The Flab Five seem to have taken a hiatus when it comes to dieting, all except Lucy who is working hard to be able to pass her physical to become a detective. James is feeling hard done by as Lucy seems to be spending more time with the hunky younger man she is working out with. She also seems to have ditched the rest of the group as well. The Flab Four are still fast friends and when Lindy calls for help chaperoning a high school trip, they agree to help. They were not counting on one of the chaperone's being murdered in the caves and Lindy being a suspect to a certain degree. Of course they do everything they can to help find the real killer, with Lucy's help.

I am really enjoying this series, even though it does not have the quirkiness that many come to expect in a cozy mystery. This series contains tightly-knitted plots, and realistic mysteries to be solved, but also has well developed characters, loyal and heartwarming friendships, family tensions, second chances, and missed opportunities. This story introduces some new characters that I hope will become regulars in the stories. Virginia is a wonderful cook/chef who teaches cooking classes and perhaps a romantic interest for Jackson, Henry's father. We also get to know Jackson a lot better in this story. We find out about his painting, a bit about his deceased wife and see his life become a bit more interesting. Murphy, the newspaper reporter and owner, also becomes a larger part of the story and becomes closer to James in his loss of Lucy. All in all, the new characters add to the story and the familiar ones are still there making me feel comfortable as I visit Quincy's Gap. The mystery in this story was easier to solve for the reader, but it was interesting to see the friends put the clues together and gather the evidence necessary to prove who the killer was. Another very good cozy mystery from Ellery Adams. ( )

Five friends form a supper club to diet and exercise together. After attaining weight success they join a cooking class, this gives them a chance to socialize while learning new recipes. Members of the supper club are asked to chaperone teenage art students at a local cave venue. While there a member of the cooking class is murdered; now the members of the cooking class join together to solve the murder. This book is a murder mystery, recipe book and a romance. Much time is spent defining the relationships between some of the characters; though there are leaps and gaps of other unexplained relationships. At times I felt a little confused, and it frequently crossed my mind that the author was trying to cover too many bases; write a mystery or a recipe book. But as this is the first of a series of mysteries I hope future books will cement the characters more clearly. ( )

My thoughts on this book?!?! Its pretty Good. Its the perfect blend of suspense, murder, romance and humor all rolled into one. James, who is the main character, is so fun to follow. Truely a great book in a great series and I cant wait to read the next one.. ( )

I thought this story was just okay. It was somewhat interesting, and I liked that there were recipes included... But I felt that it was somewhat poorly written. ( )

James "Professor" Henry and his weight loss group "the flab five" are changing, mostly for the better as they are all losing weight. Not as fast as they would like but slowly going the right direction. When local reporter Murphy brings her friends, twin sisters, to visit the flab five are either welcoming or jealous (did I mention rich, skinny and nice twins?)

When one of the twins is killed James and Murphy decide to try and solve the murder to help the other twin.

There are a lot of sub-stories going on in this book, James and Lucy, James and Murphy, Lucy and another person trying to pass the police training tests, Jame's father Jackson has lost his passion for painting birds and is searching for what to do next, a cooking class for Mexican/Spanish food, plenty of references to reading and libraries (James is the librarian after all)and new relationships. All in all there is plenty to read here keep a reader coming back for me.

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