A Body by the Henhouse is the third Malvern Farm thriller(ish) mystery by Kate Wells. Released 12th June 2024 by Boldwood Books, it's 288 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The other books in the series are also also currently available on KU.
Jude is again drawn into investigating a spate of unsettling occurences and the disappearance of one of her camping guests on Malvern farm. She and DI Binnie again collaborate to get to the bottom of things. There are 5 guests in the group (a hen party), one of whom goes missing early on. It's a testament to the author's command of character that despite being a group of 5, they're delineated very very well and don't blend into one another. Each is quite distinct from the others and readers won't have any trouble keeping them straight.
The author is also quite adept at setting, and the whole is effective and engaging. The mystery itself is well engineered and culminates in a satisfying and twisty way.
It's the third book in the series and although it works well enough as a standalone, the continuing characters' interrelationships develop through the previous two books, and readers should expect some minor spoilers if read out of order.
Four and a half stars. It's not at all derivative, but fans of Faith Martin, P.F. Ford, and J.R. Ellis will likely enjoy this one. With three books extant in the series and a fourth out from the same publisher in first quarter 2025, it would be a good candidate for a binge/buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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