The Supper Club Mysteries starts with this book and is extremely entertaining. The entire premise, and one I find hits too close to home, is a group of "fatties" joining together to support each other as they try to lose weight. They title themselves the FLAB FIVE.

James Henry, the main character, is a divorced former professor from Wm & Mary who has an addiction to Cheese puffs and is carrying 50 lbs. of extra weight. He has returned home to Quincy Gap to care for his elderly father after his mother's death. James gets a job as a librarian and settles into what he considers a boring life which only drives him to his addiction more often than not. He feels friendless and alone so when the opportunity to make new friends and lose a few extra pounds is presented to him, he jumps at the chance not knowing what he is getting himself into.

At their first meeting, they are all distracted by sirens (one member works for the local sheriff) and plunge themselves into an investigation of the murder. Working together to both solve the mystery and lose weight, the dieters are melded together into close friends and band together to catch the killer.

The story is well-written and highly amusing with tales of diet cheating and buttons popping. I was completely engrossed in the story so I didn’t have to work about a “Cheese Puff Attack”. As a fellow dieter, my interest was held as to their progress and their setbacks along with the mystery. I look forward to a second helping - pun intended. ( )

James Henry has been recently divorced, and left the job he loved to move back home with his widowed father. He has no social life, and thanks to his addiction to cheese puffs, he's 50 pounds overweight. Life sucks. Then James happens to see a flyer for a supper club for dieters. Hoping to expand his social circle and find support for his weight loss plan, he signs up. One of the supper club members works in the sheriff's office, and what with one thing and another, they all become involved in a murder investigation.

Ok, so the premise is a little improbable, but it sounded like it might have good characters and I thought it would at least be entertaining. Unfortunately this was not the case. While all the elements for a good story were in place, I had to drag myself through this book. The characters had potential, the crime storyline was as good as your average Janet Evanovich novel, but it just didn't come together for me. The dialogue was stilted, and the writing in general was too much telling, not enough showing... if that makes sense.

Final word: 2, as in 2 delicious but fattening chocolate chip cookies out of 5. I'm tempted to scan the next book in the series to see if the writing improves, but I doubt I will get around to it. ( )

James Henry was perfectly happy in his quiet life as a college professor. but is comes to an end when his mother dies and he must return home to Quincy Gap to take care of his father. He has to leave the job he loves to care for his disagreeable, uncommunicative parent. He is at least able to get a job as librarian in the local library. But is is still not the future he had planned for himself. Even his wife has left him. So to stave off loneliness and to try to lose the weight he has put on, he decides to join the newly formed dieters' supper club. There he meets people who have the same goal as he- make friends while losing weight. He is especially interested in an employee of the sheriff's department, Lucy Hanover.

But the dieters' focus changes when an obnoxious local man is found dead at the bakery. The Supper Club members are drawn into the mystery and quickly find themselves awash in contradictory clues. Lucy has ambitions of becoming a deputy and this may be her lucky break. If she can help solve the murder the chauvinistic sheriff may be forced to take her seriously. James is pleased to help her, both to catch the killer and to spend more time with Lucy. The Supper Club members band together to figure out who killed the football star in the first murder to occur in Quincy Gap since 1913. Among trying to ignore their hungry pains, food cravings and the yearly Halloween parade, the struggling dieters have a lot on their plates.

This book is the first in the planned of Supper Club Mysteries. It is a fun addition to the market of food based cozies with endearing characters that will bring readers back for second helpings. The small town setting of Quincy Gap is also able to provide the ambiance and potential for further development. So many of us can relate to the frustration of dieting and will be looking forward to cheering along the efforts of The Supper Club.

J.B. Stanley is also the author of the Antique and Collectible Mysteries. ( )