A silly, sweat mystery in which five desperate people come together to fight calories and carbs, support each other and solve a mystery in the process of losing weight. Nicely told without being condescending toward large people (though a number of peripheral characters are less than kind). I look forward to the next book in this series. ( )

I was intrigued by the title and thought I'd give it a go. It was an easy to read mystery, something light and fluffy. Not really my thing, but fun every once in awhile. I wasn't interested enough to want to continue the series. ( )

This book was originally published under the pen name J.B. Stanley in 2008. This is a brand-new, fully revised edition published under the author's real name, Ellery Adams.

In this first book of the series we are introduced to James Henry, The Professor, who isn't satisfied with his life. He is recently divorces and has moved back to his small hometown to take care of his aging father after the death of his mother. He tends to eat his worries away and looks for happiness in the foods that he eats, especially cheese puffs. He is working in the local library and does seem to enjoy that part of his life. When a high school teacher comes in and asks to put up a flier for a "Supper Club" for those who want to lose weight, he decides to join not only to lose some weight, but to meet some people. They call themselves "The Flab Five".

The mystery in this story is who killed local, washed up, football star, Brinkley Meyers. A young woman, who has a strong dislike for Brinkley, is arrested for the crime, but the group is sure she is innocent and set out to prove it. Using their brains, their great questioning techniques and likability, the club works their way through facts, clues, and gossip. Will they be able to come up with the answer to who killed Meyers? There are some side stories going on as well that add interest and flesh out the characters and the town. I enjoyed this story with realistic characters, a friendly setting. This was a fun cozy with a surprising ending that made me smile. Being a full figured gal myself, I appreciated the way the author handled the subject of weight loss, making it a normal part of the story. I am looking forward to reading more in this series. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. ( )

English Professor James (now the town librarian) moves back to his hometown to take care of his widowed father and is invited to join a Supper Club. The club (later called the flab five) is for members trying to lose weight. As the newly formed group start a low-carb diet and start to form friendships, the town is rocked by the murder of a high school football alumni.

James and the rest of the flab five tried to weed through who could have killed the ex-jock. Was it one of the ladies he has spurned, a boyfriend that didn’t like Brinkley’s attention to his girl, or the sweet young waitress at the town diner?

The book is more than just about a mystery. The author pulls you in and has you falling in love with the likable yet flawed James, the wanna be cop Lucy, Bennett the postman, Lindy the teacher, Gillian the pet groomer, and Jackson (James’s dad) the lovable grump.

This book is a great start to what I know will be a favored series.
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this was a pretty good book. Not one of those ones where I obsessively read but a pretty good one none the less. The mystery part of it was not very good, like not very mysterious but the friendship part is pretty good. plus the feelings they express about their weight loss and stuff is pretty cool to read about because that is something I can currently relate to.. All in all, I won't read it again but I don't regret taking the time to read it either. ( )