The Nantucket Diet Murders

I really love the island of Nantucket; I've been out each summer for the past 10 years for the deliciously relaxing wine festival they hold by the beach. I also love mystery stories, especially those with unorthodox characters. It seemed a natural for me to give The Nantucket Diet Murders a try. Virginia Rich was in her later years when she wrote this series - in fact she only finished 3 books before she passed away. Her main character - Eugenia Potter - is a grandmother who is widowed but still quite active and self sufficient. You can feel the realism and warmth that Virginia embued into this character from her own experiences. Genia, as she is known to her friends, maintains an active social life, a keen intellect and a well rounded sense of humor. She understands why one of her friends would want to remarry, but scoffs at the idea that a mature woman "needs" a man to make her complete. As the name indicates, the book is all about women on diets and the murders that spring up. I am certainly an outspoken foe of the ridiculous body image messages that women are foisted, and I appreciated the basic concept of the book - that being a healthy weight is fine, but to drive yourself to anorexia can quickly lead to death. The main characters schedule in daily walks, exercise sessions, and salad bar lunches to keep themselves as healthy as they can in their not-young bodies. I do appreciate all of that. However, the book goes a bit overboard on this. The main character - who is generally portrayed as the voice of wisdom and common sense - goes on and on about how "thin!!!" her friends are and how amazingly wonderful this is. She puts down her own weight several times, even though she'd previously been happy with herself. After a while the poor anorexic girl who died seems more to have been a plot device than a real rounded-out situation with depth. In fact the father of the girl dies on page 4 and that's pretty much the last you hear of her. Ironically, at the end there's a soliloquy about how the group of women would incorrectly be portrayed as shallow, rich, beautifully thin people by the media. It's as if the book, while launching itself as against unhealthy body image, then focusses on that topic as integral to every female's life for the entire rest of the book. Genie is constantly examining the looks and bodies of her friends, looking down on the unattractive clothing of another woman, and at times being quite snarky. On to the characters. Genia's group of friends are for the most part women she grew up with on Nantucket, as they raised their families together. You get Dee the fashion editor. Beth the "pudgy one". Gussie the best friend. Leah the martyr. Mary Lynne the southerner. Mittie the local. Helen the midwesterner. The problem is that all of these women are thrown at you immediately, and are barely distinct from each other beyond their stereotypes. There are many other characters as well, and it becomes a person soup, trying to keep tr

When I first picked up NANTUCKET DIET MURDERS and set in to begin reading, I felt a "duh" when suddenly noticing the significance of the word "diet" in the title. As I continued reading, I was drawn in by the deft (though too-close-to-home) descriptions of an arthritic, elderly man easing himself into a deep tub of steaming, soothing water. A bit later, I was saddened by a heartbreaking situation of anorexia, and intrigued by a bad guy diet pusher being situated in a culinary cozy. It didn't take long to realize the rich potential of poaching these simmering themes. Thankfully, a spicy, seasoned author like Rich knows the difference between poaching and pounding. Pounding on political issues in fiction can bruise the flavor for me. And, yes, I know that pounding on raw beef tenderizes it. As sensitive as I am, I don't need tenderizing, thank you. In the case of fiction, only a delicate touch can tastefully interpose issue investment ... or should I say, palatably? Virginia Rich's pen (wooden spoon?) has a delightfully delicate touch and deals with touchy themes with succulent taste. Definitely no pounding points problems here. Quite the contrary. Bear with me a minute, though, while I sidetrack to hammer a hair which I will later tenderize sagely into THE NANTUCKET DIET MURDERS. Sometimes I've been forced to quit reading novels of really great authors for two reasons. -- One is the beat-into-the-ground political agenda which dramatizes every which way that US Capitalism is the Arch Evil of "Humanity" (a humanity which is repeatedly presented as evil itself, by pseudo science raving, because it's screwing up the planet and bothering moles in holes). Please. Enough of this nonsense poked and prodded into otherwise good stories! This currently pervasive political agenda repeatedly designs Big Business as the polluted, polluting Bad Guy. It is a horrific twist of irony that so many novels offered by US publishing houses (many of which are owned overseas) dramatize our economic system as the ultimate evil. Yes, this is the system called Capitalism, which allows and encourages free-spirited give and take, ownership of private property, and the right to earn and own profit as individuals or private sectors, the system founded here by our wise forefathers who had hoped to solidify and protect a natural, healthy way for the spirit to live incarnated in a physical world. -- The other reason I've quit reading a few really great authors is that they push their plots with too much high level tension at a too fast pace. It keeps me riveted, yes. But. I feel like I'm having a heart attack all the way through the book, and am compelled to hurry to get, not to the end of the book, but OUT of it, to the other side of it. Of course, what better place to bash a political-economic system than from within the minds of the people being honored and sustained, body and soul, by it? And what better place than inside a mind being enthralled and en

I was first acquainted with the fictional sleuth Eugenia Potter through Nancy Pickard's "The 27-Ingredient Chili Con Carne Murders". Ms. Pickard was continuing the character that Ms. Rich had begun. Eager to backtrack, I discovered that Ms. Rich had written only 3 Eugenia Potter mysteries (in addition to the notes for "Chili") before her death. I was delighted to find this one still in print. Obviously carefully researched in the manner of Jane Langton, this book sketched a vivid portrait of a Nantucket winter, offering a range of characters to cheer for and despise. It was refreshing to see an older woman portrayed as the heroine, and what's more, anything but a reclusive widow. She keeps you guessing until the end, then throws in a little drama for good measure. I did not find the other two books, but did read "The Blue Corn Murders", the second Eugenia Potter book by Nancy Pickard, in which Ms. Pickard improves on her style and familiarity with Genia, exhibiting the same flair for research and complex character situations as did Virginia Rich.

Very good book. Sorry that this writer did not get to get on the bandwagon of recipe/mystery stories. Very pleased that Nancy Pickard has begun writing about Eugenia Potter. Would like to read the Cooking School Murders and the Baked Bean Supper Murders just to see how Virgina Rich was developing this character and if Nancy Pickard is keeping true to her form or is she developing a whole new persona for this character.