The Widow's Club

Ellie Simons has a great deal on her mind: her pending marriage to handsome Bentley Haskell; the opening of his restaurant in the charming English town of Chitterton Fells; the restoration of the castle Merlin's Court, where she and Ben live. Most compelling of all, Ellie must learn to feel comfortable with her newly thin body, celebrated in the first Cannell mystery, The Thin Woman. But from the bacchanalian wedding reception on, she runs into trouble. She and Ben seem to drift apart. His parents, preparing for divorce, arrive separately to live at Merlin's Court. And in her heart of hearts, Ellie is convinced she is still a fat person. Into her already chaotic life come Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell, proprietors of Flowers Detection Agency, to enlist her help in an investigation. Chitterton Fells has been marked by a recent rash of murders, the victims all unfaithful husbands. The Tramwells suspect the the existence of a Widows' Club, whose services include emotional support, various social activities and, possibly, murder. Ellie joins the effort to ferret out ""the Founder,'' who could be any of a number of prominent citizens from the notorious Dr. Simon Bordeaux to Edward Digby, writer of murder mysteries. The humor is broad and delivery fastindeed franticand while the resolution may seem far-fetched, Ellie, for all her scatterbrained foolishness, remains a heroine with gumption and grace. (May)