Rex Dexter is itching to have a dog. He was practically born to have one. His name is Rex, for crying out loud. When Rex s B-Day for Me-Day finally arrives, his parents surprise him with a box. Could it be? Yes! It has to be! A Chicken? Pet poultry? How clucky. Rex s uninvited ghostly guests are a chatty, messy bunch. And they need Rex to solve their mysterious deadly departures from the Middling Falls Zoo before it happens again. But how?