Customer Reviews

Chili Con Corpses (The Supper Club Mysteries)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

J.B. Stanley once again teases our taste buds and sates our appetites with Chili Con Corpses, the third installment in her utterly delicious Supper Club Mystery series. On this occasion, we bump into two supper club members, James and Bennett, working hard at the gym when Murphy Alistair, the editor of The Shenandoah Star Ledger, walks into the Y, accompanied by two drop-dead gorgeous strangers - twins Parker and Kinsley Willis. Later, while James and Bennett are rewarding their hard work at the gym with a treat from the Custard Cottage, Murphy and the twins show up again, and introductions are made. Parker is a vet who attended Virginia Tech with Murphy, and Kinsley is her quirky twin sister from New York.

The supper club members, a.k.a. The Flab Five, are five Quincy's Gap, VA residents with very different backgrounds and interests, who get together on a regular basis for friendship and moral support in their quest to lose weight and improve their health. Since they have all made great strides toward their goals but are getting a bit tired of constantly dieting, Lindy suggests they try something new - so the club members all sign up for 10 Saturday cooking classes at Fix `n Freeze - to have fun and allow themselves to splurge on Mexican cuisine once a week.

James Henry, local librarian and supper club member, figures prominently in this particular supper club mystery. He's having some health issues, is having some problems in his romantic relationship with fellow supper clubber, Lucy, is worried about his father, is trying to resolve a dilemma dealing with a lottery ticket left at the library, and is unfortunate enough to stumble upon a very dead body while serving as a chaperone at Lindy's behest on a school field trip. When things start to look really bad for Lindy, the supper club members decide to do some sleuthing on their own. They are actually downright clever and come up with several ingenious ways to ferret out information about the possible suspects, although it isn't until all five of the club members are involved and working together that things really start to heat to boiling.

This is a thoroughly delightful cozy mystery, with a wonderful cast of realistic main characters, any of whom this reader would enjoy meeting in person, enough suspense and action to keep the story moving right along, and, as if that weren't enough, there are also several scrumptious Mexican recipes included! All in all, Chili Con Corpses is a very satisfying read, and I'll be waiting anxiously for J.B. Stanley's fourth Supper Club Mystery!

Carol Ann Hopkins 3/24/2008

I love JB's books. And I'm not saying this because I've met her and she was nice to me.
This story was up to caliber with the others I've read of hers. The main characters are facinating. I love having to deal with James' problems, because they feel like my own. I can relate to him, which for me is a very good read.
I loved the concept, but for me doing this particular setting was just average.
The plot was well structured, and I didn't find lots of loose ends or things that didn't seem to match the story. That makes me very happy.
I like the recipes in the book, and would try them if it wasn't for my DH being a vegetarian.
If you like a fast read with "normal" problems that everyone might deal with instead of the "out there" issues, this is a mandatory read.

I have not read any of the other books in this series, but we have a group of folks who love to eat. When a new "member" of their group ends up murdered, they band together to find out who dun it. There is a hodge-podge of romantic interests, which keeps you guessing, as well, as the mystery. The big surprise, though, are the recipes scattered throughout the book. I can hardly wait to try them, and assuming the rest of the series are along the same lines, will have to read them, as well, for the mysteries, but also for the recipes.

James, Bennett, Lindy, Lucy and Gillian are members of the Flab Five, a club who supports the members concerning proper diet and exercise so they can lose weight. It is a diverse group with Lindy trying to get up the courage to tell the high school principal she likes him. James and Lucy are an entry but the two are drifting apart and the relationship ends when he sees her with another man who is helping her pass her test to be a police officer.

James is drafted into being a chaperone at the Luray Caverns where art students can paint after hours. While everyone is in a different area, one of the students finds the body of Parker Willis who they later find out is an heiress who was in practice with veterinarian Collin Crabtree. Her twin sister Kinsley is distraught so the group members try to console her. They once again start sleuthing to find the killer while Kinsley lets her ex-boyfriend Gary console her.

CHILI CON CORPSES is as much a tale of friends with common interests as it is an amateur sleuth mystery. The five members of the support group know each other's strengths and faults, but like each other despite of their weaknesses. James is the glue that holds the story together as he takes care of his father, tries to remain friends with Lucy while pursuing another relationship and guiding the investigation so that nobody is in danger.

Harriet Klausner

Author's writing style is very enjoyable, and the mystery was weighted well against the personal lives of the characters. I will definitely be looking for more from this author.

This was a fun mystery! I always enjoy amature sleuths and this group had lots of spunk and imagination! A nice twisy plot with multiple suspects!

I thought the premise might be trite but found it amusing and light. A great book to pick up for entertainment and some mystery. Did keep you wondering who and what may be out there and seeking to kill. The book was a mystery after all but had some great characters and some unique twists and turns. Loved the ending.

I found this book really delightful. Its descriptive writing makes for a fun and cozy holiday adventure, from a few weeks before Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. I haven't read any of the other Supper Club books, but I was still able to jump right in and enjoy the story. A couple of the recipes sprinkled throughout the book made my mouth water, and I am looking forward to trying a few! I will be reading more Supper Club Mysteries, that's for sure!

I just got a Kindle (best thing EVER), and thought I'd try some free books to see how I liked it because I'm a book lover by nature and wondered how I'd adapt to reading on an electronic device. Anyway, this book was charming; I enjoyed the characters and the settings (they were well-described without being laboriously so). The story itself was fun, if a bit unrealistic, but who cares about realism in a novel like this? I also very much enjoyed the inclusion of the recipes. What a neat idea!

I'm not sure if was just the Kindle edition, but it was rather poorly edited (lots of typos and weird spacings--words would be broken up in the middle: "mis sing" etc.), but I just glossed over that stuff and enjoyed the book. It's a fast read, fun, and as I note in the title of the review, quite charming.

Librarian James Henry and his fellow "Flab Five" members are suffering from diet burnout and agree to sign up for a weekly cooking class in an effort to spice up their dull diet routines. When a fellow cooking class member is murdered, and suspicion falls on Lindy, the Flab Five launch their own investigation.

But let's be honest here - most of us read a "cozy" series because we want to catch up on the characters' lives, and in this third installment there is plenty going on in that department. James Henry gets some disturbing health news and his relationship with fellow dieter Lucy reaches a crossroads. Lindy may (finally!) be making some progress in the romance department, and even James's father seems to be jumping on the relationship bandwagon.

I've gotten attached to these characters, especially James Henry. The author has created a flawed and believable character who faces the kinds of problems that many of us can relate to. As the series progresses, the characters grow and change; their personalities becoming more distinct. I don't care for Lucy - she just rubs me the wrong way - and that, to me, is a sign that the author has created a believable cast of characters. In fictional Quincy's Gap, just as in real live, there are people you like, some you don't care for and others that don't make much of an impression one way or another.

What's that? You actually care about the mystery itself? Huh. OK then - it's pretty darn good. There are plenty of suspects to go around, clues to follow and enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you interested.

Bottom Line: This is a character driven "cozy" series set in a small town in the South. The main character and his friends are overweight, though this becomes less of an issue as the series progresses. The overall tone is uplifting, though in no way religious. There is no strong language or sexual content.

Book One:Carbs & Cadavers (The Supper Club Mysteries)
Book Two:Fit to Die (The Supper Club Mysteries)
Book Three:Chili Con Corpses (The Supper Club Mysteries)
Book Four:Stiffs and Swine (The Supper Club Mysteries)
Book Five:The Battered Body (The Supper Club Mysteries)
Book Six:Black Beans & Vice (The Supper Club Mysteries)