Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh: A Mrs. Pargeter Mystery [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Simon Brett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1993

While visiting the health spa her friend attends, Mrs. Pargeter discovers evidence of a suspicious death, and she soon sets off on a torturous trail through the charlatanism of the health industry. (Mystery)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The late Mr. Pargeter left his widow pots of money and his address book, "a compendium of contacts which could procure a surprising range of unconventional services." When a young friend wants a slimmer self with which to welcome her husband (a former employee of the late Mr. Pargeter) home from jail, Mrs. P. uses her new sources not only to get them a free sojourn at a health spa, but also to assist in her investigation of some peculiar corpses she encounters there. Brett makes the most of the milieu, serving up delicious descriptions of "Dead Sea Mud Bath" treatments and "Mind Over Fatty Matter" products. There's even an attempted murder using a passive exercise machine. Although Brett's Charles Paris mysteries offer superior characterization, this third to feature Mrs. Pargeter (after Mrs. Presumed Dead ) is consistently witty and convincing. Readers will gobble it up, especially its six happy resolutions.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The ebullient, amusing, and sixtyish Melita Pargeter ( Mrs. Presumed Dead, LJ 4/1/89), widow of a talented and much-loved ex-con, takes the waters at a health spa in order to help a friend. Melita starts snooping, however, when she spies men removing a body in the dead of night. Still, using the services of her late husband's criminal cronies, Melita courts disaster as she nears the truth. The author's wry tone, coupled with Melita's cheek, will make everyone want to visit. This is up to Brett's usual high standards.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr; Lrg edition (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560547715
• ISBN-13: 978-1560547716
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,127,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A frothy delight, December 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh (Crime, Penguin) (Paperback)

This book is, in a word, delightful. Mrs. Pargeter, she of the comfortably ample physique, checks into a posh "fat farm" with her friend Kim, who wants to shed a few pounds before her husband is released from an obligatory, er, engagement. I was perfectly willing to suspend all logical objections to the rather thin plot, as Mrs. Pargeter and her late husband's cronies enchanted me. I'm not generally a fan of the British cosy, but this one kept me reading late into the evening; and if it hadn't been Christmas eve, I'd have rushed out to find a few more of Mrs. Pargeter's adventures to sustain myself over the coming long weekend.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fat Farm, Death Farm, September 14, 2010

By 

Nash Black "Troubadour" (Jamestown, KY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh (Crime, Penguin) (Paperback)

MRS. PARGETER'S POUND OF FLESH by Simon Brett is a special diet of fun and murder for the widowed lady who in a moment of weakness agreed to accompany a friend to a famous weight loss spa.
She was getting a much needed rest without following the dietary counsel until she sees a young girl's body being wheeled away on a gurney. Then her nose twitches as she finds herself on a quest for justice.
Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The difficulty with mud is keeping it muddy, June 21, 2004

By 

Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh: A Mrs. Pargeter Mystery (Hardcover)

Mrs. Pargeter is at a health spa, but she does not seem to dislike her body. The health spa business relies upon the emotions of guilt and envy. Mrs. Pargeter and her friend Kim Thurrocks are attending gratis. The late Mr. Pargeter had had business connections with the owner. Mrs. Pargeter is not inclined to eat the diet food. Eating creme brulee pleases the chef.

There are shady characters at the spa, but only Mrs. Pargeter seems to notice and she is not concerned. She witnesses an overly thin girl being wheeled from the premises. She hires a detective to find some answers. The supposed decedent is an only child. The detective has the name of Truffler Mason. At the spa the Dead Sea Mud Bath treatment is based on a book. The difficulty with mud is keeping it muddy. The basement of the place is divided into cubicles for the mud treatment.

The boyfriend of the university student, the thin girl, is located. Eventually Mrs. Pargeter travels to Cambridge to interview some of the girl's fellow students. At the spa the customers aree dressed in Mind over Fatty Matter leotards. These costumes accentuate their bulges.

Mrs. Pargeter discovers an employee disabled by the mud and finds the response of the physician suspicious. Mr. Pargeter had been involved in questionable schemes and so Mrs. Pargeter's frame of reference is broad-based, liberal. It is discovered a whole line of goods has emerged from the concept of Mind over Fatty Matter. Mrs. Pargeter uses an investigative journalist to challenge the creator of the concept in search of clues to explain the doubtful scenes she has encountered at the spa.

Along the way it is discovered that the owner of the spa, Arkwright, acually belongs to a Rotary Club. It turns out an experimental treatment to alter body shape underlies the problems at the spa. The writing is accomplished and merry.