Fit to Die

by Karen Hanson Stuyck

Book Overview

Lauren Prescott is 50, fat and flat broke after her husband leaves her. To land a magazine job, Lauren writes a profile of a fitness guru who died while jogging - a death that looks increasingly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594143692
• ISBN13: 9781594143694
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Five Star (ME)
• Length: 293 Pages
• Weight: 3.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Lauren Prescott makes a sympathetic protagonist

Shocked by her husband's abrupt decision to divorce her, Lauren Prescott is astounded to learn how low her man will stoop when she returns home one evening to find it emptied of almost everything of value. In addition, he also drains their bank accounts. Desperate to make ends meet, the ex-homemaker is forced to seek a job in her old profession, journalism. She wins a try out at a regional magazine by promising its editor a profile on a local fitness guru who recently was found dead, ironically in the midst of a jog. Her probe into his life and finances uncovers dangerous secrets, some that people are willing to kill to keep. Appealing and down to earth, Lauren Prescott makes a sympathetic protagonist; readers will immediately empathize with her plight and chuckle at her first unsure steps into a new world. She's the epitome of the plucky heroine-instead of wallowing in self pity, she moves ahead, even though she has no idea where's she's going at first. Seeing her learn how to navigate new terrain even as she deals with the complications which arise in her life due to her investigation of health nut Stan Harris and his quirky extended family is gratifying. Featuring a strong, plausible plot, realistic characters, copious amounts of gentle humor, romance, and a twisty, well-conceived mystery, this read will keep readers guessing until the final page. Stuck has a winner on her hands-hopefully, we'll soon see another novel featuring Lauren Prescott soon.

fun amateur sleuth

In Houston after twenty-seven years of marriage without any warning, Rob Prescott vanishes, but before the dentist disappears he wipes out his joint bank accounts and absconds with the values from their home while his wife Lauren did volunteer work at a nearby hospital. At fifty, overweight Lauren needs work. Her friend Meg arranges an interview for her at City Magazine where the editor offers her a chance to write an article on the recently demised health nut Stan Harris, but concentrate on the Svengali claims he made of turning his two spouses from overweight losers into confident healthy perfect specimens and on rumors of supplement abuse. As she interviews Stan's associates and his family, Lauren begins to ponder whether a homicide disguised as a heart attacked induced by a potassium overdose occurred. At the same time as she searches for her spouse accompanied by her two daughters, they come across a corpse and other illegal activities by Rob the dentist to the mob. Either inquiry could prove hazardous to Lauren's health. Though how Lauren can become a reporter seemingly overnight seems a stretch, fans will enjoy this fun amateur sleuth tale in which the three Prescott females search for their father and what really happened to Stan. The story line is fast-paced as the Prescotts leap into one bind after another, but keep on trucking in their efforts to solve both investigations. The Harris case has some interesting twists while the Prescott disappearance is a bit of a surprise as to why he vanished. Readers will enjoy the antics of the Prescott women as they go from one caper into another escapade not fully realizing the danger of either of their inquiries. Harriet Klausner