Rating: 
Summary: Not so great...
Review: I admit it: I'm a sucker for Rita Mae Brown's writing, even though at times it seems like she is just dashing off novels without a lot of time spent on craft or style. "Full Cry" is a perfect example. The first two novels in the series ("Outfoxed" and "Hotspur") were fairly tight, intriguing stories, with a good balance of character and plot development and the bonus of RMB's talking animals. Plot-wise, "Full Cry" doesn't compare, but I still read it with pleasure because I enjoy the playful banter between the animals and the earthy, simple descriptions of life in the country. It doesn't seem like she gave her latest book the time she devoted to the others, which is a shame because she has good characters to work with. I also noticed lots of typos and other errors throughout the book, which was quite odd, especially seeing how badly the publishers bungled the jacket description. It's like it wasn't given a final copy-editing read. Personally, I think Brown would be better off writing non-fiction essays and anecdotes about what she obviously loves best: animals, rural life, and human foibles. I don't think she should bother with fiction so much. Her plots are often thin and formulaic, if charming. I recommend "Full Cry" only to those who read RMB religiously (if guiltily) and indiscriminately, because it's just not on par with her other novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing to read
Review: I am a fan of Rita Mae Brown, but I was very confused when I read the inside cover and then read the book! Who was in charge of writing the inside cover summary. They need to be reassigned, as they did not read the book well, or new glasses. NO joke, there was a LARGE disconnect between the two. The story was a bit heavy with foxhunting and clothing. Please give me a story next time.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I am listening to the CD audio version of this book. I am very disappointed. The author is reading her book and she has made several mistakes, garbled words and begun over. I thought errors were edited out. I can hear the pages being turned as she reads and on occasion she seems to running out of breath. Didn't she take a break?, ever? I am on disc 7 and have heard more about foxes, hunting dogs and fox hunt detail than the average person would want to hear in their lifetime. This story needs more plot and less hunting detail.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to her usual snuff
Review: I didn't feel this book was up to the usual quality of Hotspur and Outfoxed. As someone else noted, it was just chit chat...nothing exciting and it took too long to get to the story which barely lasted one chapter. Also, the rodeo antics of Sister Jane at the end were a little unbelievable. I mean come on now...standing in her saddle and jumping onto another horse? I was disappointed in the book. A better read if you haven't read it yet, is Shotgun. I've read that one many times and still enjoy it. In fact, I would like a sequel to see how Pryor is doing. She was an interesting character and I really liked her. So, Rita...how 'bout it? Can we hear more about Pryor?
Rating: 
Summary: Good writer, not her best book...
Review: I don't mind if fictional authors occasionally spout some social or moral opinions in their books, usually through their protagonist. Almost all writers do it to some extent or another. But when the length of the book is dependent upon that soap-box preaching, and when the mystery takes such a back seat to that preaching that it is hard to remember what the plot is about, then the writer has gone too far. I enjoy Rita Mae Brown's books. I enjoy this particular series having to do with fox hunting in the U.S. because I suspect if I had been raised in Virginia, I'd be out on the horses too. I really enjoy the backgrounds and historial information that Brown gives in her books. And the anthromorphizing of the hounds, horses, and foxes does not bother me in the least. I've always suspected some animals are smarter then humans anyway...I know many dogs and horses who are nicer then most people. But...having said all that, Ms. Brown needs to decide whether she wants to sermonize or write a mystery. If she wants to break into nonfiction genre, go for it. But preaching is going to alienate her mystery choir (audience), and it tends to slow down the books and make the books less well-written. This is a decent book, by a decent author...but newbies to Rita Mae Brown should start with another of her older books, because this one left much to be desired. Karen Sadler
Rating:
Summary: What story?
Review: I enjoy reading Rita Mae Brown, but this one was a let down. Starting with the completely inaccurate description of the book (I'll say no more about the weak story) to the over emphasis on fox hunting, this book is just a thin story with alot of padding. Rita Mae, you really could do much better....
Rating: 
Summary: wonderful but the publisher better read the flap!!!!
Review: I would have loved this book if it were just about foxhunting, one of my passions, but of course Brown writes a great read (and I'm not a mystery fan at all). The misleading CIP flap does the publisher and book no credit though, since the plot is not as written! If only more people could live near the earth and nature as Brown's heroine (and there are some of us out there as well), the world would be a better place.
Rating:
Summary: misleading and incomplete
Review: I would not characterize this book a a murder mystery...for one thing, there was absolutely no mystery about it...and it was hard to get too worked up about the victims. As a horse person, I was enchanted by the decription of the hunting club...but the author assumes that the reader knows a lot more than she does. The dialog between the animals are amusing, but I had to wonder how the author knew this was what the animals were thinking. As a dog and horse owner, I have to say that I don't believe my dogs or horses think this way...they are pretty food-centric.
I am going to try the "outfoxed" book as from the reviews, it sounds like this would be the better choice.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Winner for Rita Mae Brown
Review: I'm a big fan of Brown's novels and mysteries, and her latest, "Full Cry," did not disappoint me. I was hooked from the first pages. It's a great read, especially for horse lovers, giving us an up-close look at the fox-hunting culture - particularly Virginia's deeply traditional version. According to her, for example, fox hunters prefer not to kill healthy foxes at the end of a hunt; instead, they are "run to ground" and left to run another day. According to her, the foxes actually come to enjoy the chase. Could this really be true? Not only is the plot fascinating, including an unusual twist on a murder mystery - who IS killing all those drunks down at the train station, and why? - it's also packed with odds and ends of information. The reader learns, for instance, much about the history of fox hunting and the training of the dogs; perhaps more even than horse-related information. As always, Brown's animal-empathetic technique of allowing them a point of view and voice as characters in their own right, remains an improbable but enchanting hallmark of her style. In this novel, Brown demonstrates a deeply empathetic concern for the minorities and the marginal in society. I can agree with her there, although sometimes she does fall into a bit of preachiness. Altogether, however, a wonderful read, especially appealing to animal lovers.
Rating:
Summary: A self-righteous foxhunting how-to manual, NOT a novel
Review: Let me say first that I usually enjoy Ms. Brown's work, especially her series on Juts and Wheezie. I also liked Outfoxed and was diverted by Hotspur, so I was excited when Full Cry was published. WHAT a disappointment! There is barely a plot and the characters truly are no more than a list of names (there also are some serious editing errors; anyone else catch the mistaken reference to Fairy Thatcher?) And while I've enjoyed learning about foxhunting from her other novels, I'd guess that about 60% of this book is simply a description of the how-to details of the sport. Thirty-five percent is a self-righteous, complacent sermon about blaming the victim (for example, Ms. Brown seems to subscribe to the theory that all alcoholics have to do is quit bending their elbow). In fact, her tone reminds me of the resentful bitterness of a person who's just come out of a bad relationship.
I also found it interesting how she argues repeatedly that certain people are born irrevocably bad, yet simultaneously complains about society's ills. You can't have it both ways, Rita Mae; you can't bemoan social ills yet espouse the belief that the people creating those ills are unfixable.
The remaining 5% of the book is plot and character development. Ms. Brown needs to devote herself entirely either to being a MFH or a novelist, because at this point she obviously cannot successfully perform both roles.
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