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Claire Malloy #5
A Diet to Die For
Claire Malloy believes there is just one thing better than chocolate...and it's not jumping a round in an aerobics class. Nonetheless, she gets roped into accompanying a chubby heiress named Maribeth to Faberville, Arkansas's hottest new fitness center. Personally, Claire thinks the best way for Maribeth to lose 160 unnecessary pounds would be to dump her abusive husband. But while Claire's teenage daughter Caron unsuccessfully tries every fad diet she can find (as long as it doesn't mean cutting out pizza), Claire has to admit Maribeth's commitment to diet, workouts, and supplements is working...until things go horribly wrong. Besides becoming moonstruck over the big-muscled fitness instructor, Maribeth is acting loony outside the gym as well. And when she ends up "accidentally" dead, Claire starts to exercise her instincts for crime...and hunt for a killer.
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
24 people are currently reading
379 people want to read
About the author
Joan Hess
115 books337 followersJoan Hess was the author of both the Claire Malloy and the Maggody mystery series. Hess was a winner of the American Mystery Award, a member of Sisters in Crime, and a former president of the American Crime Writers League. She lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Joan Hess also wrote a mystery series under the pseudonym of Joan Hadley.
Series contributed to:
. Crosswinds
. The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories
. Malice Domestic
. Deadly Allies
. Sisters in Crime
Joan Hess also wrote a mystery series under the pseudonym of Joan Hadley.
Series contributed to:
. Crosswinds
. The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories
. Malice Domestic
. Deadly Allies
. Sisters in Crime
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 1, 2018
I think this is the best page turner of the series so far. 👍🏻
March 21, 2016
SUMMARY: Claire Malloy believes there is just one thing better than chocolate...and it's not jumping a round in an aerobics class. Nonetheless, she gets roped into accompanying a chubby heiress named Maribeth to Faberville, Arkansas's hottest new fitness center. Personally, Claire thinks the best way for Maribeth to lose 160 unnecessary pounds would be to dump her abusive husband. But while Claire's teenage daughter Caron unsuccessfully tries every fad diet she can find (as long as it doesn't mean cutting out pizza), Claire has to admit Maribeth's commitment to diet, workouts, and supplements is working...until things go horribly wrong. Besides becoming moonstruck over the big-muscled fitness instructor, Maribeth is acting loony outside the gym as well. And when she ends up "accidentally" dead, Claire starts to exercise her instincts for crime...and hunt for a killer.
REVIEW: Once again, Joan Hess is enjoyable and witty as Claire gets herself once again involved in small town Arkansas crime while looking over her shoulder to make sure boyfriend, Lt. Peter Rosen, isn't watching her. This is a quick, easy to read cozy that has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and enough humor to keep you laughing. Of course, there has to be some sort of problem with her 15 year old daughter and her best friend Inez. This time they are bound and determined to lose weight but don't bother to read the full explanation of any of the diet books they borrow from Claire's bookstore. They yo-yo between diets and weights all through the book until they finally at the conclusion realize that mother knows best.
REVIEW: Once again, Joan Hess is enjoyable and witty as Claire gets herself once again involved in small town Arkansas crime while looking over her shoulder to make sure boyfriend, Lt. Peter Rosen, isn't watching her. This is a quick, easy to read cozy that has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and enough humor to keep you laughing. Of course, there has to be some sort of problem with her 15 year old daughter and her best friend Inez. This time they are bound and determined to lose weight but don't bother to read the full explanation of any of the diet books they borrow from Claire's bookstore. They yo-yo between diets and weights all through the book until they finally at the conclusion realize that mother knows best.
July 7, 2023
A Diet to Die For is one of the early books in the Claire Malloy series. I like Claire's attitude and her asides to herself.
She is a widow with a teenage daughter (Caron) that she's trying to raise in our modern culture. At 14, Caron gets the idea that she needs to diet; she drags along her best friend Inez to share her misery and food deprivation. In the meantime, Joanie (her neighbor) gets Claire involved in an attempt to help a friend lose weight. Claire's boyfriend is investigating the death of a high school athlete who dies because of steroid use and doesn't want Claire's involvement in the sleuthing. Since it's an amusing mystery, obviously Claire isn't listening. She's got some wild ideas and does the usual amateur detective work with gusto -- in her own way.
The topics are serious but Claire's approach isn't.
"I ... tried to determine when and where I'd gone wrong, or how I could have gone so very wrong. Dr. Spock had smiled at me from the bedside table. I'd read those magazines in the pediatrician's office, the ones crammed full of articles on how to teach baby to be bilingual and how to recognize common illnesses before any symptoms appeared. I'd taken pictures at all her birthday parties and had sworn to have the roll developed before she went away to college. Then again, I hadn't checked her into a nunnery on her thirteenth birthday.
"I was wondering if there might be a nunnery in the immediate area when the bell jangled me out of my reverie."
I recommend highly.
She is a widow with a teenage daughter (Caron) that she's trying to raise in our modern culture. At 14, Caron gets the idea that she needs to diet; she drags along her best friend Inez to share her misery and food deprivation. In the meantime, Joanie (her neighbor) gets Claire involved in an attempt to help a friend lose weight. Claire's boyfriend is investigating the death of a high school athlete who dies because of steroid use and doesn't want Claire's involvement in the sleuthing. Since it's an amusing mystery, obviously Claire isn't listening. She's got some wild ideas and does the usual amateur detective work with gusto -- in her own way.
The topics are serious but Claire's approach isn't.
"I ... tried to determine when and where I'd gone wrong, or how I could have gone so very wrong. Dr. Spock had smiled at me from the bedside table. I'd read those magazines in the pediatrician's office, the ones crammed full of articles on how to teach baby to be bilingual and how to recognize common illnesses before any symptoms appeared. I'd taken pictures at all her birthday parties and had sworn to have the roll developed before she went away to college. Then again, I hadn't checked her into a nunnery on her thirteenth birthday.
"I was wondering if there might be a nunnery in the immediate area when the bell jangled me out of my reverie."
I recommend highly.
September 9, 2024
This series is easy to read, like junk food
But I found this story so problematic. The focus on weight and fat shaming - and the fact that the mom does not encourage her daughter to tackle the weight-based bullying at school, but instead tells her to diet? Yuck.
Encouraging an adult female character to lose weight so that her emotionally-abusive husband will treat her with respect? Double yuck.
And then there's the fact that Claire can not enforce a boundary to save her life. Especially with her overbearing neighbor, Joanie.
Perhaps it's because this was written in 1989, but it does not provide an example that I'd want any female to look up to.
But I found this story so problematic. The focus on weight and fat shaming - and the fact that the mom does not encourage her daughter to tackle the weight-based bullying at school, but instead tells her to diet? Yuck.
Encouraging an adult female character to lose weight so that her emotionally-abusive husband will treat her with respect? Double yuck.
And then there's the fact that Claire can not enforce a boundary to save her life. Especially with her overbearing neighbor, Joanie.
Perhaps it's because this was written in 1989, but it does not provide an example that I'd want any female to look up to.
October 1, 2018
I love the Claire Malloy series. However, I had not read one in a while and had forgotten the author's subtle which is always a delight and so refreshing. This installment involves Claire being involved with the friend of a friend who goes to a diet clinic and almost dies from the treatment. Claire tries to find out what happened. The characters are quirky but fun to read. I won't wait so long before I read another one!
August 18, 2025
Reading. This cozy mystery was a little like stepping back in time, back to the fad-diet & exercise world of the 1980s. There’s more than just a bit of fat-shaming, which might not be welcome in today’s market, but back in the spandex-clad, aerobics-obsessed ‘80s, it was commonplace. There’s more than are plenty of crazy diets and red herrings to keep a reader guessing.
January 7, 2021
How many diets can you try? When your mother owns a bookstore you can see which one might work for you. When an overweight heiress is enrolled in a diet center with strict rules and fitness sessions then seems to become easily irritated. Something must be amiss.
February 17, 2019
Fun read.
July 11, 2019
Great read. I live this series. Some of the character interactions make me chuckle. I will definitely continue to read them.
June 26, 2025
That was close! edge of seat story
May 3, 2008
Claire Malloy believes there is just one thing better than chocolate...and it's not jumping around in an aerobics class. Nonetheless, she gets roped into accompanying a chubby heiress named Maribeth to Farberville, Arkansas's hottest new fitness center. Personally, Claire thinks the best way for Maribeth to lose 160 unnecessary pounfs would be to dump her abusive husband. But while Claire's teenage daughter Caron unseccessfully tries every fad diet she can find (as long as it doesn't mean cutting out pizza)< Claire has to admit Maribeth's commitment to diet, workouts, and supplements is working....until things go horribly wrong. Besides becoming moonstruck over the big-muscled fitness instructor, Maribeth is acting loony outside the gym as well. And when she ends up "accidentally" dead, Claire starts to excercise her instincts for crime...and hunt for a killer.
The only thing I really did not like about this quickie, was the conversations being held between Claire and her copper boyfriend. They seemed so phony as if they were both trying excessively hard to top the other with the sarcastic comments....all the time!
The only thing I really did not like about this quickie, was the conversations being held between Claire and her copper boyfriend. They seemed so phony as if they were both trying excessively hard to top the other with the sarcastic comments....all the time!
July 25, 2016
The Claire Malloy series is a step above a Cozy, mainly because you actually LIKE the characters. Claire is the single mother of Caron, a teenaged daughter who's at the age of speaking in ALL CAPS. Claire is also the proprietor of a bookstore (which she doesn't seem to spend much time in, on account of solving murders and trying to calm Caron down to at least italics). Peter is Claire's detective boyfriend whom she's lucky to have, otherwise she'd spend the majority of her time in a holding cell for interfering with crime scenes.
If you're looking for a mystery series where you actually LIKE the characters (I love Christie, but spent much of my extracurricular time plotting the death of the sanctimonious bitch Ms. Marple), start on the Claire Malloy series. Likewise, if you're wondering whether to have children, pay close attention to Caron. I work with kids and can assure you that all teen girls go through the "I HATE YOU--I NEED A RIDE TO THE MALL" phase. Unless you're saving for boarding school, pay attention.
If you're looking for a mystery series where you actually LIKE the characters (I love Christie, but spent much of my extracurricular time plotting the death of the sanctimonious bitch Ms. Marple), start on the Claire Malloy series. Likewise, if you're wondering whether to have children, pay close attention to Caron. I work with kids and can assure you that all teen girls go through the "I HATE YOU--I NEED A RIDE TO THE MALL" phase. Unless you're saving for boarding school, pay attention.
September 29, 2018
With a one star rating, I’m afraid I’m alone on the island, but...
While the writing was witty, I found the story arc to be just unbelievable and miles from reality. I know laws have changed since the book was written, but I couldn’t get past how medical professionals were just falling over themselves to share confidential medical information and how police discussed confidential info about an ongoing investigation.
I felt the best part was the descriptions of the teenagers various dieting attempts, but this was secondary to the credibility-straining main storyline and a bunch of pretty one-dimensional characters.
While the writing was witty, I found the story arc to be just unbelievable and miles from reality. I know laws have changed since the book was written, but I couldn’t get past how medical professionals were just falling over themselves to share confidential medical information and how police discussed confidential info about an ongoing investigation.
I felt the best part was the descriptions of the teenagers various dieting attempts, but this was secondary to the credibility-straining main storyline and a bunch of pretty one-dimensional characters.
Read
August 31, 2011The local diet center seems to be the center of some disturbing activity. When not being exasperated by her daughter (and her daughter's sidekick), Claire figures it all out.
September 10, 2012
I really had empathy for Lt. Peter Rosen. After all her other adventures, one would think Claire Molloy would know better than to try to figure out stuff on her own. In this story, she was definitely on a par with her daughter. Also, I think I would have strangled her friend Joanie in the first quarter of the story. I guess that'll be a murder mystery for another time.
Read
March 6, 2015This is been on my shelves for years, and I finally took it down and started it. So far I do not care for the protagonist, Claire Malloy, a somewhat insipid bookstore owner, nor her bratty teenaged daughter.
* * * * *
My opinion didn't change. Don't care for the "Claire Malloy" mystery series.
* * * * *
My opinion didn't change. Don't care for the "Claire Malloy" mystery series.
July 8, 2007
An easy to carry easy to read vacation book.
January 7, 2009
Enjoyed the college town/bookstore setting, and the diet-related theme running through the story. I like the suthor's use of humor as well.
June 27, 2009
Continuing on my Joan Hess marathon. Another good one.
March 13, 2015
Not one of the better one in this series for me. I still like Claire's witty comebacks though.
May 15, 2012
This is the 5th book in the Claire Malloy Series.
November 29, 2013
Not my favorite in the series but a good read.
December 15, 2013
Another fun read with Mrs. Malloy. I am trying to just read all of the series as I enjoy the conversations and reflections (a little spicy irony just what I need with all of this snow).
August 14, 2014
Ok book. Not as good as her Maggody series. Read this in 1998.
April 30, 2017
Cozy mystery, very formulaic.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews