The Case of the Tough-Talking Turkey * Claudia Bishop * The Casebook of Dr. McKenzie #2

When the meanest, most hated turkey farmer in upstate New York is found murdered and stuffed inside a dumpster, a local veterinarian must untangle a massive web of local enemies to prove an innocent salesman was framed.

The Story: Dr. Austin McKenzie, a dedicated veterinarian, and his wife Madeline maintain a busy, low-friction routine looking after ailing pets and farm animals on their peaceful property in Trumansburg, New York. Their rural sanctuary violently fractures when the dead body of Lewis O'Leary—the irascible, abusive owner of one of the largest turkey operations in the Northeast—is discovered dumped like garbage. The tracking lines of local law enforcement quickly lock in on Gil Finnegan, a local feed salesman whom O'Leary had aggressively accused of shorting his orders. Recognizing that the circumstantial evidence looks far too rehearsed to be true, Dr. McKenzie drops his guard and steps into the investigative sandbox. Moving step-by-step through a dark ledger of greed and hidden motives, the doc faces a high-stakes campaign to narrow down an immense suspect pool—including O'Leary's own inheritance-hungry children, an animal rights activist who wanted the farmer's head on a platter, and a post-doc student desperate for a signed data sheet.

Perfect For: Devotees of traditional, animal-assisted cozy mysteries, readers who love small-town medical sleuths, and fans of fast-paced, witty regional whodunits by authors like Susan Wittig Albert, Rita Mae Brown, or Claudia Bishop's own popular Hemlock Falls cozy series.