There’s so much to love about Bill Crider’s Sheriff Dan Rhodes mysteries. Murder Most Fowl is the seventh in the series, and this one deals with cockfighting and emu rustling in Texas. Crider introduces one or two new subjects in each book. I had no idea emu rustling was a thing in the 1990s, nor that emus were so popular to raise. But, he never forgets the people that make the books popular, Rhodes and his new wife, Ivy, Hack Jensen, the department’s dispatcher, and Lawsen, the jailer. When Hack and Lawsen get going, it’s hard to shut them down. And, readers always know that when Rhodes chases someone, it will not end well for the sheriff.
It all starts when Elijah and Rayjean Ward chain themselves to the exit door at Wal-Mart to protest big box stores ruining small town businesses. Elijah was forced to close his hardware store because no one shops on Main Street; they all head to the big stores. But, Rhodes didn’t know he’d have to deal with Elijah again so soon.
Three drunk young men are shooting at an outhouse that was floating down Sand Creek. As he arrests the men, Rhodes decides he should look in the outhouse because there’s a funny smell coming from it. Elijah Ward is dead in the toilet, but he’s fully dressed, and the sheriff is guessing he was killed someplace else, and stuffed in the outhouse.
What does that have to do with stolen emus? One of Ward’s neighbors is missing two emus, and one has two new ones. But, there’s no way to prove those are the missing emus. Rhodes’ job is currently for the birds, with stories of cockfights in the woods, noisy guineas, missing emus. And, then there’s another dead body, one that will have the townspeople and the sheriff’s department all aflutter.
It’s always fun to see Sheriff Rhodes start from nothing, with no proof of anything. Then, as he talks to people all around Blacklin County, he puts together one story and another to end up with the truth. Murder Most Fowl is another fun police procedural with humor at the heart, while taking crime and murder seriously.
Murder Most Fowl by Bill Crider. St. Martin’s Press, 1994, 200p.
FTC Full Disclosure – Library book.
I really enjoyed this one, because my uncle owned emus at the time.
They were complete pains in the butt, and I was so happy when he got rid of them. I spent way too much time worried I’d get asked to tend them.
That’s funny, Glen. I guess emus were more popular than I ever knew.
Emu rustling is just so Bill. I picture the Sheriff trying to grab them, much like his accidental bull ride in one of the late series entries. These always bring a smile to your face.
I enjoyed this one, Jeff. It’s so much fun to see what subject comes up next in this series.
Sounds very good.
It was fun, Carol.
This is a fun review, Lesa. Although it’s totally irrelevant, I thought I’d mention that growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the 1960s, I saw cockfighting once or twice, although it was always by accident–no one was going to let a little girl watch it, and, to tell the truth, I didn’t really want to. But it was exciting to catch a glimpse of a fight and hear all the noise.
That’s not irrelevant at all, Kim! I’m sure it was exciting for a young child.
Thank you! This is a fun series.