The Big Cat Nap is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either
are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by American Artists, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of The Random House
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. , New York.
BANTAM BOOKS and the rooster colophon are registered
trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Michael Gellatly
Brown, Rita Mae.
The big cat nap : the 20th anniversary Mrs. Murphy mystery / Rita Mae Brown;
illustrated by Michael Gellatly.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-345-53239-8
1. Murphy, Mrs. (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Haristeen, Harry (Fictitious
character)—Fiction. 3. Women cat owners—Fiction. 4. Cats—Fiction. 5. Women
detectives—Virginia—Fiction. 6. Traffic accident investigation—Fiction.
7. Crozet (Va.
)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3552. R698B54 2012
813′. 54—dc23 2011039014
Cover design: Beverly Leung
v3. 1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Cast of Characters
The Really Important Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Author’s Note
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Other Books by This Author
About the Authors
Cast of Characters
Mary Minor Haristeen—Harry, at forty, has just faced down breast cancer. She’s making a go at farming; some days are easy, some days less so. She’s a good-natured soul, but her flaming flaw is she’s much too curious.
Pharamond Haristeen, D. V. M. —“Fair” specializes in equine reproduction. Married to his high school sweetheart, Harry, he’s a powerfully built man. He reads people’s emotions much better than his wife does.
Susan Tucker—She’s a friend of Harry’s since they were in the cradle together. Much as she loves Harry, her nosy friend can drive her right up the wall.
Miranda Hogendobber—A woman in her late sixties who worked with Harry when Harry was postmistress of Crozet, she has good sense. She’s a good gardener, is very religious, and possesses a pure soprano voice.
Olivia Craycroft—“BoomBoom” has known Harry and Susan since kindergarten. She’s tall, blonde, beautiful, and has blue eyes. She runs her late husband’s concrete business; although we usually don’t encounter her there, we do just about everywhere else.
Alicia Palmer—A gorgeous woman in her fifties, she was a major-motion-picture star in the 1970s. Like most people in the biz, she whipped through a few husbands, affairs, etc. , but then wisely walked away from all of that to return to a farm in Crozet she inherited from her first lover. She’s blissfully happy.
