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The Body and Mr. Chicken: A Matinee Classics Cozy Mystery
October in a small town is autumn soups, colorful leaves, and kids in costumes.
Nice and cozy, until someone leaves a dead body in the cemetery…and this one isn’t buried.
When Stevie Jewel and best friend Melanie venture from their cozy movie theater for some community service, they know it’s going to be spooky. What else to expect from an old cemetery in October? And that was before Stevie finds a body amid the crumbling tombstones.
Even with Sweet Penny Cove’s Halloween preparations underway and the Matinee Classics as busy as ever, Stevie can’t just let sleeping corpses lie. Discovering another body quickly draws her into decades-old secrets and dangerous encounters.
When Stevie thinks she’s discovered the killer, will it be a treat, or another trick?
If you like your murder mysteries set in a seaside town with quirky characters, Hollywood classics, and a dash of humor, this series is for you!
An addictive series perfect for cozy mystery fans. Join Stevie as she navigates a new chapter in her life, facing her past while learning new things about herself—especially her penchant for solving mysteries. The Matinee Classics Mysteries are clean enough to read aloud at family dinners. No swearing, gore, or scenes to make anyone blush. Each mystery is a standalone, but reading in order is best to avoid spoilers.
Nice and cozy, until someone leaves a dead body in the cemetery…and this one isn’t buried.
When Stevie Jewel and best friend Melanie venture from their cozy movie theater for some community service, they know it’s going to be spooky. What else to expect from an old cemetery in October? And that was before Stevie finds a body amid the crumbling tombstones.
Even with Sweet Penny Cove’s Halloween preparations underway and the Matinee Classics as busy as ever, Stevie can’t just let sleeping corpses lie. Discovering another body quickly draws her into decades-old secrets and dangerous encounters.
When Stevie thinks she’s discovered the killer, will it be a treat, or another trick?
If you like your murder mysteries set in a seaside town with quirky characters, Hollywood classics, and a dash of humor, this series is for you!
An addictive series perfect for cozy mystery fans. Join Stevie as she navigates a new chapter in her life, facing her past while learning new things about herself—especially her penchant for solving mysteries. The Matinee Classics Mysteries are clean enough to read aloud at family dinners. No swearing, gore, or scenes to make anyone blush. Each mystery is a standalone, but reading in order is best to avoid spoilers.
172 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 2024
11 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Della Pearl
4 books41 followersI'm Della Pearl and I write cozy mysteries set in the Pacific Northwest.
I love rain, dogs, chocolate, and reading mysteries.
Classic Hollywood movies are a passion, which is how the Matinee Classics Cozy Mystery Series was born.
I'm a Nancy Drew superfan.
With my five kids launched in the world, I write stories and go on beach walks and adventures in the woods with my husband or bff, and often a furry friend on a leash.
Follow me here and on Amazon and you will receive notifications when I am releasing a new book.
https://www.amazon.com/author/della_p...
Go to my website to
sign up for my newsletter and receive a cozy mystery novella set in my Matinee Classics Cozy Mystery Series!
https://dellapearl.blogspot.com/p/new...
Happy reading, sleuths!
I love rain, dogs, chocolate, and reading mysteries.
Classic Hollywood movies are a passion, which is how the Matinee Classics Cozy Mystery Series was born.
I'm a Nancy Drew superfan.
With my five kids launched in the world, I write stories and go on beach walks and adventures in the woods with my husband or bff, and often a furry friend on a leash.
Follow me here and on Amazon and you will receive notifications when I am releasing a new book.
https://www.amazon.com/author/della_p...
Go to my website to
sign up for my newsletter and receive a cozy mystery novella set in my Matinee Classics Cozy Mystery Series!
https://dellapearl.blogspot.com/p/new...
Happy reading, sleuths!
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 13, 2025
When I saw the title of this book, I immediately thought of the 1966 movie, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken starring Don Knotts. That movie is mentioned in the book! Stevie Jewel and her best friend Melanie Ellison run the Sweet Penny Pinecone Theater in Washington. Stevie has chosen to show the movie right before Halloween. The week of Halloween while the two friends are at the cemetery cleaning graves as part of the town's historical documentation project, they stumble upon a body. Stevie starts sleuthing and looking for answers as to what happened and why. I enjoyed reading this book. It was shorter than most mysteries I've read but it held my attend from beginning to end. I didn't realize that this is the third book in the series. The author did a great job of providing information so that this book worked as a standalone.
August 6, 2025
The story was well paced. I really liked most of the characters except her BFF she seemed kinda lame. But I didn't read the other books so I might have missed some backstory. I feel like I didn't miss much though. It was very well explained. The mystery it's was interesting until the twist at the end. I would definitely read the other books in the series. Cute cozy mystery on a fall or rainy day for sure.
September 29, 2024
Stevie claims she isn't looking for trouble when she finds it but one has to wonder. This is another interesting who dun it that again puts Stevie and her friend Melanie in danger but what to you expect when you hang out in old graveyards. I enjoyed Stevie's methods for uncovering the clues to the mystery, she sure asks a lot of questions.
October 1, 2024
The Body and Mr. Chicken is a delightfully twisted, cozy mystery. It is the end of October when Stevie and Melanie are cleaning graves in the decrepid, town cemetery. Then Stevie finds an unburied dead body! With a hook like tha I could not put the book down. I love this small town and the movie theater. It is always a pleasure to be in Sweet Penny Cove!
October 16, 2024
body
Finished the book, it was an interesting twist on Halloween. The storyline was good and the characters were different. Ok
Finished the book, it was an interesting twist on Halloween. The storyline was good and the characters were different. Ok
February 2, 2025
Fun to read
This was really fun to read little scary little funny but the characters were interesting and believable I enjoyed the story in
This was really fun to read little scary little funny but the characters were interesting and believable I enjoyed the story in
April 4, 2025
A nice cozy murder mystery. The story wasn’t predictable and it was an interesting read.
August 20, 2025
Fun and creepy in a good way. The characters are deep enough and quirky, which makes for a great small-town vibe. The mystery itself is intriguing, and I didn't guess the ending. An enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews