Friday, January 20, 2012

The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery, by Kevin Cornell Doreen Cronin. Illustrated by




J.J. Tully is a retired search and rescue dog, trying to relax and enjoy his new life on a farm. His peace and quiet is disturbed when a hen, Millicent, and her two chicks, Dirt and Sugar, try to enlist his services to rescue her other chicks, who have been kidnapped.

The alternating narrator is Vince, the farm dog,who lives in the farm house and resents another dog invading his territory. The kidnapping is really ruse to set J.J. up to receive the medical procedure for which Vince is scheduled. He also plans to bump off Millicent and all her chicks, laying the blame on J.J.

Can J.J. figure out who is responsible for the kidnapping and lay waste to Vince's plans? Will Millicent, whom J.J. call Moosh for no apparent reason, and her chicks be a help or a hindrance?

This book is a quick read with plenty of the humor that we have seen in Doreen Cronin's picture books. While any mystery reader can enjoy it, it is a good choice for those patrons who approach mysteries with trepidation or are assigned a mystery book report and don't like them because they are scary. 2011.

R. Rauch

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