A Streak of Bad Cluck

With hens like these, who needs enemies? Ivy is finally starting to feel at home on Runaway Farm and she’s even settled the feathers of a formerly feisty neighbor with frequent gourmet food bribes. Unless the nosy neighbor has an ulterior motive, that is. She’s as sly as Ivy’s runaway sow. New guests descend on the inn and Ivy puts the mayhem of recent weeks behind her. When someone chokes on a very bad egg and dies, however, the plot chickens. Once again, Ivy is a suspect, thanks to the generosity of her hens. But clucks are as abundant in this homesteading community as enemies. Keats, the border collie, is ready to apply his sharp nose and brain to this case of murder most fowl and Jilly always comes through in a pinch. Even the police chief is starting to soften toward Ivy. His change of heart couldn’t be better timed because the evidence could leave her without an egg to stand on.