Dorothy Cannell

The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell is a 1984 Bantam publication.

Many years ago, I read a few books in this series and thought they were hilarious. When I realized they were in digital format, I started slowly gathering them together so I could read the whole series start to finish.

This first book was published in 1984- which makes the series much older than I remembered, and one will have to keep that in mind on occasion.

The plot follows a familiar mystery format to some extent. We have a relative die- a will that stipulates the inheritor performs certain tasks within a specific timeframe or else the other relatives get a piece of the fortune. This setup means family secrets are unveiled, and perhaps a few upset relatives who might resort to sabotage… or murder.

In this instance, we have Ellie Simmons, a woman who struggles with her weight, and Ben Haskell, her fake fiancé, attempting to lose weight, write a book, and find a hidden treasure within a six-month time frame amid various attempts to prevent them from achieving those goals.

As with many cozies, the mystery part of the story was not the primary focus, and things didn’t really get interesting on that front until deep into the book. In the meantime, we are entertained by Ellie’s decorating chores, the sharp, often biting banter between Ellie and Ben, and the charming Dorcus, hired to help Ellie around the house, as well Ben’s delicious culinary skills.

While some of the situations were far-fetched-and expert mystery readers will probably have a good idea whodunit- for a first in a series book, written over thirty years ago, this one is pretty good. It is slightly dated with some insensitive remarks here and there- but overall, I thought it aged well.

This is a fun and entertaining cozy, and I enjoyed getting reacquainted with Ellie again- and look forward to reading through this delightfully funny series.… (more)

After reading some of the reviews, I was skeptical that I would not like this book. I have not read this series before and it is always difficult to start in the middle. While there were references I'm sure would have made more sense had i read the rest of the books, I was still able to thoroughly enjoy this cozy mystery. I will agree with others that the mystery part is not a large part of the book, however the humorous tone of the book more than makes up for the lack of mystery throughout. I enjoyed the main character, Ellie, and will definitely start at the beginning of this charming series. I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.… (more)