The Case of the Roasted Onion

The Casebook of Dr. McKenzie #1

by Claudia Bishop

Meet the McKenzies.

On their farm nestled in upstate Trumansburg, New York, veterinarian Austin McKenzie and his wife Madeline keep themselves busy looking after a variety of ailing farm animals and pets in poor health. But while they may be able to mend creatures great and small, they have yet to find a cure for murder.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 5, 2006

About the author

Claudia Bishop is the nom de plume of mystery & fantasy author Mary Stanton.

Reviews

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable romp with equestrian characters - there's the scrappy rider who needs a horse because she's broke, the spoiled rich girl, the crazy woman who does love her horse, the vet who cares about animals and does his best to deal with people, etc. A fun mystery!

[ChrisGA · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the very definition of a cozy mystery--gentle and slower paced,with ordinary folks as the sleuths. In this case we have a retired vet school professor forced to open a vet practice due to bad financial investments, his patient and loving wife, and two young students who serve as his vet assistants. They form a investigative team to solve the mystery of serial vet murders, insurance scams and other skullduggery. Likeable characters but it dragged a bit too much for me even though cozies are my preferred genre.

[Marti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough character development; too many characters and possible suspects; no character particularly likable. This novel had possibilities - a retired vet professor from a prestigious school made some investments that backfired and thus needed a source of income. As a result, he retuened to his former life as a large animal vet. Sue to the physical requirements, the somewhat aging professor turned practicing vet took on two assistants. This novel took us into the horse competition world. All of this could have made for a great story but it just wasn't. I found myself getting confused and I wasn't sure if it was because I was bored or because everything was entirely too convoluted. Even the ending was unsatisfactory.

[Pat McGhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great combination of characters, plot and setting.

I'm a great fan of Claudia Bishop's I never at Hemlock Falls series. It was fun to have references made to the I n in this series. I love Austin, Maddie, Joe and Allie. Fun new characters with intelligence and humor. The veterinary tidbits were interesting as were the potential bad guys.

[Kristi Cz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting is charming. The main characters are likeable enough that I want to read the next in the series. And the bad guys are pure slime. This was the kind of relaxing read that's good for escaping during a stressful time. (I must be a little sick if I can consider a murder mystery a "relaxing read"!)

[Kellene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the four central characters, especially the relationship between Austin and Madeline. The peripheral characters (and there were MANY) were despicable. But most of all, I loved the animals. The mystery was fairly good, but a lot of vet and tech stuff that I was rather lost in. Still a decent book and a series that I may continue in the future.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pleasant cozy mystery. Not a lot of action, despite at least 3 murders, and not a lot of character development, but just pleasant. I picked this book up at a used book sale and it is well worth the $1.00 I paid for it. But I won't be eagerly searching out the rest of the series.

[Margaret Skrivseth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent cozy mystery. The going was slow in the first part of the book. But I’m glad I stayed with it. The Who Dunn it was fairly easy to guess.

[LESLIELBERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

This certainly had a lot of twists and turns. The writing style was very conversational, bringing one into the story.

[Mazzou B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste time reading. I tried, and it was very wordy (but not well-written) and full of too many details. Also had some bad language which wasn't necessary.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid mystery, cast of interesting personalities, a cute excursion from every day life.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not realize until I read the notes about the author that Claudia Bishop also writes as Mary Stanton. I like several of Mary Stanton's books, so I should have known. This isn't written quite the same way, but still...
Austin McKenzie is a vet in upper New York state. He and his wife Madeline live on a small farm with a few animals. He has retired from teaching, so he's getting older but he still tries to handle the practise himself. Madeline is concerned about him. The he learns from a friend that another vet has been shot - found dead at the side of the road. Larky Schumaker was to have been one of the vets at the 3-day event at Earlsdown. They need 4 to be rated. So, McKenzie is contacted. He and his wife both begin to smell a rat when a second vet, Benny Grazley is also shot. Brewster McClellan, an extremely wealthy man who buys finished horses for his obnoxious daughter to compete on and also has bought his way on to the committee for Earlsdown, comes by to bring McKenzie the agreement to vet the Earlsdown show. McClellan invites them to a dinner party for the vets and the other committee members of the show. McKenzie has called and asked for his old colleague Victor Berg from Cornell to find an assistant to help while he has to be at the show. Joe and Ally both show up badly needing the job. Joe has quite a bit of experience in the small animals department and Ally is experienced with horses. In the end, a compromise is reached - they will share the job. And the job will include room and board. Madeline and Austin have no children, tho they would have like to so they more or less adopt these. Austin also has an amazing sable collie named Lincoln who is very good at herding and running errands, etc.
But all these deaths make Joe furious and he is determined to find who is doing the killing and why. And it seems to be linked to Brewster McClellan in some way. Then their house is ransacked and their dog knocked out and Madeline is furious! So she sets about carefully planning her revenge - Bombs 1, 2 and 3....
Between Madeline and Joe, they get the case wrapped up.

[Diane Morasco · Rating 3 out of 5]

This warm series features veterinarian Austin McKenzie and his wife Madeline.Austin a retired professor at Cornell University has always loved caring for his pets and spending time with his loving wife Madeline. As the bills piled up, Austin had to come out of retirement and open a veterinarian office.The Mckenzie's farm is located in Trumansburg. Trumansburg is a village in Tompkins County, New York.

The Mckenzie farm is brimming with farm pets.When Austin is offered the opportunity to be the veterinary delegate to the Earlsdown Three-Day Event, he refuses.Madeline is excited to get away for a little vacation, and the $15,000 check convinces him he needs to accept.Now he just has to find someone to watch his practice and pets while they are gone.Joe and Allegra both arrive to apply for the job. Finding it too hard to pick one, the McKenzie's offer Allegra and Joe a chance to share the duties. They accept, but can they get along well enough to do the job?Before the event, vets start being killed.

Everyone fears a sniper, but Austin and Madeline are sure it's something more. Can they, with the help of Joe and Allegra, discover what's happening and who is the killer without putting any of them in danger?I thought the plot was well constructed. I enjoyed the details about the animals and event.Claudia Bishop did a fantastic job of interspersing the details with the investigation.This first installment in The Casebook of Dr. McKenzie is a fast reading cozy not to be missed.

[Catsalive · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1...

On their farm nestled in upstate Summersville, New York, veterinarian Austin McKenzie and his wife, Madeline, keep themselves busy looking after a variety of ailing farm animals and pets in poor health. But while they may be able to mend creatures great and small, they have yet to find a cure for murder...

Austin has never been a fan of high-society horseplay. So when he's invited to be the veterinary delegate to the Earlsdown Three-Day Event, he bluntly refuses. Madeline, however, reminds him how much they could use the money - and how much she would love to take the trip with him. But trouble rears up before they even leave town when one of Austin's fellow vets is killed by a sniper - and no one has a clue as to why. Now, as they jump into the high-stakes world of equestrian competition, Austin and Madeline must try to rein in a killer...

This was an easy, fun read.The characters were entertaining. There didn't seem much logic to Austin's solution, but who cares? I enjoyed it. Some of the animal passages are lovely: Linc's protection of Blackie & Juno's subsequent care for the pup; the birth of Sunny's foal; Andrew & Pony; the care for the suffering of a very ill mare - very sympathetically told. I would read another in this series if it came my way.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because it is set in rural upstate NY. It reminded me how nice it would be to have a Wegmans where I live now. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy quirky characters who love animals. I found a couple errors involving how murder victims were killed that the editor should have caught, if they still have editors. I would certainly read other books in the series if I come across them.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author's Hemlock Fall series so I figured I'd chance reading this book. It was a little slow at first, but different characters called for a little different style and in no time I was thoroughly enjoying it. I look forward to reading others in the series.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cozy was a little different from the normal for me. It has horses and veterinary, which neither one I know too much about. I did enjoy the character and the plot. I will be reading more in this series. I liked the fondness for animals, as parts of the book reminded me of myself with animals.

[Carol Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know much about horses, but I liked the characters in this book. The plot was also good, with twist and turns and several suspects.

[Annette Dashofy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many flaws regarding firearms.

[Toni berkshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this book - subtley witty, very horsey, very clearly written by someone who loves animals and enjoys life. Hope there are more to come.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author, Claudia Bishop seems to have two different series.
The Dr. McKenzie (vet) series, sounded like it might be a
good read.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun little mystery

[Lindig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much like a Sherlock Holmes homage.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. The mystery had me going until close to the very end.

[Jtomassetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE ROASTED ONION by Claudia Bishop was an entertaining book. However, as a horse mystery, any book by Dick Francis is better than this book.

[Susanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dr. McKenzie series is light mystery reading. If you like animals and light mysteries, you'll like the three books (so far) in this series.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

slow to get into, but pretty good mystery. interesting info regarding veterinary medicine. look forward to developments with 4 main characters in next books in series.

[Janell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Average murder mystery but the characters made me chuckle and were just eccentric enough to warrant an extra star. :-)

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

needed better editing. Bottle in stall referred to as plastic then as glass. Other editing issues also. For a young adult reader.

[Sonja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good start for this series, I'll be reading the others soon.