It’s a mother-clucking murder!
When Leona Davis hatches a plan to return to her beloved hometown of Honeytree, Oregon, she hopes to build the egg farm of her dreams and leave behind the marriage of her nightmares.But the yolk’s on her when she breaks ground on her chicken palace and unearths a skeleton in her front yard. It’s clearly fowl play. The bones may be decades old, but there’s no … bones may be decades old, but there’s no statute of limitations on murder.
With a county forensics team roosting on her lawn and a flock of town gossips poking their beaks where they don’t belong, Leona’s well-laid farming plans may be nothing more than a wing and a prayer.
Her spicy high school ex, Sheriff Eli Ramirez, assures Leona he’ll crack the case, but he’s not exactly a hardboiled detective. Her best hope to get back to a life with more hens and less mens? Scramble to uncover her small town’s buried secrets before everything’s totally plucked.
A Cop and a Coop is the first book in the clever, irreverent Clucks and Clues Cozy Mysteries series that will keep you chuckling and guessing until the end.
No gore, swears, or other yucky stuff.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s well-written, clean, and FUN. It’s one of those books that, when you’re finished, you feel sad. Not because the story is sad but because you know you’re going to miss the characters. You want to spend more time in their world.
I can’t wait for the next installment.
I have wanted to read this series FOREVER and I happened to find this one for free so after I squealed with joy I downloaded it. It took me a bit to start it (I was reading something else) but as soon as I started it I was HOOKED! It was laugh out loud funny (the chicken disasters) and heart stopping reveals (didn’t see that coming). I thought the tickets were cute and I hope that Eli gets a chance to make up for all those lost years. I really hope I get to read the remaining books.
I received a free audio copy of this book from the publisher Tantor Audio. I voluntarily reviewed it.
A Cop and a Coop caught my eye because of the fun chickens focused theme. I don’t think I’ve read a cozy mystery about chickens before. And this definitely was a fun focus for a cozy mystery book. It was the well done twisty mystery that pulled me in further and kept me reading.
Leona Davis is back in her hometown after a failed marriage. She now is trying to rebuild her life and her plan is to start a chicken coop on the old farm she bought. While digging a hole for her coop foundation she stumbles upon the body of a dead person. While it took me some time to get into this book, once the mystery really started I was hooked.
The mystery in this one is a very solid one with plenty of twists. There are so many times when it feels like things are falling on it’s place before another twist brings everything in a new light. It kept me guessing until the end when everything came together. It all makes sense and the way all the clues shed information, but eventually point in another direction then it might seem at first. It was interesting to learn more about the dead guy along the way as well. I liked how Leona talked to people and tried to figure it out and the police actually appreciated her help even though she did a better job at figuring things out then they did. It was nice to see the police appreciate her efforts. It felt realistic how Leona got caught up in it all as the body had been found on her farm after all. It really was an engaging mystery and I liked the way it progressed.
Leona was a nice enough main character. I liked her drive to build her chicken coop and how capable she was, but it did bother me how she never accepted anyone’s help and got too defensive at times. I liked how she investigated the case and talked to the right people to get to the bottom of things and how she thought things through. I did think she could be a tad rude or rough to others at times, but I feel that by the end of the book she learned a bit from that and hopefully she’s more likely to accept help instead of push people away in the next book.
There is a bit of a romance set-up as well with the police officer who she briefly dated when in high school. Most of the book they spend bantering and bickering. It’s clear he still cares about her, but Leona doesn’t believe it and doesn’t like him telling her what to do and can act quite prickly toward him. He on the other hand keeps offering his help and telling her what to do. It could be a tad frustrating at times. Especially when Leona pushed him away, but then when he stayed away she wanted him back. I hope they work things out in the next book as it seems they made some progress at the end. I did like how he appreciated her help in the investigation and how they made for a good team.
There is a bunch of side characters as well that play a role. I liked how we got a good feel for the important side characters and they all had their own personality. There also are some great chicken characters involved, it was funny how she kept ending up with more chickens than expected and all the funny names she gave them. I hope to see more about the coop in the next book.
The narrator did a good job with this book. It took me a few chapters to get used to her voice, but after that it was comfortable listening to her. She didn’t have too much variations in voices for the characters, but everyone still sounded slightly different and it was clear who spoke most of the time. I thought her voice fitted the main character well.
To summarize: this was a fun cozy mystery and a great introduction to this new series. I liked the chicken theme of this book and the way Leona gets involved in the mystery. The mystery is a really solid one with plenty of twists and turns and it kept me guessing. It’s a really engaging mystery and I liked how it all progressed. The pace is well done with plenty of new clues popping up and I liked the reveal of who the murderer was. I liked Leona’s character, but she could be a bit too independent at times and didn’t want to accept any help. There is a bit of a set-up for a romance, but it mostly was banter and bickering in this book, they did make for a good team and I think they might make for a good couple. In this book I didn’t quite care for the romance as he kept wanting to help and tell her what to do, while she kept pushing him away and saying she didn’t need his help. There are some fun side characters and chickens to read about as well. It took me a few chapters to get used to the narrator, but after that it was a comfortable listen. I thought her voice fit Leona. All in all I enjoyed listening to this one and look forward to the next book!
Great start to a new series. The characters are like old friends and the town has a warm welcoming feel. The main character Leona has come home to reinvent her life. It turns out though that life still has a few surprises in store for her. The chickens and chicks add an additional layer of cozy to the story. Looking forward to reading the next book in this series. I have enjoyed several of Hillary Avis’s books, but think this is my favorite.
Enjoyed this cozy mystery full of clucks and clues and great characters too. Leona Davis returns home to Honeytree, Oregon after divorcing with plans to fulfill her dream of building her very own egg farm. When she begins digging to build her coop, she unburies decades old secrets. Will she also uncover the truth or become the next target? Find out in A Cop and A Coop.
A Cop and A Coop was a refreshing read. Instead of the usual bed and breakfast, bakery, bookstore themes, this book was about the beginning of a chicken farm. Leona Davis decides to move back to her hometown of Honeytree, Oregon after living in Beverly Hills and divorcing her husband. Her family had owned a chicken farm when she was growing up and decided she wants her own farm. To begin, she needs to dig the foundation for the chicken coop where she unearths two boots which just happen to have bones in them. From there, the adventure/mystery begins. I enjoyed this book and reading how Leona reunites with past classmates and how her relationship with the sheriff involves.
This book will keep you guessing of who did the murder and why. It’s an enjoyable read and am looking forward to the next in this series. There were humorous moments which had me laughing so hard I couldn’t stop. I enjoyed how the sheriff (Eli) wouldn’t give up on Leona. The author drew out each person’s buried wounds and exposed their dark secrets to everyone. A great read, l couldn’t put it down till I finished it.
I really liked this book. Not only did I learn a lot about egg farms and raising chickens, I got to meet interesting new people, too. The story held my attention right to the end with lots of twists and red herrings, and I totally missed who the killer was. I look forward to the next book in the series.
I received an advanced copy of this book and am leaving my honest review.
A Cop and a Coop is a great start to this new series, I could not put the book down. There was so much going on and I was completely blindsided by the ending! I love that. This book is well written and the characters were very interesting. I cannot wait to read the next book!
Hmm. How much can I say without risking a spoiler? This funny, family-friendly fowlery takes place near Honeytree, Oregon and will happily fill a day. I laughingly read an ARC and this voluntary review is my own opinion.
It’s sometimes hard to remember when you come back to a small town that folks tend to swap work and tools, and help each other to get things done. Too easy to forget that crankily turning the help down could get you branded as snooty or thinking you were better than you were. Especially after a bad breakup where you were ordered or manipulated, and especially when you are old enough to be an AARP club member, it can get irritating to be called a girl.
Leona has a bit of a hard time adjusting to thinking she once knew well.
Small towns are sadly not as squeaky clean and innocent as we might want to believe.
Clean and funny, despite some macabre stuff.
All Leona Davis wants is to build her chicken coop and wait for them to start laying eggs. What she gets is far from that…a boot with human bones in it where she plans on putting her chicken coop. She also has the sheriff who used to be her boyfriend years ago after her to start up where they left off. Things just get stranger and stranger as the story goes along. The big question is WHO is buried on her farm and who killed that person? A very well written story that doesn’t take things so seriously. I loved it! I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.