A friend, whose opinion I respect, has been encouraging me to read Rita Mae Brown’s Sneaky Pie series.
They are written from the perspective of the main character’s cat. I like cat’s and it sounded cute.
I didn’t expect high minded literature.
I’ve read about 90 pages of Rest in Pieces
I just don’t like it. If it were a movie, it would be on Lifetime or offered as an after school special.
The style is rather stiff but laced with cutesy clichés.
Does it get any better?
Are her others better?
It’s not like I’m picky, The Cat Who… series by Lillian Jackson Braun is my dirty little secret. 
oops.
I’ve only read one of Brown’s books (can’t remember the title), and I’m with you. I enjoyed the animal’s-point-of-view thing as a novelty, but the mystery was only so-so, and the human characters were much less interesting than the animals. Also, so much time was spent on the everyday lives of the community, most of which had little or nothing to do with the mystery plot, that the murders almost seemed incidental. And the wrap up at the end seemed abrupt and unnecessarily violent, compared to the rest of the story.
No, you’re not missing anything. Rita Mae Brown is one of the worst writers I’ve ever had the displeasure to read. Her ability to write dialogue is nonexistent, and her characters are quite unlikeable. If I were in an airport bookstore and had a choice between a Rita Mae Brown novel and Farm Implements Quarterly, I’d go for the magazine. I’d even choose the in-flight magazine over her books.
I’m a Rita Mae fan from way back. I recommend Six of One, Bingo, Southern Discomfort, Venus Envy, Riding Shotgun and Loose Lips.
I’m not a big mystery reader so I haven’t read any of her Sneaky Pie books, but Rubyfruit Jungle is deservedly a classic of lesbian literature.
I know two types of fans of her mysteries: those who like her description of life in small town Virgina horse/hunt country and those who like the novelty of talking animals. I haven’t met anyone who likes them for the actual mysteries.
As mentioned, some of her non mystery writing is quite good.
Virginia! :smack:
Admittedly, I’m not a lesbian (classic or otherwise) but I found Rubyfruit Jungle to be one of the worst books I’ve ever read. The main character was one of the most nasty, self-centered, hypocritical characters I’ve ever come across in literature. Which wouldn’t be so bad if the novel showed any awareness at all that its protagonist was such an awful person, but it seemed to be presenting her actions in a positive, if not laudatory, light. Bleh. Maybe I was missing something when I read it: it was assigned as part of a class I took on satire, so that’s certainly possible. I’m not about to go back and re-read it to make sure, though.
Never read any of her other books after that one, so I can’t comment on her other works. But the fact that she gave her cat a co-authorship credit for her mysteries makes me grind my teeth.
I liked Rubyfruit Jungle when I read it, though to be honest I don’t remember much about it now. I do remember a lot of bi-phobic junk, but I just chalked that up to the times and moved on.
Thanks.
I think I’ll stick with Koko and Yum Yum for my cat tails.
They may be a little hackneyed too, but, the devil you know… 