This collection of papers on comparable worth written by political scientists contains the best annotated bibliography on comparable worth that this reviewer has yet seen. One notable paper categorizes the 50 states as to whether they have conducted a comparable worth legislation, and have implemented comparable worth. Other contributors explain how job evaluation can be performed to implement comparable worth, describe the difficulties and possible bias in job evaluation methods, and present US case studies. . . . It has an outstanding bibliography and overview of many important issues. Choice Legislation outlawing sexual discrimination and mandating policies of equal pay for equal work has clearly failed to produce the intended results. Women workers continue to be paid substantially less than men, and more and more families headed by women have sunk below the poverty level. This volume of essays focuses on major issues that must be faced before a public policy promoting pay equity can become a reality. Combining the contributions of specialists from several disciplines, it offers statistical comparisons and analyses of wage inequities in various occupations, industries, and regions; case studies of comparable worth programs; and a conceptual framework for approaching the problem on a policy level.

Ask not what your cat can do for you--ask what you can do for your cat.
Tired of politics as usual? Despair not: Rita Mae Brown's intrepid feline co-author, Sneaky Pie, is taking time off from her busy schedule writing bestselling mysteries to run for President of the United States. It's never too late to start With help from her friends--the irascible gray cat Pewter, the wise Corgi Tee Tucker, and Tally, the exuberant Jack Russell--Sneaky crisscrosses her home state of Virginia hoping to go where no cat since Socks Clinton has gone: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. After all, who better to get the economy purring again than an honest tabby with authentic political stripes? Sneaky has an animal-friendly agenda to unify "all" Americans--regardless of whether they walk on two or four feet or even if they fly.
Human candidates have had their chance in Washington, and nowhere does it say in the Constitution that the next president cannot be a cat. Vote Sneaky
Includes a preview of Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown's next Mrs. Murphy mystery, "The Litter of the Law"

"Sister" Jane Arnold, esteemed master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, has traveled to Kentucky for one of the biggest events of the season: the Mid-America Hound Show, where foxhounds, bassets, and beagles gather to strut their champion bloodline stuff. But the fun is squelched when immediately after the competition a contestant turns up dead-stripped to the waist and peppered with birdshot. Two weeks later, back in Virginia, a popular veterinarian dies from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Sister refuses to believe that her friend killed herself and vows to sniff out the truth. But before she can make real headway, a wealthy pet food manufacturer vanishes during the granddaddy of all canine exhibitions, the Virginia Hound Show.
Ever reliant on her "horse sense," Sister can't help but connect the three incidents, and what she uncovers will make her blood run colder than the bodies that keep turning up in unexpected places.

Critics and fans alike are wild about Rita Mae Brown's richly imagined and utterly engaging foxhunting mysteries-and this latest novel promises more thrilling hunts, breathtaking vistas, and an all-new sinister scandal.
Millions of dollars seem to be missing after a long-overdue audit of the local aluminum plant reveals a major accounting discrepancy. Company president Garvey Stokes finds himself at a loss-in more ways than one. He turns to his sharp-tongued, ornery bookkeeper, Iphigenia "Iffy" Demetrios, for an explanation, but she's no help. Yet when the fuzzy math suddenly includes a body count, the figures can no longer be ignored.
While the town sheriff tries to get to the bottom of the matter, leave it to "Sister" Jane Arnold, venerable master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, to rely on her keen horse-and-hound sense to follow the trail of murder and cover-up. Throwing her off the scent, however, is former hunt club donor and all-around cad Crawford Howard, who thinks he can go toe-to-toe with the beloved septuagenarian and outclass her club by grossly sidestepping hound- and-hunt etiquette. Against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a menagerie of friends, foes, and fresh new faces saddle up for the breakneck ride to unravel the conspiracy. Even the furry denizens in the fields and boroughs have a thing or two to say about these peculiar humans.
Incomparable author Rita Mae Brown returns to the glorious hills of Virginia and its genteel foxhunting society, where how much money you have in the bank is not nearly as important as how long your family has lived on the land-and where nearly everyone has something to hide. As Sister muses, "The little secrets leak out. The big ones, well, some escape like evils from Pandora's box. And others we'll never know."

"From the Hardcover edition."

CLAWS AND EFFECT

Winter 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.

But 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.

Soon 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.

In The Sand Castle, beloved American novelist Rita Mae Brown (Rubyfruit Jungle) revisits some of her most spirited and unforgettable characters&#8212sisters Juts and Wheezie Hunsenmeir, and Juts's precocious young daughter, Nickel&#8212as they come together to cope with a life-defining loss. It's August, 1952, and seven-year-old Nickel sets off for a day at the seashore with her mother, aunt, and cousin Leroy. Everyone's excited when they reach Chesapeake Bay&#8212everyone except for Leroy, who is recently motherless and frightened of the world around him. Nickel delights in tormenting her cousin, but, as the group lounges on the beach and begins work on a magnificent sand castle, the sisters try to coax him out of his shell. As the sun swings higher in the sky, Nickel's taunting of Leroy escalates and the weight of family history between her mother and aunt rises to the surface&#8212until Leroy is bitten by a crab and all of their arguments fall away. It isn't until years later that Nickel can see that single day at the beach for what it truly was&#8212a life-changing lesson on family and all the pleasure and heartbreak that comes with it.

Bringing together a wide range of European thought on music therapy practice, this book provides a deeper insight into the aspects of the therapeutic process which are enabled by music. With a theoretical, psychodynamic approach and high quality clinical case material from across Europe, the editors stress the role of music within music therapy and show how essential the musician is within the identity of a music therapist. The first of its kind, this comprehensive text is an invaluable resource for experienced music therapists worldwide, alongside students and trainees.

Spring fever comes to the small town of Crozet, Virginia. As the annual Dogwood Festival approaches, postmistress Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen feels her own mating instincts stir.

As for tiger cat Mrs. Murphy, feline intuition tells her there’s more in the air than just pheromones. It begins with a case of stolen hubcaps and proceeds to the mysterious death of a dissolute young mechanic over a sobering cup of coffee. Then another death and a shooting lead to the discovery of a half-million crisp, clean dollar bills that look to be very dirty.

Now Harry is on the trail of a cold-blooded murderer. Mrs. Murphy already knows who it is--and who’s next in line. She also knows that Harry, curious as a cat, does not have nine lives. And the one she does have is hanging by the thinnest of threads.

Mrs. Murphy digs into Virginia history--and gets her paws on a killer.

The most popular citizen of Virginia has been dead for nearly 170 years.  That hasn't stopped the good people of tiny Crozet, Virginia, from taking pride in every aspect of Thomas Jefferson's life.  But when an archaeological dig of the slave quarters at Jefferson's home, Monticello, uncovers a shocking secret, emotions in Crozet run high--dangerously high.

The stunning discovery at Monticello hints a hidden passions and age-old scandals.  As postmistress Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and some of Crozet's Very Best People try to learn the identity of a centuries-old skeleton--and the reason behind the murder--Harry's tiger cat, Mrs.  Murphy, and her canine and feline friends attempt to sniff out a modern-day killer.  Mrs. Murphy and corgi Tee Tucker will stick their paws into the darker mysteries of human nature to solve murders old and new--before curiosity can kill the cat--and Harry Haristeen.

Mrs. Murphy thinks the new man in town is the  cat's meow.... Maybe she should think again.  Small towns don't take kindly to strangers--unless  the stranger happens to be a drop-dead gorgeous and  seemingly unattached male. When Blair Bainbridge  comes to Crozet, Virginia, the local matchmakers  lose no time in declaring him perfect for their  newly divorced postmistress, Marry Minor "Harry  Haristeen." Even Harry's tiger cat, Ms.  Murphy, and her Welsh Corgi, Tee Tucker, believe he  smells A-okay. Could his one little imperfection  be that he's a killer? Blair becomes the most  likely suspect when the pieces of a dismembered corpse  begin tuming up around Crozet. No one knows who  the dead man is, but when a grisly clue makes a  spectacular appearance in the middle of the fall  festivities, more than an early winter snow begins  chilling the blood of Crozet's very best people.  That's when Ms. Murphy, her friend Tucker, and her  human companion Harry begin to sort throughout the  clues . . . only to find themselves a whisker away  from becoming the killer's next  victims.

It takes a cat to write the purr-fect mystery--.

"People who love cats...have a friend in Rita Mae Brown," declares The New York Times Book Review. And nowhere is it more obvious than in this, her sixth deliciously witty foray into detective fiction written with the paws-on help of collaborator Sneaky Pie Brown, and starring that irrepressible crime-solving tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy.

As the principal of St. Elizabeth's, an exclusive private school that caters to Crozet, Virginia's, best families, Roscoe Fletcher has proven himself to be a highly effective and vastly popular administrator. So when his obituary appears in the local paper, everyone in town is upset. Yet nothing compares to the shock they feel when they discover that Roscoe Fletcher isn't dead at all. Someone has stooped to putting a phony obituary in the newspaper. But is it a sick joke or a sinister warning?

Only Mrs. Murphy, the canny tiger cat, senses the pure malice behind the act. And when a second false obit appears, this time of a Hollywood has-been who is Roscoe Fletcher's best friend, Mrs. Murphy invites her friends, the corgi Tee Tucker, and fat cat Pewter, to do a bit of sleuthing. It's obvious to this shrewd puss that two phony death notices add up to deadly trouble. And her theory is borne out when one of the men is fiendishly murdered.

"Harry" Haristeen, in her position as Crozet's postmistress, is the first to hear all the theories on whodunit--starting with the man's jealous wife. Then a second bloody homicide follows, and a third. People are dropping like flies in Crozet and no one seems to know why.

Fearlessly exploring all the places where humans never think to go, Mrs. Murphy manages to untangle the knots of passion, duplicity, and greed that have sent someone into a killing frenzy. Yet knowing the truth isn't enough. Mrs. Murphy must somehow lead Harry, her favorite human, down a trail that is perilous...to a killer who is deadly...and a climax that mystery lovers will relish.

" Rita Mae Brown] enlivens a timely tale with . . . amusing accounts of her four-legged creations and delightful descriptions of the central Virginia countryside."--"Richmond Times-Dispatch"
"New York Times" bestselling author Rita Mae Brown bounds to the front of the pack with "Fox Tracks, " the thrilling new mystery in her beloved foxhunting series featuring the indomitable "Sister" Jane Arnold and, among others, the boisterous company of horses and hounds. Now, as a string of bizarre murders sweeps the East Coast, this unlikely alliance must smoke out a devious killer who may be closer than they first think.
While outside on Manhattan's Midtown streets a fierce snowstorm rages, nothing can dampen the excitement inside the elegant ballroom of Manhattan's Pierre Hotel. Hunt clubs from all over North America have gathered for their annual gala, and nobody is in higher spirits than "Sister" Jane, Master of the Jefferson Hunt in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Braving the foul weather, Sister and her young friend "Tootie" Harris pop out to purchase cigars for the celebration at a nearby tobacco shop, finding themselves regaled by the colorful stories of its eccentric proprietor, Adolfo Galdos.
Yet the trip's festive mood goes to ground later with the grisly discovery of Adolfo's corpse. The tobacconist was shot in the head but found, oddly enough, with a cigarette pack of American Smokes laid carefully over his heart.
When a similar murder occurs in Boston, Sister's "horse sense" tells her there's a nefarious plot afoot--one that seems to originate in the South's aromatic tobacco farms. Meanwhile, Sister's nemesis, Crawford Howard, will stop at nothing to subvert the Jefferson Hunt Club. There's more than one shadowy scheme in the works in Albemarle County, and some conspirators are unafraid of taking shots at those evidencing too keen an interest in other people's business. When Sister voices her suspicions, she, too, becomes a target. Fortunately for her, the Master of the Jefferson Hunt may rely upon the wits and wiles of her four-legged friends--including horses Lafayette and Matador, the powerful hound, Dragon, and even the clever old red fox, Uncle Yancy
From Manhattan's gritty streets to the pastoral beauty of Virginia horse country, Fox Tracks features the beloved characters from past Sister Jane novels in a fascinating new intrigue. This sly, fast-paced mystery gives chase from sizzling start to stunning finish
Praise for Rita Mae Brown's "Sister" Jane novels
"Brown is a keen plotter who advances her story with well-placed clues and showy suspects."--"The New York Times Book Review"
" Brown] succeeds in conjuring a world in which prey are meant to survive the chase and foxes are knowing collaborators."--"People"
"One of the most entertaining amateur sleuths since those of Agatha Christie."--"Booklist"

"From the Hardcover edition."

Rita Mae Brown's earliest memory is of the soothing purr of Mickey, her family's long-haired tiger cat, who curled up and claimed a spot in her crib. From there, a steady parade of cats, dogs, horses, and all manner of two- and four-legged critters have walked, galloped, and flown into and through her world. In Animal Magnetism, the bestselling author shares the lessons she's learned from these marvelous creatures as well as her deep appreciation for them. We meet Franklin, a parrot with a wicked sense of humor; R.C., a courageous Doberman who defined loyalty and sacrifice; Suzie Q, the horse who taught Brown the meaning of hard work; and of course the beloved and prolific Sneaky Pie, who needs no introduction to her legions of fans. As funny as it is poignant, Animal Magnetism shows how these inspiring creatures can bring out the best in us, restore us to our greater selves, and even save our lives.

It's February, prime foxhunting season for the members of Virginia's Jefferson Hunt Club, when a shocking event alarms the community. A woman is found brutally murdered, stripped naked, and meticulously placed atop a horse statue outside a tack shop. The theft of a treasured foxhunting prize inside the store may be linked to the grisly scene, and everyone is on edge.
With few clues to go on, "Sister" Jane Arnold, master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, uses her fine-tuned horse sense to try to solve the mystery of this "Lady Godiva" murder. But Sister isn't the only one equipped to sniff out the trail. The local foxes, horses, and hounds have their own theories on the whodunit. If only these peculiar humans could just listen to them, they'd see that the killer might be right under their oblivious noses-and that Sister could become the killer's next victim.

Praise for "The Tell-Tale Horse":
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BESTSELLER
"[A] charming and engrossing series . . . Sister Jane Arnold is Master of the Foxhounds as well as one of the most entertaining amateur sleuths since those of Agatha Christie."
-"Booklist"
"Intriguing . . . Fans of the series will be fascinated with Jane's evolution under Brown's hand. With each book, Jane becomes more real-and more human-in "the reader's imagination."
-Richmond Times-Dispatch"
"Grabs readers from the opening scene and gallops through to the very surprising end."
"-Horse Illustrated"

"A rich, atmospheric murder mystery . . . rife with love, scandal . . . redemption, greed and nobility," raved the San Jose Mercury News about Outfoxed, Rita Mae Brown's first foxhunting masterpiece. In The Hunt Ball, the latest novel in this popular series, all the ingredients Brown's readers love are abundantly present: richness of character and landscape, the thrill of the hunt, and the chill of violence.
The trouble begins at Custis Hall, an exclusive girls' school in Virginia that has gloried in its good name for nearly two hundred years. At first, the outcry is a mere tempest in a silver teapot-a small group of students protesting the school's exhibit of antique household objects crafted by slaves-and headmistress Charlotte Norton quells the ruckus easily. But when one of the two hanging corpses ornamenting the students' Halloween dance turns out to be real-the body of the school's talented fund-raiser, in fact-Charlotte and the entire community are stunned. Everyone liked Al Perez, or so it seemed, yet his murder was particularly unpleasant.
Even "Sister" Jane Arnold, master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, beloved by man and beast, is at a loss, although she knows better than anyone where the bodies are buried in this community of land-grant families and new-money settlers. Aided and abetted by foxes and owls, cats and hounds, Sister picks up a scent that leads her in a most unwelcome direction: straight to the heart of the foxhunting crowd. The chase is on, not only for foxes but also for a deadly human predator.
No one has created a fictional paradise more delightful than the rolling hills of Rita Mae Brown's Virginia countryside, or has more charmingly captured the rituals of the hunt. No one understands human and animal nature more deeply. The Hunt Ball combines a rounded, welcoming world with an edge of unforgettable white-knuckled menace.

"From the Hardcover edition."