, slaveowner and major plantation owner himself, would be aware of the facts on this. It might well be important to him in very practical ways, to know which way the temper of the country was going on slavery.

But Mr. Garth is just a character on the page, and Rita Mae Brown is a woman living in the 21st century, with a knowledge of how to do basic research, and access to the internet. This is a bizarre mistake. Does it mean anything? Maybe only that Brown's characters, and perhaps Brown, love Virginia as much as I love Massachusetts, and perhaps she also feels similar fondness for Pennsylvania, where she is originally from.

So this is probably all irrelevant to most, and I'd probably have passed right over it, if it hadn't been repeated over and over. I'm cranky about facts, and history in particular. When an author makes a mistake that I recognize, it makes me wonder what mistakes they've made that I don't have the background knowledge to recognize, and yes, it's fiction, but I like the background facts to not be wrong. I know little to nothing about farming; is Harry Harristeen uttering howlers I don't recognize? I would hate that if I found out!

But I enjoyed the story anyway, and I'm probably annoying people more by being so longwindedly cranky about it, but there it is. It's the kind of thing that annoys me.

Nevertheless, recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

greed, 1787, historical-research, pets, cats, dogs, cozy-mystery*****

There are two stories interwoven because of the land which they occupy. One is a very difficult tale of cruel people and normal people in a time of transition - 1787. The other is a tale of subterfuge and greed with a side of murder. They are connected by an artifact found on a grave before this book. I love the parts of the stories that are told among the cats and dogs who love and protect their people. I think that the mystery is excellent and the historical part of the story is the best it can be. I loved it! Beyond that is the history of horticulture and the reintroduction of heirloom plants at Montpelier as well as the relevance of the Historic Trust. Great stuff for a history geek and/or a gardening geek (that's my sister, so I'll have to gift her a copy).
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine
Bantam via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

It's the time of year in Virginia when everything is blooming, and Harry is at her happiest. She lives on her farm with her husband, Fair, a veterinarian, and her four pets -- two cats, Mrs. Murphy and Pewter; and two dogs, Tee Tucker and Pirate. She's involved with the Dorcas Guild in making the churchyard gardens beautiful for the upcoming Homecoming celebration, along with lifelong friend Susan Tucker, and others.

But two of the friends -- Janice and Mags, own a brewery named Bottoms Up. One of their trucks is stolen, along with all its contents and no one knows why. Then at a charity auction, another friend, Jeannie Cordie, drops dead suddenly and no one knows how. Harry, with her strong sense of curiosity, is driven to find the answers to these questions.

In between, the church is still trying to figure out who belonged to the old bones which were found on top of a couple who died in the 1700's, wearing a set of priceless jewels. It's another question Harry wants an answer to, but rightly, it will have to wait in favor of the other problems. When the bones of a much more recent murder are discovered by none other than Pewter, Harry now needs to piece together a more modern mystery, and hope she doesn't lose her own life in the process...

I've been following this series for a long time, and own all of the books. It is that enjoyable. Not only are we watching Harry in her usual quest for answers and looking for a killer, but we have the added bonus of a book-within-a-book. For, you see, Virginia has a rich history, and Ms. Brown melds past with present seamlessly.

We also have the story of the Holloways and the Ewings, two wealthy neighboring families who were part of this country in the aforementioned 1700's, and who have their own mysteries to solve. Watching their stories unfold is almost like having your own window to the past, where while you are in the present, you see bits and pieces of things that have come before. Yes, this is fiction, but as in the present, there are pieces of history interspersed with the story that is completely fascinating.

When we watch Harry go about her daily routine, it is amusing to hear the animals tell their own stories in their own ways and put their own spin on everything. I love listening to their tales of woe (as cats and dogs are wont to do when they don't get their own way); and as a pet owner myself, I can relate.

It all seems so simple -- Harry and her friends are doing no more than any of us would -- go to lunch, prepare gardens, etc.; but it is the mystery itself that is the most absorbing -- who would want to kill a woman who supposedly had nothing to do with anything? Harry's investigation, while it does not involve asking people questions, involves only her using her wits, and she is indeed one who is able to put things together quickly.

When we get close to the end and it all comes together, I have to say that it leaves me wanting more: more of the historical side, and the next book in this series. My only hope is that I won't have to wait long to read the next one. Highly recommended. ( )