Next of Kin — Ami Elizabeth Reeves

When marathoner Sally Brown shows up in Arkansas, her sister Suzanne gives her such a chilly reception that even ten-mile runs can't warm her. Then reporter Bobbie Lou Voight--who's been snooping into Suzanne's past--turns up dead during Delight's chicken cook-off.

Could pregnant Suzanne have wielded the lethal weapon? What about the beauty queen cheated out of the Miss Arkansas crown years ago by the deceased? Even local restaurateur R.D. Blackwell is under suspicion, what with those regular cash payments he'd been making to Bobbie Lou.

As a fifty-foot tall chicken statue named Shorty keeps an eye on all the citizens of Delight, the mystery surrounding Sally's sheltered childhood unravels at an even pace with her race to uncover the killer.