Murder by Death

This arrived today and I couldn't wait; I've been curious to read it since I first read about it pre-publication.

Sadly, it was not quite what I expected. 

Almost though.  The author does discuss what chickens are trying to communicate, and she covers a fair amount of anatomical/behavioural information about chooks (Aussie slang), but she's coming from an enthusiast's perspective, not a scientist's.  This is totally ok, but I was hoping for something a tad more in-depth and research based; this is more a 'chickens are wonderful and grossly underestimated' tome.  (She's right - they're hilarious individualists, and anyone who keeps one for more than 10 minutes will never underestimate them again.)

In spite of it not measuring up to my expectations, it's a lovely book overall and I did learn quite a bit more about chickens.  Turns out, I have 3 of the closest living relatives to T. Rex living in my back garden.  How cool is that?