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Mystery Book Themes: Full-Figured Sleuths (Plus Sized Sleuths)

July 9, 2013

Here’s another comment, this time from *Susan:

“Danna, could we possibly have a blog entry on Mysteries with Real Women? Please?

Among my recommendations would be Anne Purser, whose middle-aged wife-and-mother sleuth works as a house-cleaner, (Just an ordinary, everyday, real-life woman!) along with both the G.A. McKevett mysteries featuring Savannah Reid, and the ‘Corinna Chapman’ mysteries by Kerry Greenwood.
Reid is a plus-sized Southern PI who likes to eat, and says if anyone else doesn’t like it, too bad!!
Corinna is a Size 20 Australian baker with a similar attitude. (And a gorgeous lover, to boot! (*Jealous Hmph!*)
Marcia Talley is another candidate. Her heroine is a married woman, post-mastectomy for breast cancer, who has decided that a (Surgical) replacement breast is not for her.
The list might also include some of the Senior Sleuths, such as Sue Henry’s Maxie (And her Daschund, Stretch!) who decided, post-retirement, to go travelling on her own, in a camper – And why not!

Underdressed / under-fed 20-something darlings Need Not Apply!!”

Here are the Full-Figured Sleuths (Plus-Sized Sleuths):

Cathy Ace: Cait Morgan Mysteries

Melissa Bourbon (aka Misa Ramirez): Lola Cruz Mysteries

Simon Brett: Melita Margeter Mysteries

Simon Brett: Fethering Mysteries

Meg Cabot: Heather Wells Mysteries

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskell Mysteries (Plus size in first book only.)

Jeanne M. Dams: Dorothy Martin Mysteries

Selma Eichler: Desiree Shapiro Mysteries

Shamini Flint: Inspector Singh Mysteries (not a woman, but is plus-sized)

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Cookie Jar Mysteries (I’ve only read the first few books so I don’t know when Hannah gains the weight.)

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mysteries

Kerry Greenwood: Corinna Chapman Mysteries

Ellie Griffiths: Ruth Galloway Mysteries (not  really cozies)

Sue Henry: Maxie & Stretch Mysteries

Sue Ann Jaffarian: Odelia Grey Mysteries

Laura Levine: Jaine Austen Mystery Series

Kathryn Lilley: Fat City Mysteries

Mary Marks: Martha Rose Quilting Mystery Series

G.A. McKevett: Savannah Reid Mysteries

Camille Minichino: Periodic Table Mysteries

Ann Morven: Sheil B. Wright Mysteries

Mary Grace Murphy: Noshes Up North Mystery Series

Lynne Murray: Josephine Fuller Mysteries

Barbara Neely: Blanche White Mysteries

Anne Purser: Lois Meade Mysteries

Annelise Ryan (aka Beth Amos): Mattie Winston Mysteries

Susan Santangelo: Baby Boomer Mysteries

Alexander McCall Smith: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mysteries

J. B. Stanley: Supper Club Mysteries

Rex Stout: Nero Wolfe (a bit more traditional than Cozy, but close enough…)

Denise Swanson: Scumble River Mysteries

Marcia Talley: Hannah Ives Mysteries

Can you think of any Cozy Mystery authors who have full-figured sleuths? (By “full-figured” I mean Plus Sized.) Please post a comment with your suggested authors. I will add them to the list. Thank you!

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦

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48 Comments - Click Here to Read the Comments or to Add Another

Comments

  1. akendall says

    July 10, 2013 at 1:44 am

    I’m thinking Sue Ann Jafarian writes the Odelia Grey series and I believe she fits this catagory

    Reply
  2. Joshua says

    July 10, 2013 at 1:47 am

    Mrs Melita Pargeter, from Simon Brett’s series, is often described in zaftig terms. She appreciates good food and wine and doesn’t shy from highlighting her figure with very colorful (possibly garish) clothing and jewels.

    Reply
  3. Sue K. says

    July 10, 2013 at 5:19 am

    Skye Denison, in Denise Swanson’s Scrumble River series is in this category. She is a full-figured school psychologist.

    Reply
  4. Rita S. says

    July 10, 2013 at 5:31 am

    Selma Eichler’s Desiree Shapiro

    Reply
  5. Joan M says

    July 10, 2013 at 5:51 am

    Sue Ann Jaffarian’s “Odelia Grey” series features a full figured paralegal who gets involved with murders. The writing is wonderful, with a great sense of humor, and characters are interesting. The first in the series is “Too Big To Miss”

    Reply
  6. Laurel says

    July 10, 2013 at 6:56 am

    I wouldn’t really consider these books “cozies”, but Ellie Griffiths writes a series called the Ruth Galloway mysteries and the main character is a forensic archaeologist specializing in the Bronze and Iron age. She would definitely fit the “real woman” category.

    There is some sex and language in these books, not graphic, though. I just skip over it.

    Reply
  7. angela mcl. says

    July 10, 2013 at 7:56 am

    Sue Ann jafarrian’s odelia gray series. This heroine is a plus sized wonderful sleuth!

    Reply
  8. Sheila says

    July 10, 2013 at 8:15 am

    Dorothy Cannell’s Ellie Haskell series.

    Reply
  9. karen c says

    July 10, 2013 at 8:15 am

    Joanne Fluke Hannah Swensen is a full figured cookie baker

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      July 10, 2013 at 12:25 pm

      (Karen C, I just started reading Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen mysteries so I don’t know how she is later on in the series, but after reading a few of the first books, I don’t see Hannah as full-figured. I’ll add her to the list since I don’t know when she gains weight.)

      Reply
  10. rebecca says

    July 10, 2013 at 8:18 am

    Danna, don’t forget Sue Ann Jaffarian who writes about Odelia Grey

    Reply
  11. Cathy Ace says

    July 10, 2013 at 9:05 am

    I have to suggest my very own Welsh Canadian foodie criminologist Cait Morgan. At 5’3″ (5’4″ on a tall day) she’s used to seeing the bathroom scales suggest she weighs 180lbs. So, not a waif. She’s an exceptionally bright, confident, professional woman who’s come to terms with her size, and isn’t backwards in coming forwards when there’s a murder to solve.

    Reply
  12. Gail W says

    July 10, 2013 at 10:38 am

    You might consider the well endowed Lola Cruz mysteries by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez. She’s round on the top and round on the bottom, not your typical skinny woman. A Hispanic private detective.

    Reply
  13. Christi H. says

    July 10, 2013 at 10:59 am

    Precious Ramotswe from the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith – one of my favorite detectives!

    Reply
    • Sherry says

      July 20, 2013 at 10:59 am

      Love those! And the PBS series (two seasons only!), too.

      Reply
      • Danna - cozy mystery list says

        July 22, 2013 at 1:27 pm

        Christi H amd Sherry, I love the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Television series. I was so sorry to find out they weren’t going to be making any more of these really good shows.

        Reply
  14. Kalena says

    July 10, 2013 at 1:21 pm

    Don’t forget Susan Santangelo’s baby boomers series! And thanks again for this wonderful site. Now that I’m reading more on my Kindle and don’t have the colorful book covers to prompt my memory, I’ve noticed that it’s easy for me to forget which books I’ve read. I always check your site before I buy and you’ve saved me from repurchases several times.

    Reply
  15. Patsy N says

    July 10, 2013 at 3:51 pm

    Sorry, but I stopped reading the Dorothy Cannell Ellie Haskell mysteries years ago, because Ellie STARTED out fat, but was described as a sad sack, & lost weight & every book I read had plenty of talk about how important maintaining her weight loss was, & when she was pregnant, how vital it was to lose the baby weight after she gave birth. Therefore, I do not consider her a plus size heroine or these books fat positive.

    Reply
    • Kell B says

      February 13, 2016 at 4:55 pm

      Exactly!

      Reply
  16. LadyD says

    July 11, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    Lynne Murray’s Josephine Fuller series.

    Reply
  17. Susan* says

    July 12, 2013 at 2:00 am

    I also forgot to add the ‘Fat City’ mysteries, by Kathryn Lilley.
    Despite the very Non-PC series title, they’re not that bad. The heroine is a full-figured reporter, who ‘does’ worry about her weight, but really – it all works out ok in the end. (And isn’t that what Cozies are all about?)
    These usually have some sort of ‘weight-loss’ theme – she’s investigating some sort of scam or clinic, quite often – althoug she never really ends up losing the pounds, and as I said, it never really seems to matter, in the end! 🙂
    Cheers!

    Reply
  18. Danna - cozy mystery list says

    July 12, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    Thank you, ALL, for sending us the authors who write mystery books with full-figured sleuths. What an interesting Cozy Mystery theme!

    Reply
  19. Mary Joy W says

    July 12, 2013 at 10:29 pm

    How about “Jude” from Simon Brett’s Fethering Mysteries? She is full-figured and the opposite of her friend, Carol. But they are the most interesting friends and great sleuths.

    Reply
  20. Danna - cozy mystery list says

    July 17, 2013 at 11:20 am

    I think it’s interesting to see how many full-figured sleuths we have in our mysteries. I remember years ago thinking that most of the sleuths were auburn-haired beauties who could eat all the food they wanted, yet never put on a pound. It’s good to see how many (as *Susan says) “Mysteries with Real Women” there are.

    Reply
  21. Sherry says

    July 20, 2013 at 10:57 am

    The Blanche White series by Barbara Neely. “In Blanche White, Neely has…a unique literary creation: an independent black woman who doesn’t feel incomplete without a man; a maid unapologetic about her profession; and a deeply spiritual woman who finds solace speaking to the Ancestors.” (Boston Globe quote on website). There hasn’t been a Blanche White novel in some time; miss them.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      July 22, 2013 at 1:24 pm

      Thanks, Sherry, I have added Barbara Neely to the list of full-figured sleuths.

      Reply
  22. M. Burns says

    July 22, 2013 at 12:08 am

    I read Working Stiff by Annelise Ryan. Mattie Winton describes herself as tall, big and loves to eat.

    Reply
  23. Danna - cozy mystery list says

    July 22, 2013 at 1:50 pm

    I love that there are so many full-figured sleuths!

    Reply
  24. Cathy M says

    July 27, 2013 at 2:48 am

    “Overweight on the scales, overdrawn at the bank and nudging forty” — that’s Sheil B. Wright, created by whodunit author Ann Morven. A professional entertainer who sings Australian bush ballads and plays banjo, bagpipes and zither, Sheil is a bumbling dunce at deduction but well versed in human folly and traumas of the heart.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      July 27, 2013 at 7:14 pm

      Thanks, Cathy M, for telling us about Ann Morven’s Sheil B. Wright mysteries.

      Reply
  25. linda c says

    July 31, 2013 at 8:47 pm

    Danna, I can’t remember any more who the author was but I started to read a series of murder mysteries that had a big woman as the main sleuth but the main sleuth kept making jokes about her size. Except for a few times in my lifetime, I have been very overweight myself and I just was never one to find anything funny about it!! I am 5 foot 1 inches tall/short and weight 200 pounds. What’s so funny about that??

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      August 1, 2013 at 1:45 pm

      Linda C, I think a lot of the time people try to make a joke about something before others can make the joke first. I’m guessing that’s what that author was doing.

      Reply
  26. linda c says

    August 1, 2013 at 5:09 pm

    Danna, Remember some time ago, maybe just this past winter, a news woman gave an editorial about a letter she got from a viewer critizing her weight?? She asked the person, “didn’t he/she know that she herself knew she was overweight?” or some such reply. She was my champion.
    I have known quite a few women in my lifetime who had very nice, slim, good looking figures. But there was so much filth coming out of their mouths that it didn’t take long for others to see just how “beautiful” these people really were.
    I have known some very hateful, devious people who were supposed to be among the “beautiful” people. No thanks!! Give me a nice ‘full figured person any day!!
    It has NEVER been the size of the person that made that person likeable.
    One thing about reading Cozies__ There are so many storylines that describe whatever meal the people are eating and cooking, how in the world are we not going to put our books down once in awhile and go find something good to eat!!
    The news reports, both local and national, from time to time will give reports about Americans being so overweight. Then in the commercial break the commercial will be a pizza or some such product. We can’t have it both ways people!! Just won’t happen!!

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      August 1, 2013 at 6:56 pm

      Linda C, I only watch shows on television that I have recorded. I learned to do that years ago when I was on Weight Watchers. I simply could not watch live television while dieting. And most of the ads on television seem to be for food, or some type of dieting thingy-bob. You’re right, it really doesn’t make any sense!

      Reply
  27. Sandra says

    November 11, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    I’m the author of The Fat Woman Mystery, and my sleuth is Margaret O’Brian, who weighs in at over 200 pounds.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      November 12, 2013 at 1:55 pm

      Thank you, Sandra, for telling us about your The Fat Woman Mystery.

      Reply
  28. Kay says

    October 18, 2014 at 10:15 am

    Always enjoy Laura Levine’s Jaine Austen novels.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      October 18, 2014 at 6:13 pm

      Kay, I’ll go add her to the full-figured list of sleuths.

      Reply
  29. Mary says

    January 11, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    Dorothy Martin in the series by Jeanne Dams

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      January 11, 2015 at 3:59 pm

      Mary, thank you! I’ll go add her to the full-figured (plus sized) sleuths list.

      Reply
  30. Tessa says

    January 4, 2016 at 11:18 am

    The Corinna Chapman books by Kerry Greenwood. Corinna is definitely a plus-sized gal. Corinna solves more puzzles than murders, but the books are delightful.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      January 4, 2016 at 5:00 pm

      Tessa, thanks for the Kerry Greenwood tip!

      Reply
  31. Chai says

    January 31, 2016 at 12:07 am

    Hi there… I’m looking for a mystery novel I read in high school years ago, and all I can remember is that the protagonist was a fuller figured lady who called her growling tummy Petunia! It was probably published some time between the 60s and 80s, and in one book I read, her main love interest was, if I recall correctly, a Japanese-American. Does this ring any bells? Any idea where I could get help locating it? Thanks so much for this list… Once I manage to stop looking for this book (either by finding it or by dropping the issue lol) I’ll have a lot more books to try! 🙂

    Reply
    • Shonagon says

      August 19, 2017 at 4:19 pm

      Very late with this reply, I just found this site today, but that’s a novel by T. Ernesto Bethancourt titled The Mad Samurai.

      Reply
  32. Susan* says

    June 22, 2018 at 8:17 pm

    Just re-reading some of the Rex Stout books. Danna, I don’t know if you count Nero Wolfe as ‘Cozy’, but if you do, you really can’t leave hin out of the ‘Plus-Size’ category!! 🙂
    (In fact, I think he was probably the original ‘Fuller Figured’ Sleuth. Lol!)

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      June 23, 2018 at 1:41 am

      Susan, I think I agree – not sure if I’d say he’s totally Cozy, but it’s close enough that I’m putting him on the list.

      Reply
  33. Pamela says

    December 8, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    I would add Libby Klein’s (fabulous) Poppy McAllister mysteries.

    Reply
  34. Barbara says

    June 18, 2024 at 1:46 pm

    Read these years ago, but I think Katy Munger’s “Casey Jones” was a large woman – might have been super muscular, but she wasn’t petite, that’s for sure and they were a lot of fun.

    Reply

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