Biggie and the Devil Diet

Biggie Weatherford #6

by Nancy Bell

Biggie is back! Nancy Bell returns with another delicious installment in her series of rural Texas mysteries featuring local doyen Biggie Weatherford as amateur detective. Once again, young J.R. faithfully narrates the humorous exploits of Biggie, his grandmother. Filled with plenty of quirky characters and down-home Texas flair, Bell's stories continue to delight.

An old friend of Biggie comes back to Job's Crossing. Rex Barnwell and his young wife have returned to convert his father's ranch into a retreat for overweight teenage girls, and Biggie is forced to reveal a secret that she has always kept from J.R. Not long after this startling revelation, Rex is murdered. Knowing full well that he won't be able to keep Biggie away, the Texas Ranger in charge of the case enlists her help.

While Biggie pursues her investigation, J.R. has his hands full with troubles of his own. These troubles don't involve any murders-though it might be easier for J.R. if they did.

As an extra treat for the reader, Willie Mae shares her recipe for King Ranch Casserole.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Ebooks, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Detective

202 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Katie Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Grandmother is the author of this book. It is the final book in the Biggie series. These characters are like members of my family. I recognize things in the characters that are so much like many members of my family and even some family friends. Now for my honest opinion. This book is not the best in the series. But I did really enjoy the character development that took place here. JR and Biggie grew quite a bit and it made me want more. Sadly my Grandmother has passed away. So unless a member of my family decides to continue the series I don’t think we will be seeing anymore of Biggie, JR, Rosebud, Willie Mae, Monica or any of the other characters that we have grown to love.

[Corey Zander · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read.
A little shorter and quicker than I prefer but good nonetheless .

[Janet York · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book. The characters are very colorful and the story was cute. The mystery was not really that surprising, but it was a good ride getting there.

[Kay Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble downloading this from the library and so listened to it over the course of a few weeks. I think I'd've liked the print version more, just because of the technical problems.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost put this book down a couple of times, but persevered. It was okay, but I likely won’t read another one in this series.

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Tiffany Manning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Biggie's first love, Rex Barnwell and his young wife open up a camp for overweight girls. I would not recomend this book in the series.

[Anne Hawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read any of Nancy Bell's books in years and yesterday I longed to hear a little Southern talk. I am downloading audiobooks from the St. John's Co., FL library and get to hear the story with the accented voice of the reader. Certain books are especially good this way and while this book is a lightweight, I love it because the down home dialect reminds me of many summer vacations in Mississippi.

Biggie is the grandmother of J. R., who came to live with her when he was small and has grown up in the series. In this book he is 13. Biggie has a lot of soul searching when she find that there is a ranch outside town for overweight girls and she recognizes the name of the owner. She tells J. R. some old secrets and embroils them in cauldron of emotion which surrounds the camp.

The book is a little slow at first, unless you just plain enjoy a bit of slice of life, deep South style, you may wonder why it was called a mystery. I was too busy enjoying to wonder, but it may bother some. The preliminary actually does set up the mystery, so it isn't wasted. All in all, a pretty good read.

[Amy the book-bat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sixth book in the series, and presumably the last one as well. I enjoyed getting to know Biggie and the crew over the series. In this book, Biggie's ex-lover comes back to town with his young wife. There is a fat camp of sorts being run at their ranch. Biggie let's J.R. in on a big family secret and then they go out to the ranch. About half-way through the book a murder occurs at the ranch and Biggie is once again on the case. There were some interesting twists and turns and a few things had me fooled for a bit. I think this was a good way to end the series.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up for a "Food / Diet" mystery theme and thoroughly enjoyed it. The setting and characters are quirky and homey, very fun to read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading the Biggie books. I think these would be good movies.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

short and sweet

[Mary]

I couldn't finish this book. The Biggie "formula" has gotten stale for me. I want to read a book from which I will learn something.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nifty cozy series set in Texas. I enjoyed the premise and the main characters. I look forward to reading or listening to more of the series as I find the books. I can definitely recommend.

[Kiki59 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice easy read which holds your attention. You can probably finish it in a few hours tho!

[Rkb 2015 · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Zee · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book's poorly written. The main character is the most irritating brat I've ever spent 248 pages with. The other characters are beyojd stereotypical. Wouldn't recommend.

[Sarajane · Rating 3 out of 5]

very short and quick. slightly undeveloped. probably better if I read the previous in the series.