Carbs and Cadavers

Welcome to Quincy's Gap, Virginia home of the warmly engaging James Henry. Whoever said going home was easy? It can be a bumpy rode at first but turns out to be the path meant to travel.Former college professor now librarian, James Henry, returns home to care for his irascible father, Jackson, after the untimely death of his mother. Dubbed "Professor Puff" by his former students, James is more than a little overweight. Determined to do something about his expanding waistline and his incessant munching James joins a diet club to trim off the pounds. There he meets some of the most appealing individuals you'll ever meet.The members of the supper club coin themselves the "Flab Five." The four members of the Flab Five are just as charismatic and delightful as James. The bond forms and friendship builds. The love of food isn't the only ingredient holding the gang together. The darling group gets embroiled in a murder in their charming hometown.Resolved to find out who would do such a thing, the Flab Five set out to track a killer.Chockfull of friendship and fun the entertaining bunch warms you heart. J.B. Stanley does a magnificent job setting up this remarkable series! The characters, plot and setting are sensational. Ms. Stanley is simply superb.I was tempted to visit James and the rest of the bunch in Quincy's Gap.This is a must for cozy fans, series connoisseurs, mystery devotees, or one looking for a phenomenal read.Run don't walk to pick up this phenomenal book!!!

This book is the first of The Supper Club Mysteries series. The main character, James Henry, is a kind of Everyman easy to identify with. He is a quiet fellow who makes the best of life. His weakness for food, especially cheese puffs, is understandable, and you find yourself rooting for him to "get in shape" and feel good about himself. But life is full of food temptations, and it is a constant struggle for James. What I especially enjoy about the story is his difficult relationship with his widowed father. James has returned to his small hometown in Virginia to look after his dad. He takes a job running the town's public library and meets an overweight patron who wants to start a supper club for other people trying to diet and needing moral support. It's a touchy subject, but the group's struggles are inspiring, if sometimes quite humorous. James even finds a love interest among the Supper Club crowd. She happens to work for the sheriff's department, which helps when they come up against a murder. I enjoyed the comaraderie of the group as they solved the crime together.

James Henry's life has brought him many changes in the last few months. Right after his divorce, his mother died and he moved home to care for his dad. He's taken the job of head librarian for the Quincy Gap branch. Of course, since this is such a small Virginia town, the job is much more prestigious then it sounds. James has had a hard time making friends since he moved back, so that's why he decides to become the fifth member in a local supper club. The entire group could stand to lose weight, so they decided to count carbs together. Dubbing themselves the "Flab Five," they set out to reach their own weight goals. The club has barely gotten off the ground when the local trouble maker dies in the bakery. Lucy, one of the supper club members, decides this unusual event is the perfect time to prove she can be a real cop instead of just their dispatcher. The victim had made lots of enemies in his short life, so finding suspects is easy. But working together, these five new friends just might find the killer. This is the first book in a new series that shows plenty of promise. The characters are quirky and charming, and I fell in love with them. The small town setting was equally as enjoyable. The plot was a bit uneven at times, but did proved several nice clues and red herrings before the suspenseful end. The book also includes two low carb recipes to try later. The "Flab Five" are an entertaining bunch, and I look forward to a chance to meet up with them again soon.

Carbs & Cadavers was a nice, easy and entertaining read. I recommend it strongly. You can love a Clancy, Ludlum or other book but never identify with the hero and their special world saving talent. But Carbs & Cadavers offers numerous characters to identify with in one way or another or possibly recognize a friend or two. The 5 members of the Flab Five share the all too common desire to shed some extra weight, but each has a special food crutch like cheese puffs, frosting, or doughnuts. What you may not identify with is murder in a small town. But if you believe that the Flab Five can help solve a murder, then you'd be right. The story easily flows and soon you've read the whole enjoyable thing. Just like a good cookie...or two.

I found this book to be very entertaining and a very good read - the pages fly by. I eagerly look forward to the next installment, for the book has a mix of mystery and humor with lively characters that are well thought out and are a pleasure to follow as they go about their adventures. I look forward to seeing how they handle the next mystery in "Fit to Die."