Meg Cabot’s Size 12 is Not Fat
© Meg Cabot
Meet Heather Wells, a former teen rock star whose life is no longer in the spotlight. She’s an adult who has gained a few pounds, lost her recording contract, had a very public breakup with her rockstar fiance, and lost all her money (thanks to her mother who ran off with her money and her agent to Argentina). Quite frankly, Heather needs something positive in her life. Welcome to the world of Heather Wells in Meg Cabot’s Size 12 is Not Fat: A Heather Wells Mystery (Heather Wells Mysteries, 1).
Heather is now an assistant dorm director at a college in New York City: think NYU more than Columbia (hint: she is more in Midtown than East Harlem). She discovers the body of a female student who lives in the Residence Hall where she works after the girl falls off an elevator shaft. Things go downhill from there. She believes the girl’s death was a murder while the University and the police want to declare it an unfortunate accident. The problem is, that the more Heather pursues the truth, the more danger she puts herself in.
Heather investigates on her own and manages to alienate some co-workers, her bosses, and the NYPD detective investigating the homicide. Not even her roommate, her ex-boyfriend’s brother, who is a PI, will listen. It is up to Heather to catch the killer. Will she rise to the occasion?
If you don’t want to read something dark and depressing, but you are still in the mood for a murder mystery, this could very well be the answer. Heather Wells is like a breath of fresh air. She has a great support team (her best friend, a key co-worker, and in spite of the fact he’s protecting her by trying not to help her, her roommate/PI/almost brother-in-law). Even the neighborhood drug dealers like her.
Perhaps what is most appealing about Heather is that she doesn’t give up. Things have not been easy for Heather, even if she did experience fame and fortune at a young age. However, it is how she is handling her adult years that makes her a compelling character to experience.
As a reader, you get to live through the character’s lives. In this novel, you get to experience what it is like to be a slightly rotund former teen idol who has a hidden talent as a detective. Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries) allows us to experience all of Heather’s adventures without additional calories, the best kind of adventure. Who says reading about murder can’t be fun?