The Purrfect Murder

addition to
Sneaky Pie’s Cookbook for Mystery Lovers.

Books by Rita Mae Brown
& Sneaky Pie Brown
    WISH YOU WERE HERE
    REST IN PIECES
    MURDER AT MONTICELLO
    PAY DIRT
    MURDER, SHE MEOWED
    MURDER ON THE PROWL
    CAT ON THE SCENT
    SNEAKY PIE’S COOKBOOK FOR MYSTERY LOVERS
    PAWING THROUGH THE PAST
    CLAWS AND EFFECT
    CATCH AS CAT CAN
    THE TAIL OF THE TIP-OFF
    WHISKER OF EVIL
    CAT’S EYEWITNESS
    SOUR PUSS
    PUSS ’N CAHOOTS
    Books by Rita Mae Brown
    THE HAND THAT CRADLES THE ROCK
    SONGS TO A HANDSOME WOMAN
    THE PLAIN BROWN RAPPER
    RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE
    IN HER DAY
    SIX OF ONE
    SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT
    SUDDEN DEATH
    HIGH HEARTS
    STARTING FROM SCRATCH: A DIFFERENT KIND OF WRITERS’ MANUAL
    BINGO
    VENUS ENVY
    DOLLEY: A NOVEL OF DOLLEY MADISON IN LOVE AND WAR
    RIDING SHOTGUN
    RITA WILL: A MEMOIR OF A LITERARY RABBLE-ROUSER
    LOOSE LIPS
    OUTFOXED
    HOTSPUR
    FULL CRY
    THE HUNT BALL
    THE HOUNDS AND THE FURY

THE PURRFECT MURDER
    A Bantam Book / February 2008

    Published by
    Bantam Dell
    A Division of Random House, Inc.
    New York, New York

    This 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, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

    All rights reserved.
    Copyright © 2008 by American Artists, Inc.
    Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Michael Gellatly

    Bantam Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Brown, Rita Mae.
    The purrfect murder / Rita Mae Brown.
    p. cm.
    1. Haristeen, Harry (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Murphy, Mrs. (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Women architects—Crimes against—Fiction. 4. Women detectives—Virginia—Fiction. 5. Women cat owners—Fiction. 6. Crozet (Va.)—Fiction. 7. Cats—Fiction. I. Title.
    PS3552.R698P86 2008b
    813'.54—dc22
    2007041416

    www.bantamdell.com

    eISBN: 978-0-553-90461-1
    v3.0