Size 12 is Not Fat

Character and narration combine to create immediate appeal in this fun production. Justine Eyre's portrayal of heroine Heather Wells blends self-deprecating humor and an upbeat tempo to achieve an alluring mix of mystery and chick- lit. Heather, a former teenage rocker, is now an assistant in a New York City college dorm. At this point in her life, Heather suffers from boyfriend loss and weight gain. A crisis develops when female students are found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft. From impatient detectives to snotty college students, Eyre get the characterizations just right. She plants listeners convincingly in the Oreo-filled body of Heather Wells as she tries to discover what she wants to do in life and whom she really loves--at the same time that she identifies a murderer. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from October 3, 2005
Bag the tiara and get out the gun: Heather Wells, former teen idol, turns detective in the cute debut of a new mystery series from bestseller Cabot (The Princess Project
and other titles in her Princess Diaries series). After the 20-something Heather's rocker boyfriend dumps her, and her mother and manager flee with her earnings, she becomes an assistant director of an undergraduate residence hall at Manhattan's New York College (read: NYU) in hopes of free tuition. When students start to die mysteriously while "elevator surfing" in the building, weight-conscious, romance-obsessed Heather goes on a crazed hunt to uncover the truth—with an unwavering sense of style. As Magda, Heather's dorm cashier friend, says: "Even if the rest of your life is going down the toilet... at least your toes can still look pretty." Cabot delivers Heather's amateur sleuthing adventures in a rapid-fire narrative that may leave some readers begging for time-outs to control sudden laughing fits. 6-city author tour.