Meg Cabot, Size 14 Is Not Fat Either

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either

Meg Cabot

Avon, November 2006, $13.95

ISBN 0060525126

Heather Wells has adjusted from being a teen music sensation to an out of the spotlight student-life assistant dorm director at New York College. Keeping students in line in Manhattan has proven much more difficult than she expected, especially with the female corpse in the elevator shaft at Heather's residence hall (see SIZE 12 IS NOT FAT). Just as she adjusted from the end of her singing career due to getting too big to be a star, and her mom running to South America with her savings, Heather hopes that homicide is the last major problem she faces at the school.

However, the head of popular cheerleader Lindsay Combs is found boiled to a prune inside a cafeteria cooking pot. Though she knows to leave it to the cops, Heather remembers they wrote off the elevator death as a suicide. So in spite of it being obvious that murder occurred, she does not trust the police or the administration to solve the case. Heather investigates by learning what she can about the victim; Miss Bubbles slept with several drug-selling frat students. Interrupting her inquiries is her dad, just released from prison after two decades, who needs a place to crash.

This is a fun cozy due to the enthusiasm of the heroine who takes hits but keeps on moving in a positive manner. Heather is delightful, as she copes with the end of her music career quite nicely, investigates the latest murder at the college, and struggles with her dad's desire to relate after all these years. She has good reasons not to trust her parents. The number of suspects seems small, as this is a college in New York, but no one will care due to the appealing Heather.