Adult Review – Dastardly Deeds Down on the Farm – cozy mystery

Dastardly Deeds Down on the Farm. Ulrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing, 2025

Hog Wild by Cynthia Hickey

The Dark Side of the Moo by Linda Baten Johnson

Fowl Deed by Teresa Ives Lilly

Searching for Sunshine by Janice Thompson

Guide to Categories – Adult Review – review of books for adults – may or may not be appropriate for a school library

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Summary

Four amateur sleuths muck and muddle their way through mysterious disappearances and deaths in the barnyard.

Hog Wild by Cynthia Hickey

Shelby Dickens’ idyllic hog farm turns chaotic when her prized hog vanishes before the county fair. Racing against time, she uncovers rivalries and secrets, risking everything to expose the truth and restore honor.

The Dark Side of the Moo by Linda Baten Johnson

Liv Olsen returns from university to her home at Friendly Farm—a place that lives up to its name until the dairy cows become seriously ill and the vet is murdered in the barn. Moo-sterious happenings keep Liv looking over her shoulder as she turns amateur sleuth.

Fowl Deed by Teresa Ives Lilly

April transformed her homestead into an egg farm, chicken-inspired gift store, and Airbnb, then hosted the local farmer’s market—all to keep the town’s realtor, Jeff Barr, plus the bank from taking over the property. But when Jeff is found dead by the chicken coop, April must solve the murder or lose it all.

Searching for Sunshine by Janice Thompson

Jessie Kingston responds to an ad to breed her thoroughbred mare, Cosmic Sunshine, with Derby winner Like the Wind. But this opportunity of a lifetime turns disaster when her horse goes missing while in the care of the breeder.

Purchase Dastardly Deeds Down on the Farm on Amazon – https://amzn.to/49VRmgN

My Adult Review

Dastardly Deeds Down on the Farm is a collection of four novellas set on farms. They all include a mystery of some sort as well as “normal” farm/ranch trials. I found the stories to be a refreshing and easy read. Each novella can probably be read in an afternoon. The mysteries were not easy to figure out yet at the end you knew the solution fit well into the plot. The farm aspect of the stories appears to be accurate to the farm life I am familiar with.

These are great stories for those in a farming community (or those who enjoy farm stories). I’d love to read more from any of these four authors. 

Dastsardly Deeds Down on the Farm was written for the adult market. However, I don’t see any reason it could not be added to a K-12 Christian school library. It is appropriate for grades eight and up. If your school is in a farming community the students will especially enjoy the stories. 

I received a complimentary copy of Dastsardly Deeds Down on the Farm. This is my honest review.

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