Book Review Of Fitness Kills By Helen Barer
- Posted by Essays Blog in Essays Blog |
- November 16th, 2008 |
- Comments
Food writer, or Foodie, as they are known in the business, Nora Franke is overfed and overwrought over a recent breakup with her long time boyfriend. “We need a break” he tells her, Nora decides that disbursal any time away from the bustle of New York is just the accented she needs. Her solution is to accept a temporary job as recipe consultant at a ritzy and real exclusive Hotel in Baja. Nora is ecstatic, III months in a beautiful location and able to combine her love of food with the ever pressing need to cast the results of also many gourmet adventures in New York.
Life at a Health Hotel is much like life on a Cruise Board, time becomes compressed, most of the guests are only thither for a week. Friendships that would normally develop over weeks or months, develop in minutes, alas also do animosities. Nora finds herself more accepted by the guests than the body, and is quickly drawn into a group of loosely connected friends that come to the Hotel every year for a few days of relaxation and reflection. This group of opulent and ostensibly affluent friends readily accepts Nora as if they have known her since kindergarten.
The background seems idyllic for something bad to happen, and Helen Barer is just the author to do it! Helen herself is no alien to the class of writing, she has a number of cook books to her credit, but this is her first foray into the murder mystery genre.
The first cracks in the Louis Vuitton luggage occurs the next morning when the body of Alan is found, in what appears to be a climbing accident on a nearby mountain. What Nora notices is the different reactions from the members of the group, from grief, to indifference, to maybe something more sinister. In the 50 years that the exclusive retreat has been in existence this is the first death the ranch has ever experienced, sprained ankles, and a mild heart attack from over exertion held the previous record.
Thither is a 2nd death, one that can not be explained away as an accident. Now Nora is pulled into the blade of deceit, what is going on, and who is responsible for these cardinal deaths?
Nora is on the groom! She has no investigative training, just a dogged desire to find the actuality. Of course this may not be the best ‘recipe’ for a long life!
I liked this book a lot, I believe this is a real fine first time effort, bantam enough at 200 pages to be a quick read, but long enough to develop the characters advantageously. I guess that we will be perception more of Nora Franke in future books by Helen Barer. If you are looking for a fun and fast murder mystery I can recommend that you attempt Fitness Kills.
Fitness Kills is the first in a broadcast of cozy mysteries by Helen Barer. Helen exhausted many years as a writer of non-fiction material, ranging from cookbooks to receiver documentaries. She is presently at activity writing her next Nora Franke mystery.