A Killer Workout
A
Fat City Mystery with Kate Gallagher
Kathryn Lilley
Signet (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-451-22535-X (045122535X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-22535-1 (9780451225351)
Publication Date: October 2008
List Price: $6.99
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Plus-sized reporter Kate Gallagher decides to report
for duty at Body Blast, a boot camp-style fitness program. But then her
roomie is discovered with a broken neck at the foot of the climbing
wall. It’s not the first suspicious accident at the
camp—another woman recently fell to her death during a
Wilderness Challenge.
Kate knows that losing weight is hard, but now it looks like
it’s turning into mortal combat.
Review:
Kathryn Lilley's second Fat City mystery, A Killer Workout,
has intrepid (and just a tad
overweight) reporter Kate Gallagher heading off to a boot camp for
dieters, cleverly disguised as a spa, and finding exercising can be
murder.
Kate has left her job as a news producer for Channel 9 in Boston and is now working as an
investigative reporter for Channel 12 News in Durham (the
“Diet Capital of the World”). Kate herself is not
having any luck dieting but she is determined to lose some
weight. She decides to take a few weekends off to go to the Body Blast,
a health spa in the Great Smokies. Here she shares a room with
19-year-old Marnie Taylor. Marnie had been dropped off by her boyfriend
who threw her bags out of the car and left her standing there crying.
The next time Kate sees her roommate she is leaving the room of one of
the counselors. Again, Marnie is upset and crying. And again she will
not tell Kate why. After a grueling workout and a less than filling
meal Kate and Marnie are exhausted so sleep comes easily ... at least
for Kate. When she awakens, Marnie is gone. When she doesn't show up
for exercise a search is started. Marnie is found at the foot of a
climbing wall that she had tried to climb the day before as a part of
their exercise but had failed. She has bruises on her body and her neck
is broken. Investigating Marnie’s death for the station,
Kate comes across news items that referred to another tragic death by
accident of a girl who had fallen from a cliff during a walking
exercise. This girl, too, was badly bruised and died of a broken neck.
Kate's determined investigation tags her as “The
Terminator” by someone at the spa, someone who decides that
The Terminator needs to be terminated.
Kate Gallagher is an appealing character and A Killer Workout is
a
charming cozy mystery with a considerable dose of comedy. The contrast
between the mental image of a luxurious spa with fine cuisine and the
realities of a boot camp-type environment with insipid tasteless food
is strikingly depicted and well suited to the plot. Even the newcomers
have their
own acronym: NOBIT (novice boot in training). No doubt Kate burned off
more calories investigating the murders than she did at the hands of
the exercise instructors, but that's what she does best. Finally, the
witticisms at the beginning of each chapter are not only a hoot to
read, they actually make a lot of sense.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of A Killer Workout and to Penguin Group for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Dying
to be Thin
Signet (Mass Market Paperback), October 2007
ISBN-10: 0-451-22240-7 (0451222407)
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-22240-4 (9780451222404)
A
Killer Workout
Signet (Mass Market Paperback), October 2008
ISBN-10: 0-451-22535-X (045122535X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-22535-1 (9780451225351)
Omnimystery keywords for A Killer Workout ...
Location(s) referenced: Durham, North Carolina.
