Claws and Effect - Rita Mae Brown

Winter in Crozet, Virginia, has postmistress Mary Minor Harry Haristeen embroiled in a twisted mystery after the director of the hospital turns up dead. Tigercat Mrs. Murphy, roaming the underworld of the hospital, sniffs out a secret dating back to the Underground Railroad--and it's up to her to solve this crime before Harry becomes the next victim.

nCLAWS AND EFFECT nWinter puts tiny Crozet, Virginia, in a deep freeze and everyone seems to be suffering from the winter blahs, including postmistress Mary Minor Harry Haristeen. So all are ripe for the juicy gossip coming out of Crozet Hospital-until the main source of that gossip turns up dead. It's not like Harry to resist a mystery, and she soon finds the hospital a hotbed of ego, jealousy, and illicit love.

n nBut it's tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, roaming the netherworld of Crozet Hospital, who sniffs out a secret that dates back to the Underground Railroad. Then Harry is attacked and a doctor is executed in cold blood.

n nSoon only a quick-witted cat and her animal pals feline Pewter and corgi Tee Tucker stand between Harry and a coldly calculating killer with a prescription for murder.n