Throw Darts at a Cheesecake

This lighthearted but sometimes lackluster murder debut features a spunky middle-aged protagonist who has her appealing moments despite a tendency to silly behavior that defies common sense. Divorcee Ellie Bernstein is the group leader for her Weight Winners class meeting in a Colorado Springs church. When one of the most popular members dies fully clothed in a full bathtub, Ellie writes it off as an accident. Another accident involving club members (a van goes off a cliff while inside the couple are making love) seems a little more suspicious, but the death of yet another Weight Winner, an elderly woman found skewered by her knitting needles, is definitely murder. When attractive homicide cop detective Lt. Peter Miller brusquely turns down Ellie's offer to help investigate she sets off on her own to find out who is killing former fatties who are closest to their weight goals. Though Dietz's mystery has an inviting premise, it is flawed by pedestrian prose. (Oct.)