In Litter of the Law by Rita Mae Brown (#22/32 in the Mrs. Murphy series), “Harry” Haristeen, a Smith College alum, and art history major, is confronted by Joshua Hill, dressed like a scarecrow, and Hester Martin, dressed as a witch, both dead, bullet through the heart. In her effort to find the killer, she is aided by Deputy Cynthia Cooper, and three pets: Mrs. Murphy, a tiger cat, Pewter, the other cat, and Tucker, a corgi. The story revolves around organic farming and Walter Ashby Plecker, eugenicist, racist, and the head of Vital Statistics in Virginia from 1912 to 1946. The book is more of a history lesson than a mystery.

Plecker committed “paper genocide” by replacing “the term Indian with the term colored on all official documents, birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, and voter registration forms.” The result was to erase all records of Native Americans within the state of Virginia. This made it difficult to get any recognition of Native American tribes. Today Virginia has seven federally recognized tribes. The state recognizes eleven tribes. This seems to indicate that Plecker’s “paper genocide” has been reversed.

Rita Mae Brown is a famous feminist activist and author. After 50 years, Rubyfruit Jungle, a lesbian coming-of-age story, is still a best seller. The Mrs. Murphy series mentions feminist issues briefly.

“Rev, I’m in charge of buildings and grounds.”

The good pastor said, “Surely there’s a man who can do some of this.”

“Are we going to have the Sexism 101 talk?”

BoomBoom laughed. “We are supposed to be long past that caveman talk, Rev.”

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