Novice newswoman Vicky Hill is desperate to get a front page exclusive. But she is stuck reporting on the funerals in the small village of Gipping-on-Plym in England while Annabel Lake, who was hired after Vicky, gets sent on all the best assignments.
But when Annabel faces a bout of food poisoning, Vicky jumps on the chance and takes on of her tips. The dustman has found some mutilated chicken corpses, and he things something may be afoot.
Meanwhile, Vicky must cover the funeral of Sir Hugh Trewallyn, a local aristocrat and hedge jumping enthusiast. But why is Vicky's land lady hiding in the bushes outside the church? Who is the strange man the widow attacks after the service? Did Sir Hugh really die of natural causes? And how does all this tie into those chickens?
This is a very scattered kind of cozy but not really a cozy. Cozies are usually low on murder and gore and sex. This was low on murder but lots of sexual inuendos that got old really quick. I liked aspects of this story but found the main character's obsesson of losing her virginity (didn't matter if with a male of female) became rather off putting. Not sure if I really want to read any more or not now that I've let it sink in.