At Large

Josephine Fuller #3

by Lynne Murray

Reluctant sleuth Josephine Fuller is back, and this time she can't resist throwing her weight around. Fuller is working as a philinthropic investigator at a women's center in Seattle when she is faced with the mysterious death of her ex-husband's girlfriend, a woman that Fuller herself wouldn't have minded seeing vanish. She also has other things to deal with, such as a haunted house and a love denied. But the death is intermingled with the women's work center and ultimately this draws her into the case. At once the chief investigator and primary suspect Fuller has a lot in her large hands.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

I'm the author of
Runaway Dragonette (what if "the Bachelorette" was a shapeshifting dragon princess?),
Valkyrie on Planet Fury (why the Furies make really bad hostesses),
Gravitas: Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone (a unique look at human-alien First Contact),
Valkyrie in the Demon Realm (demons and aphrodisiacs don't mix),
The Falstaff Vampire Files (Sir John Falstaff, undead and misbehaving in San Francisco),
The Bride of the Living Dead (a romantic comedy for women who love monster movies too much),
and four books in the mystery series featuring Josephine Fuller, sleuth of size who doesn't apologize
Larger Than Death, Large Target, At Large and A Ton of Trouble.

Newspapers and magazines have published my essays, reviews and interviews--including my favorite with Darlene Cates, star of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"! Many of these short pieces can be found on my web page. I live in San Francisco. When not writing, I can be found reading and spoiling my cats.

Reviews

[S. Wideman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It was a little like Days of Our Plus-Sized Lives. Think you can follow this? Josephine Fuller is kinda friends with Teddy, whose ex-wife Fran is married to Josephine's ex-husband Griffith. Teddy wants Josephine's help to locate his missing plus-sized new girlfriend, who may or may not be involved with Fran's death after Josephine stumbles over the body. And that's the first two chapters or so. I loved it! Lots of twists and turns and new little surprises, and a herione who didn't whine about her weight every five pages. Josephine is a big gal, and not ashamed of it. I'm really interested in reading the first book.

The writing was pretty good. I didn't notice many mistakes (just one with 'hut' being used instead of 'but'), but I was too into the story to really look. I loved the cast of characters, everyone had levels to their personality. Even when I thought I'd dislike a character, they'd be shown in a different light.

Bravo to Lynne Murray for creating such an interesting female main character.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knda gulped this one down. I really MUST get a copy of "A Ton of Trouble," which is, sadly, the last book in this series. I am so going to miss it. It will stay on my shelves to be re-read in the future!

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josephine Fuller is a plus size investigator living in Seattle. She is currently working undercover at a Women's skills center. Teddy Etheridge and Jo met in Kathmandu when her photographer Husband ran off with Teddy's Mountain climbing Wife. He needs Jo's help to find his latest Girlfriend who has gone missing he has traced her to the skills center. Jo agrees to help her find her the trail leads straight to his estranged Wife... Who is lying dead, murdered with a climbing ax. The major suspect is Jo's Ex Husband he wants her to forgive and forget. Add to that her love life is a mess and her apartment is filled with memories plus the suspects list ranges from a Vegetarian Lesbian to a has been actor. Can Jo solve this case?

[Kirsten Lenius · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this murder mystery with an running theme of fat acceptance, Josphine who is a large sized woman finds that her personal life is colliding wih an investigation that she is doing for her employer.

It had a cat, some good sounding food, a few interesting characters and a solution that I didn't immediately guess.

On the negative, the threads got a little numerous and tangly which made it hard to draw this to a smooth conclusion.

Overall, I liked it more than not.

[Mary Newcomb]

I was looking for a quick read which would be entertaining but not too demanding, this fit the bill perfectly. Jo Fuller is a plus size woman with some extra curiosity and what seems like a fun job. She deftly unravels several confusing strands and figures out who dunnit. There were some pieces I did not understand as well since this is apparently several books into a series, guess I have some more books to add to my list.

[Toesnorth's mom]

dumb and boring

[Lillie]

Being a large woman myself, I thought I would enjoy this but it just didn't capture my interest.

[Deaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, well written mystery. The lead character is sassy and confident. She loves her body and the author uses her voice to encourage body acceptance. So refreshing!

[Trudy Nye · Rating 3 out of 5]

As mounting evidence points to her, plus-sized Josephine Fuller has to solve the murder of the woman who stole her husband. This was an amusing read...free from Amazon.com.

[Skeeter Jorgensen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not get into this book, I finished, but now I wonder why.