A review by calabrag
Cat of the Century by Rita Mae Brown

3.0

I have been reading this series since about 1999, so I wasn't about to pass on the latest installment. The last several books, however, show some new differences in writing style that I find very annoying. When her characters refer to things in conversation, she'll add a sentence like, "Harry mentioned a beautiful insect-eating bird..." or "Terri cited the department store..." to explain what the characters are referring to. This strikes me as both clumsy and a little insulting, as if we couldn't figure it out from the context. The characters also speak about contemporary issues like the environment and the economic situation in ways that are unnatural and somewhat preachy. If you're a longtime fan of the series, you'll be disappointed to find that many of the recurring Crozet community members make only brief appearances, if at all-- both Susan and Miranda are conveniently out of state, caring for ailing relatives.

Still, I enjoyed the story and it didn't adhere too closely to the formula that many mystery series adopt. Also, the animal characters (which have always been the best part) were as excellent as ever.