The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Today I’ll be continuing my long-running series on the first book of popular Cozy Mystery series, most of which have been recommended by site visitors. Today, I’ll be revisiting one of the foundation series for modern Cozies, the Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series by Rita Mae Brown. As always, I will be specifically discussing the first book in the series – in this case, Wish You Were Here.

Sometimes, the books that I write about in this series are mostly or entirely new to me – I have read a blurb or two, or I might have read an entry in the series years ago and barely remember it beyond knowing that I own it still. Other times, these entries are returns to a series that I have read multiple entries to over a number of years – and that is the case this time.

It’s only natural that this series has been recommended many times over the years I have been running the site, as it is either the foundation of many modern Cozy trends or at least a relatively early example of them. It’s also a very long-running series – this first entry in the series came out in 1990, Rita Mae Brown is still putting these out on a mostly annual basis, with the most recent entry coming out earlier this year.

Ostensibly, the sleuth of this mystery is Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen, the post-mistress of small town Crozet, Virginia, not far from Charlottesville. Harry stumbles across a mystery when she notices a series of postcards, all of them of tombstones and cemeteries with “Wish you were here” computer printed as the only message.

However, Harry’s pets, Mrs. Murphy, her tiger cat, and Tee Tucker, her Welsh Corgi, steal both the scenes and the investigation more often than not. Though Harry isn’t able to communicate with animals, the two pets are quite conversing amongst themselves, and more than willing to take a proactive role in the investigation.

As is sometimes the case, Crozet, Virginia, is a very real place. I’m not sure how accurate Rita Mae Brown’s Crozet is, but it certainly seems like a very lovely and picturesque small southern town – well, except for the unusually high murder rate for such a small community, which I assume is a highly fictional detail!

I will say, for my more “clean” Cozy enthusiasts, there is some swearing, both from human and animal characters. This and a few references that would be considered politically incorrect today both strongly remind the reader that this was written in the ’90s. Neither element bothers me, but I know either could be an issue for some readers.

That said, I’m quite comfortable in suggesting Wish You Were Here as a foundation of modern Cozies, particularly in the “detective animal” subgenre – by all accounts a modern classic.

As always, if you want to read more of these brief discussions of some of the more popular Cozy Mystery Series that I’ve written in the past, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page.