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    The Legend of Diamond Lil: A J.J. Tully Mystery
    The Legend of Diamond Lil: A J.J. Tully Mystery
    The Legend of Diamond Lil: A J.J. Tully Mystery
    Ebook104 pages39 minutes

    The Legend of Diamond Lil: A J.J. Tully Mystery

    By Doreen Cronin and Kevin Cornell

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    About this ebook

    The Legend of Diamond Lil, second book in the illustrated J.J. Tully mystery series, is perfect for elementary-school kids who love adventure and animals. New York Times bestselling author Doreen Cronin brings the same wonderful humor to the JJ. Tully whodunits that she did to her beloved picture book bestsellers like Diary of a Worm.
     
    In this sequel to the chapter book The Trouble with Chickens, all search-and-rescue dog J.J. Tully wants is to enjoy his retirement. But mama chick Moosh and chicks Dirt and Sugar are acting strange. A possum keeps finding its way into the chicken coop. And J.J. has questions about Diamond Lil, the fancy new dog next door. He’ll have to track down the clues and sniff out the evidence to save the day.
     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 28, 2012
    ISBN9780062099334
    The Legend of Diamond Lil: A J.J. Tully Mystery
    Author

    Doreen Cronin

    Doreen Cronin is the author of many bestselling and New York Times bestselling picture books, including Click, Clack, Quack to School!; Click, Clack, Surprise!; Click, Clack, Ho, Ho, Ho; Click, Clack, Peep; Click, Clack, Boo!; Dooby Dooby Moo; Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure; Bounce; Wiggle; Duck for President; Giggle, Giggle, Quack; Bloom; and the Caldecott Honor Book Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type as well as The Chicken Squad series and Cyclone. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her at DoreenCronin.com.

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    Reviews for The Legend of Diamond Lil

    4/5

    24 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Diamond Lil comes to live next door to J.J. Tully but she comes with a secret. While the two of them strike up a friendship it seems as though J.j. is right not to trust her. When he finds out her secret he realizes the danger they were all in.I love this series. Vincent the Funnel turns informant this time around. Lil is not what she seems. The chicks are as wild as ever and Mama Chicken is, indeed, a broody hen. I loved the story. I hope more stories about J. J. Tully are coming. I just love the 1940's gumshoe style.
    • 4/5
      The Legend of Diamon Lil: A J.J. Tully Mystery by Doreen Cronin is a book written from the perspective of J.J. the dog, and his interaction with the environment and other animals (among them his friends Moosh, Vince, Poppy, Sugar, and Sweetie). A new dog, Lillian (Lil) moves in, and J.J. is immediately suspicious, but gets to know Diamond Lil. This book has short chapters, and is an extremely fast read. I would recommend this book to a boy or girl in third though sixth grade.
    • 4/5
      I absolutely loved this book. It was interesting to read a Doreen Cronin book that wasn't a picture book. I found myself smiling at her humorous text and engaged with her writing. It revolves around a rescue dog and chickens who find themselves at the center of another mystery. A possum keeps finding its way into the chicken coop and how the new dog next door is involved. This book series is based on her father but the book follows a traditional mystery novel arc. If this book was around when I was beginning to read longer books, I would have loved it. The plot twists and relatable characters, even though they are animals, made me want to keep turning the page. The main themes in the book was what length will you go to for a friend or family member. I think this is a great beginner novel for a theme like this.
    • 5/5
      I recommend this book because it talks about how worry we are when there is something new going on in our lives. It also talks about friendship and the importance to know others.

    Book preview

    The Legend of Diamond Lil - Doreen Cronin

    1

    Night Shift

    A week ago, I woke up in a quiet country yard that smelled like fresh air and dog pee. It was a place where fluffy young chicks felt safe and a fellow like me could get a good night’s sleep—the kind of sleep that a retired search-and-rescue dog ought to have earned by now.

    But that was before the possum showed up.

    Skunks, possums, rats, and raccoons—the country is full of ’em—and every last one of them will do things to a chicken that no soft-boiled kid should ever see.

    She was three feet from the chicken coop. How she got past me in the first place, I couldn’t know—at the time.

    I was across the yard in less time than it takes for a burp to clear the space between my mouth and my nose. She twisted her body around and showed me her sharp, dangerous smile through a hiss.

    In that moment, I knew she was a problem.

    She wasn’t the first predator to take a chance in my yard.

    But she was the only one who had come back a second time.

    A couple years back—before I was here to make any kind of difference—Barb had lost a whole flock of chickens to a possum.

    We were out on a search-and-rescue drill and I could tell something was not right.

    I heard her tell one of the other handlers what she had found in her yard that morning.

    She had been shaken up by that loss. And it wasn’t going to happen again.

    Not as long as I was here.

    I pounced and the possum ran—straight up the fence and out of sight.

    If I had followed her, I would have found the real trouble that was lurking next door. Instead, it found me.

    2

    The Usual Suspects

    I came home from my morning walk to find a chicken blindfolded and tied to a piece of rawhide. Six months ago, I would have found this disturbing. That was before I met Dirt and Sugar, two popcorn-colored chicks who lived with their mom, Moosh, and a matching set of popcorn-colored chicks in the coop across the yard.

    There were two plastic cups on the floor.

    Neither of the cups smelled like anything I wanted near my food bowl.

    Why? I grunted.

    Search-and-rescue practice, answered Sugar.

    Why can’t you do this at home? I asked.

    Mom doesn’t like the smell, replied Sugar.

    I don’t like the way you smell either, I muttered.

    "The smell of the cups," said Sugar with an eye roll.

    I was about to kick them out when something about the blindfold Dirt was wearing caught my eye.

    I expected a rag or maybe a sock, but it had stitching and an elastic band.

    Not the kind of thing a chicken would find lying around in the yard.

    I gave it a sniff.

    It smelled like baby powder.

    "Where did

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