Cat on the Scent

By Rita Mae Brown and her cat Sneaky Pie Brown (supposedly), this book is one of many in a series starring Mrs. Murphy, Pewter and Tucker - two cats and a dog living in the tiny town of Crozet, Virginia. Their owner, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen. The cats and dog usually solve murders that have occurred in the small town (a lot seem to happen over the years) then try to make so that the humans can understand what's happened and catch the murderer. This particular book is about the local Civil War reenactment that's taken over the whole town. Everyone's trying to outdo their neighbors by being the most authentic and realistic... until someone is very realistically shot in the back. That combined with a local wild child's mysterious dissappearence has the local sheriff and deputy on the hunt. But curiousity killed the cat, and Mrs. Murphy can't resist trying to solve the killing.