Published St Martins Press, hardcover, July 2013.
I received a nice new copy of Hen of the Baskervilles last week and read it in one gulp that night. The mixture as usual and very happily so, I like the whimsy of the series, and characters. Briefly, Meg is involved in the Virgina Un-Fair in Caerphilly, (the usual state fair having been cancelled) and there’s trouble at ‘t mill er, fair. A pair of rare and exotic chickens have been stolen from their cage, a pumpkin (largest pumpkin competition) has been smashed, and a beautiful quilt has gone temporarily missing as well. None of this is improved by the fair being run across two counties and the other county’s law-enforcement personell being incompetent and/or crooked. Meg sets out to find the culprit and save the fair while also being beguiled by the possibilities of adding exotic poultry to her current menagerie. The main plot is added to by a neat sub-plot involving Meg’s friend Molly, Molly’s lazy unpleasant soon-to-be-ex-husband, the husband’s girlfriend (loud, obnoxious, bird-brained, rich) and the complications of mystery, mayhem, and murder where two jurisdictions hold sway. This is the 15th in the series, and I have enjoyed them all. Recommended.