The Case of the Tough-Talking Turkey - Claudia Bishop

The Case of the Tough-Talking Turkey
The Casebook of Dr. McKenzie
Claudia Bishop
Berkley Prime Crime

Mystery

Dr. Austin McKenzie retired from teaching to open a large animal vet practice in upstate New York. His neighbors are a varied lot, from horse people to commercial farmers. One such farmer is Lewis O’Leary, who runs his turkey farm, and his family, with an iron fist. Age hasn’t mellowed Lewis, who thinks nothing of striking his grown son during a feed seminar or accusing a feed salesman of shorting his shipments in front of the man’s boss.

When O’Leary turns up dead in a dumpster, it’s not really a surprise. And there seem to be plenty of suspects. His sons, who felt trapped and belittled; their wives, trapped and frustrated; the salesman, who could lose his job over the accusations; animal rights activists; and a postdoc student who desperately needed the man to sign off on research data to finish a study. Any one of them had good reason. When the police zero in on the hapless feed salesman, Dr. McKenzie decides to take on the role of investigator again.

This is a great follow-up to the first book in the series, THE CASE OF THE ROASTED ONION. Dr. McKenzie is in fine, opinionated, curmudgeonly form here. He does what he believes is right, and takes no guff from anyone. He has a dry and biting humor that makes him a very entertaining narrator. His wife and assistants at the vet practice are excellent foils for him. There are plenty of suspects on hand, and a large cast of characters makes this an engaging cozy.

Rating: 7 ½
August 2007ISBN# 978-0-425-21669-9 (paperback)