Book Review: What the Cluck? It’s Murder! by Jacqueline Vick (Frankie Chandler Pet Psychic Mysteries #4)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters and comedy

Cons: A couple minor timeline issues and one tasteless scene

The Bottom Line:

Visiting fam’ly

A corpse near the chicken coop

Laughs and fun for us

Meeting the Family Turned into a Clustercluck

I’m making it a goal this year to catch up on several series that I have in progress, and one of them is the Frankie Chandler Pet Psychic mysteries. What the Cluck? It’s Murder!, the fourth in the series, proved to be just as much fun as I was hoping it would be. 

Frankie and her boyfriend, police detective Martin Bowers, have officially been dating for a few months now, and he thinks it is time to meet his sisters, the women who raised him. Fortunately, Frankie isn’t meeting all seven of them, but she is very nervous about the upcoming long weekend at the farm the oldest sister and her husband have. 

Frankie can’t quite tell how things are going, but she thinks things are okay. That is, until she and Martin stumble over the dead body of the hired man on the farm near the chicken coop. When the evidence starts to point to one of Martin’s sisters, she and Martin start to investigate. Will the chickens hold the key to what happened?

Yes, this is one of the few series I read with paranormal elements. Honestly, I often find Frankie’s attempts to read animals funny. That was the case again here except for one scene that I found a little tasteless. Still, there were several scenes that had the fun I’m used to. 

And the fun wasn’t just reserved for Frankie’s visions. There are lots of grins and laughs over the course of this book. They come from Frankie actually working with Martin and her attempts to bond with his sisters. 

Speaking of them, I was worried going into this book that I would be overwhelmed. Fortunately, we don’t meet all of them, or I think I would have been. It still took a couple of chapters to get everyone straight, but I was able to match the sister with her family before too long. 

Since Frankie and Martin are the only returning human characters (Frankie’s dog is also along for the trip), we really get a chance to know them better. It’s easy to see how Frankie has evolved from the first book in the series, and I enjoyed seeing Martin grow as well. I’ve been skeptical of their relationship in the earlier books, but I’m fully on board now. I feel like it is best appreciated if you read the series in order, but that’s my preference anyway. 

Which leaves us with the mystery. At times, it does get a little drowned out with all the family dynamics, but there are some fun surprises along the way. Frankie and Martin managed to dig up some interesting clues and suspects before we reach the suspenseful climax. 

Yes, the timeline grump does have to make an appearance as well. There are a few continuity issues, but they don’t impact the story overall – they just annoyed me. 

What the Cluck? It’s Murder! continues a fun series. If you are looking for something fun yet different, this is the series for you. 

Check out the rest of the Frankie Chandler Pet Psychic Mysteries.