The Thin Woman

The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell is a 1984 Bantam publication.

Many years ago, I read a few books in this series and thought they were hilarious. When I realized they were in digital format, I started slowly gathering them together so I could read the whole series start to finish.

This first book was published in 1984- which makes the series much older than I remembered, and one will have to keep that in mind on occasion.

The plot follows a familiar mystery format to some extent. We have a relative die- a will that stipulates the inheritor performs certain tasks within a specific timeframe or else the other relatives get a piece of the fortune. This setup means family secrets are unveiled, and perhaps a few upset relatives who might show more resort to sabotage… or murder.

In this instance, we have Ellie Simmons, a woman who struggles with her weight, and Ben Haskell, her fake fiancé, attempting to lose weight, write a book, and find a hidden treasure within a six-month time frame amid various attempts to prevent them from achieving those goals.

As with many cozies, the mystery part of the story was not the primary focus, and things didn’t really get interesting on that front until deep into the book. In the meantime, we are entertained by Ellie’s decorating chores, the sharp, often biting banter between Ellie and Ben, and the charming Dorcus, hired to help Ellie around the house, as well Ben’s delicious culinary skills.

While some of the situations were far-fetched-and expert mystery readers will probably have a good idea whodunit- for a first in a series book, written over thirty years ago, this one is pretty good. It is slightly dated with some insensitive remarks here and there- but overall, I thought it aged well.

This is a fun and entertaining cozy, and I enjoyed getting reacquainted with Ellie again- and look forward to reading through this delightfully funny series. show less

Didn't think I'd like this one at all near the beginning, but it (mostly) got better and better until by the end I was ready for the next in the series.

Pros: likable protagonists, surprising (to me at least) conclusion, but not wildly out-of-nowhere (ugh, I hate those!), good pace, interesting subplots, interesting plot (not a collection of episodic interview suspect, find clue, interview suspect, find clue, etc.)

Cons (and this all threatened to derail it for me, so I'm glad I persisted):

First, Ellie's family suffers from a very 1980s case of over-the-topness. To be fair, I've been there and done that--it just doesn't ring true anymore, but I remember that back in the days when Vanity Fair magazine was read seriously for its reporting show more of expensive parties, people did overdo it, so I'll forgive her this one.

Second, Ellie's attempt to lose weight (something else I've done) made no sense whatsoever in terms of execution. Giving up sweets but otherwise eating splendidly (there are many descriptions of delicious meals served up by Ben) will not shed the pounds, not without much extra exercise.

Third, she hires Ben from an escort agency that resembles real life as much as Kim Kardashian resembles Harvey Keitel, i.e. not at all.

So those irked. But not enough to knock it down past 3.6 out of 5, say.

(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = very good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm good at picking ones I'd like so I do end up with a lot of 4s!) show less

Ellie begins by telling us about her invitation to a family reunion at Merlin's Court, why she doesn't want to attend and how she came to hire Bentley to act as her escort to the event. I did enjoy reading about her dysfunctional family, the unusual will and the quest it set up. I might give Cannell another try although I'm a little ambiguous about the type of humor she writes.

I loved the premise of this funny first-in-a-series mystery—tired of all of the pointed comments about her weight and her relationships or lack of same, Ellie hires Ben to be her escort to a family reunion. When Uncle Merlin dies, in accordance with his will Ellie and Ben are given a year to accomplish specific tasks that might change their lives for the better – if they can also solve a puzzle before time runs out or other relatives stop them.

I found out about this novel while reading one of the death in demand mysteries by Carolyn Hart. It’s a quaint older novel set in rural England. Main character is a heavy set woman who ‘rents’ a date for a family reunion. After the reunion, she finds out this mansion where an uncle lives has been bequeathed to her and the “fiance”. There are many humorous moments. Some odd things that happen through out the story and the engaged couple end up together at the story’s conclusion. I rather enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

This book started off with hilariously funny sarcasm--maybe worth reading for just the first few chapters. Then as the actual plot developed, it turned into a so-so mystery, and most of the humor disappeared. Not a bad mystery, but I didn't get into it nearly as much.

Definitely light reading, which was what I wanted.

The story was well written, but the book (which I read in electronic format) was so badly proofread I wanted to box someone's ears! It's obvious that it was typed and a spell-check was run, but there was no human intervention before the publishing. Here's an example:
"You may mink poorly of her going off with another man, but she was a remarkable woman."

This would pass spell check, but the word should have been "think". Many instances like this exist in the book, taking one out of the story and back to the real world with a thump.

Parts of the plot were a bit trite, and I was a annoyed that the heroine hit her weight goal in 6 months by dieting, which is so rarely the case.

From some of the other reviewers on Amazon I get the impression show more that the electronic book may have been abridged, as well, which is always annoying. Shame on Random House Digital Editions, especially since the book as listed on amazon is the full price of any of the dead tree versions.

The author can write, and I'm going to see if there are more. This one is from the library - it's definitely worth a read. show less