Chili Con Corpses (The Supper Club Mysteries)

Chili Con Corpses (The Supper Club Mysteries)

Things are chugging merrily along for librarian James Henry. He has a closet filled with new clothes, a trimmer waistline, and a closer bond with his father. His only real problem is that his girlfriend Lucy's interest in him seems to have inexplicably cooled. When schoolteacher Lindy suggests the club members join a Mexican cooking class, James jumps at the idea. Over cervezas and black bean dip, the supper club members warm to their new adventure. The class heats up even more when a reporter and her friends, twin sisters with supermodel physiques, enroll. But when people start turning up dead, and the evidence points toward Lindy, things become hotter than a jalapeño. James, who was looking to add a little more spice to his life, gets much more than he bargained for. "Heavy on fun, light on gore, this savory mystery comes complete with yummy recipes." -- Publishers Weekly, Week of 10/29/07 "Mexican recipes, the cozy hometown setting, and a touch of romance make [ Chili con Corpses ] a pleasant read." -- Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2007 "Stanley offers another entry in the popular Supper Club Mystery series, and her fans now have a new volume to relish." -- Booklist J.B. Stanley has a BA in English from Franklin & Marshall College, an MA in English Literature from West Chester University, and an MLIS from North Carolina Central University. She taught sixth grade language arts in Cary, North Carolina for the majority of her eight-year teaching career. Raised an antique-lover by her grandparents and parents, Stanley also worked part-time in an auction gallery. An eBay junkie and food-lover, Stanley now lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, two young children, and three cats. ONE TURKEY BACON RANCH WRAP "I'm sick to death of being on a diet," Bennett complained as he curled two free weights up and down from his waist to his collarbone. James heartily agreed. The lunch he had eaten composed of a turkey bacon wrap with lettuce, tomato, and fat-free ranch dressing served on a whole-wheat tortilla seemed like a faint, unsatisfying memory. "I know what you mean." James pushed himself backward on the leg press machine, his thighs and buttocks burning as he moved the grudging stack of weights into the air. "Thinking about the nutritional content of every item I put in my Food Lion shopping cart is killing me. And I used to really enjoy going to the grocery store." As James got up from the leg press and selected a pair of twenty-five-pound free weights, Murphy Alistair, the editor and foremost reporter of The Shenandoah Star Ledger, entered the cardio/weight-training room. Even though this was the only YMCA within a hundred-mile radius, and was therefore always busy, Murphy was hard to miss. She was wearing black nylon sweats, a form-fitting yellow tank top, and a yellow headband. Waving hello to James in the mirror, she stepped onto a treadmill and began to jog. Murphy's chin-length brown hair, streaked with golden highlights, flapped up and down on the sides of her head like bird wings as she moved. She looked completely at ease as she ran, her hazel eyes glued to the early news program playing on the wall-mounted TV, a towel draped casually round her neck. "Spot me while I bench, will you?" Bennett asked James a few minutes later while preparing to lift a heavy dumbbell above his torso. James examined the size of the circular weights attached to each end of the bar over his friend's chest. "Two hundred pounds, huh?" Bennett scowled. "Hey, man. I'm gonna do more than one set." "No, I'm impressed. That's quite a load you're lifting," James quickly soothed his friend, noting how muscular Bennett's arms and legs had become over the past several months. "You meant it when you said you'd be spending the summer getting buff. Well, now you're buff." "Thanks, but I'm still the short mailman with the big gut." Bennett took a deep breath and removed the weights from the stand. "You're the guy who needed all new belts and pants." James stole a glance at himself in the wall-length mirror. It was true. After pursuing a low-carb diet with his supper club friends and then counting points and pursuing a regular exercise routine, James had lost over thirty pounds of unwanted flab and several inches from his doughy waist. Even his second chin, which had once given him a rather bullfrogish profile, was nearly gone. He still had slightly floppy jowls and was a long way from resembling the fit and toned specimens that paraded around the cardio room in tight biker shorts and T-shirts advertising the previous marathon they had run. "Okay, James." Bennett lifted the barbell so that James could settle them gently back onto the stand straddling the padded bench. "Let me just catch my breath before the next set." Bennett closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. While he waited, James watched Murphy's trim figure as she ran with a seemingly effortless stride and the black rubber of the treadmill moved beneath