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36th out of 299 books
—
1,002 voters
The Thin Woman (Ellie Haskell Mystery #1)
Reluctant to show up at her family reunion carrying so many extra pounds, unmarried, overweight Ellie Simons hires Bentley T. Haskell to pose as her fiance, thus beginning a weekend of romance, jealousy, and murder.
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
May 1st 1992
by Crimeline
(first published 1984)
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Aug 19, 2008
Kathryn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fans of well-written cozy mysteries
Recommended to Kathryn by:
Melanie, and a cozy-British mystery book list
Shelves:
mystery,
contemporary-brit-lit
An enjoyable, humorous and very cozy mystery. The first half of the book got off a bit slow for me--we didn't seem to be making any progress, or finding many clues, to the "mystery." However, I enjoyed the cozy and easygoing writing style, all the details and little character traits (especially of Ellie). I found the second half much more exciting as we finally got a mystery to start working out--I admit that a few of the clues were too obvious, and though I had worked out most of the "whodunit"...more
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Ellie Haskell is a hapless young woman who is too chubby, too old, and too clumsy for life to take her seriously and bring her a man. Now, I am not a romance reader and this book is no typical romance......., you will not find here a long drawn out scene in which the main character experiences "flutterings" and "butterflies". Instead, you will find a thwarted Ellie eating an entire box of eclaires on her own (which we all know is the real story behind heartache and longing), or buying an outfit,...more
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What a bloody mess. Cannell adopts a 1930s, Agatha Christie-like style for her debut novel, which is a pleasant enough mystery for about two-thirds of its length. But then the author loses all sense of reality.
The heroine-narrator, an interior decorator obsessed with food, utters howler after howler (“I desired a roast beef sandwich with horse-radish and pickled onions with a wanton savagery that I had never felt for any man”), and her romance with an oddball male escort almost –- but not quite...more
The heroine-narrator, an interior decorator obsessed with food, utters howler after howler (“I desired a roast beef sandwich with horse-radish and pickled onions with a wanton savagery that I had never felt for any man”), and her romance with an oddball male escort almost –- but not quite...more
I absolutely loved this book! I love the British humor and I've laughed through the entire book...Many times! It's been 'an upper' for me when I've needed a boost of humor in a sometimes discouraging world. It's a darling story with an interesting set of characters. I've purchased copies for at least 10 friends & relatives. I am an avid reader of technical, historical, genealogical, religious and archeological books, but when I want some fun humor to read, I search out all of the Dorothy Can...more
I reallly wanted to be able to give this 3 stars. My goodreads friend reluctantly recommended this book at my request for a light read. I hate that I couldn't give it more stars but truthfully this book was not for me. I think I am now fully convinced that mysteries just are not my genre. I didn't care about the characters. I didn't buy into their motives. I barely cared about solving the mystery. I found the Bently character to be so unappealing that I couldn't even understand what Ellie would...more
This is one of my all-time favorites. Overweight Ellie Simons hires Bentley T. Haskell to pose as her boyfriend for a weekend visit to her uncle's estate. He dies and leaves the estate to them if Ellie can loose weight and Bentley write clean and decent book and they both can solve the mystery. It was such a zany idea especially when the protagonists become attracted to each other. Ellie, especially, is a very well developed character and the action in the book is zany and fun. All in all, it's...more
This book was Fantastic! It kept me smiling and sometimes laughing out loud the whole way through - very witty. I LOVED all of the characters; the plot was swift-moving but the descriptions gave me enough 'time' to imagine I was really there. This is by far the best of her books. In fact, I have reread it so often it is falling to shreds! A wonderful cozy book - any time I'm feeling down or nervous or moody, I can pick this up and be instantly swept up into Ellie's crazy life. Really really a gr...more
The story was well written, but the book (which I read in electronic format) was so badly proofread I wanted to box someone's ears! It's obvious that it was typed and a spell-check was run, but there was no human intervention before the publishing. Here's an example:
"You may mink poorly of her going off with another man, but she was a remarkable woman."
This would pass spell check, but the word should have been "think". Many instances like this exist in the book, taking one out of the story and b...more
"You may mink poorly of her going off with another man, but she was a remarkable woman."
This would pass spell check, but the word should have been "think". Many instances like this exist in the book, taking one out of the story and b...more
Don't waste your time with this book. It is extremely slow moving and the author uses a TON of adjectives, (like the white, fluffy, slow moving, yet dainty clouds), in an effort to make the book long enough to publish I think. It seems as if the story was created to make a fool out of a heavyset character and it is focused on slandering her do to her weight. However, since it is written from that characters point of view I guess that makes it okay? Hmmm, I was sadly disappointed by this book.
This mystery is classified as a "cozy" which is a book you would curl up with by the fire. I found it to be intelligently written, more so than most fluff out there. Ellie must lose weight in order to inherit a house and her boyfriend has to write a novel, plus they have to find a treasure, all within six months. I enjoyed the variety of eccentric characters, the humor and the suspense. I am anxious to read the next in the series.
This is a serious "Twinkie" book, by which I mean it was yummy but I wouldn't want to subsist on a diet of it. A super fast read (less than 2 days) that combines Miss Marple with Moonlighting. Would be a perfect book to read on a long flight. Lighthearted mystery book with funny characters; somewhat predictable, but I didn't guess the big twist. Summer reading at its best. Yay me for reading something!
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Toll, toll, toll! Dieses Buch hat mir von Anfang bis Ende sehr viel Freude bereitet! Ich liebe den Sarkasmus der etwas schrulligen Charaktere, ich mag die Idee, auf der die Geschichte aufbaut, das Rätselraten und schließlich die für mich sehr überraschende Auflösung des Falles.
Absolut empfehlenswert! Ich werde mir auf jeden Fall auch die anderen Bücher der Autorin anschauen.
Absolut empfehlenswert! Ich werde mir auf jeden Fall auch die anderen Bücher der Autorin anschauen.
This little mystery was a fun change of pace for me. Whenever I don't know what to read or can't find something I like I always revert to mysteries and I am seldom disappointed. This one was a little quirky and I especially enjoyed the sarcastic dialog between the two main characters. I'd definitely recommend this one.
I stumbled onto this book by accident, and after reading the inside flap I knew it was a perfect book for me (someone pretending to be someone they're not). And it was! It was a classic mystery, where nothing was as it seemed. I also loved the characters. They're funny and sarcastic. Looks like I have a new series to read!
This was a fun read—a chubby woman is called home with other relatives to be vetted by the crabby uncle. She hires a male escort so her relatives won’t pity her. Somehow everyone assumes they are engaged, even the uncle who eventually dies leaving the house to the two if they fulfill the requirements.
Ellie is the perfect main character. I laugh every time I think of her in the giant purple dress. She is unmarried and way overweight. She hires a male escort to accompany her to a family gathering. The obvious happens many times, but this is one of those great light-reads.
Cute and silly little mystery/chick lit novel. Ellie has to go to the dreaded family reunion and can't face it alone. So she hires an escort. He turns out to be way cute and they end up inheriting her uncle's mansion - as long as they can solve the mystery he left for them.
Quite enjoyed this book. I plain like Ellie and the other characters in the story. It is well written and the only issue I had with this mystery was that I could tell "who dun it" very early in the book, it wasn't a surprise at all. But it was fun reading until I was proven right!
I read this book a long time ago, and really enjoyed the wit...a lot of tongue in cheek humor...mystery, romance, and humor...my kind of book...Cannell has several more in this series...her last is one I just got to read, and am looking forward to it.
I read it years ago and I guffawed my way through the entire book. Delightfully daffy characters, a mystery to be sure, but mostly a few hours away from the bedlam that is real life into the bedlam that is this hilarious romp. Not to be missed!!
This is the first in the series. It introduces Ellie Simons, who wishes to be thin but can't put eclairs out of her mind. Upon receiving an invitation to a family reunion, Ellie hires an escort, returns to the family home, and finds herself face-to-face with a loss of appetite, an unexpected romance, and a sudden murder.
At first I felt the author was very heavy handed with the protagonist's weight issues. Of course I should have figured as much with the title of the book. Once the mystery began I found the book much more enjoyable. It took quite a while for the book to really take off though. The mystery didn't really present itself until 1/3-1/2 the way through. To be fair, the part leading up to the actual mystery was probably mostly needed for develop the charters fully, but the lack of action kind of put me...more
I've read a lot of this delightful series of thriller/mysteries revolving around a pretty but statuesque protagonist. Lots of humor and zest for life add flavor to these light reads.
This was a funny book, well written and very British. So, if you don't like British literature you might not like this. This is really a fat woman involved in a murder mystery.
Hilarious! Loved every minute of it. This was her first book, I believe. I read most of her other stuff, and unfortunately, they're not nearly as good - too zany.
Cute story premise, but in my opinion, very poorly written! I think I could have really enjoyed the story ultimately, but it was just too disconnected in many ways.
This book is more like a romance novel, than a cozy mystery. The main character sometimes feels a bit ADD. The plot is not too strong.
Will not read more in this series.
Will not read more in this series.
recommended by goodreads.
not bad. an interesting beginning. so not an epicurean mystery (which it said on my cover) but i suspect future ones will be.
not bad. an interesting beginning. so not an epicurean mystery (which it said on my cover) but i suspect future ones will be.
A little slow going for the first 100 pages or so but had a nice little twist at the end. Figured out the villain early on and was pretty infuriated with the characters and their naivety which drove me mad but have to say that in the end I was left interested enough to possibly read the next book in the series.
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(from Fantastic Fiction online)
Dorothy Cannell was born in London, England, and now lives in Belfast, Maine. Dorothy Cannell writes mysteries featuring Ellie Haskell, interior decorator and Ben Haskell, writer and chef, and Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell, a pair of dotty sisters and owners of the Flowers Detection Agency.
(from Internet Book List)
Dorothy Cannell, a mother of four, grandmother of te...more
More about Dorothy Cannell...
Dorothy Cannell was born in London, England, and now lives in Belfast, Maine. Dorothy Cannell writes mysteries featuring Ellie Haskell, interior decorator and Ben Haskell, writer and chef, and Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell, a pair of dotty sisters and owners of the Flowers Detection Agency.
(from Internet Book List)
Dorothy Cannell, a mother of four, grandmother of te...more
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