The Hounds and the Fury: A Novel [Paperback]

In the fifth entry of the Outfoxed series, Sister Jane Arnold and her friends ride out with their hounds while dealing with the ramifications of the disasterous culmination of the Hunt Ball as detailed in the previous book of that name. Crawford Howard has withdrawn his financial support from the Jefferson Hunt, and another affluent member, Dr. Jason Woods, can't seem to decide whether to follow. The mystery involving possible financial wrong-doing at a local factory takes a while to develop and then takes a back seat to the foxhunts and all the work that makes them possible, but the details are fascinating and, of course, the observations of all the animals are worth the read by themselves.

If you follow both the Mrs. Murphy and Sister Jane series of mystery novels written by Ms. Brown, you may have noticed that what one can only assume are the author's personal opinions about everything from the quality of various makes of automobiles to the advisability of purchasing various brands of boots have been creeping into the stories. That's fine, as long as those details don't overwhelm the story line, and in the last two Mrs. Murphy mysteries, I felt that they had -- I don't remember "who dunnit" but I do recall a several-page exploration of automotive engine technology, which, while mildly interesting, clearly distracted from the story rather than enhanced it. In this book, however, politics are mostly balanced out by event development, although the events may be more about the Hunt than the mystery itself.

I found myself a bit puzzled by a lack of leading articles in dialogue -- statements that would normally begin with "a," "an" or "the" had those words left off. It might ring true for someone from the region, but I couldn't "hear" it and found it a bit disrupting. The dialogue between close friends sometimes "skipped around" a bit, too -- while one can easily see how folks that know one another well would talk in shorthand like that, I don't know these people well enough to follow their conversation all the time.

However, the comments from the animals are spot on, and my own dogs listened intently while I read some of the hunting sequences to them (although, being Poodles, they opined that the foxhunt sounded like rather a lot of work, and why not just head straight to the tailgate potluck?)

A foxhunter herself, Ms. Brown is obviously using these books to present her case in favor of the sport, and I find her arguments to be compelling ones. Actually, I'd be in favor of scrapping the "mystery" element to the books completely, just to read about the traditions and day-to-day activities of the foxhunters! Sure makes me wish I'd kept up those riding lessons waybackwhen....

Cons: Not so much of a mystery, really

Pros: Engaging characters -- especially the animals -- and fascinating exploration of foxhunting.

Being an avid fan of Rita Mae Brown...and Sister Jane....I preordered this book and waited with baited breath until it arrived. I couldn't wait to find out what happened with Crawford. The book basically was good except I wish she had concentrated less on the crime and more on the issue of Crawford Howard and his antics. I think a whole book could have been done about that (and maybe that's forthcoming) because the mystery parts are shallow and have nothing to do with foxhunting. I love the foxhunting parts and her descriptions of the hunt are great....however I feel that a good line could have been how Crawford's hounds felt about hunting for him (I did see the one or two lines of how they felt, however I think dialog between them and the Jefferson hounds could have been good). Also, Marty, being such a close friends of Sister Jane's was sort of forgotten in this book. I am looking forward to Shaker's expanding romance with Lorraine and also the interaction of Ben and Margaret. I always enjoy these books. I read them many times over. I look forward to the next one to see where she takes these story lines.

I was very disappointed in the changes in the main character, "Sister", from a 73 year-old honorable, respectful environmentalist and 'sage'/protector of her community, to a somewhat self-centered younger woman searching for the right mate.

Ms. Brown's Sneaky Pie and fox hunting mysteries have always given me great pleasure until the Hounds and the Fury. I had the very strong sensation that Ms. Brown used three-fourths of this book to expound on fox hunting and her rise to Master of Fox Hounds in her private life. 'Tooting her own horn' so to speak. If I could get my money back, I would.

I hope that this is not a trend and that Ms. Brown returns to her previous writing style re: "Sister" and her world; if not, I will not be buying anymore of this series. If Sneaky Pie's mysteries change radically, as well, I will not buy more of them.

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