DORIS FEIN: DEADLY APHRODITE

by T. Ernesto Bethancourt ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 1982

All for the better, Bethancourt discards the superwoman stunts of recent Doris Fein adventures for a straight mystery, ultimately a murder mystery, which grows out of Doris' stay on a neighboring fat farm. Having inherited newsman Harry Grubb's fortune and mansion, a development that led boyfriend Carl Suzuki to withdraw his longstanding proposal, Doris has put on weight, Now, with high school friend Larry Small returning to town, Doris wants to lose 30 pounds--so she checks into luxurious Aphrodite's, where film stars and such go to shape up. Doffs does lose, but she also develops an amphetamine addiction, as Larry spots on his arrival. So that, fumes Doris, is what's in Dr. Lucius' mysterious JK-4 injections! Being the strong young woman she is, Doris kicks it at once; but then she and Larry, putting two and two and a few odd numbers together, conclude that Lucius is a murderer as well as a Dr. Feelgood. Doris dashes off to warn the lovely Shirley, who owns and runs the spa, only to learn what readers don't have to be told: Shirley is in on the crimes. There are, it seems, other murders, and in a typical series ending, Doffs narrowly misses being added to the list. With Grubb's mansion and electronic file system for glamor and his inherited houseman Bruno for a semi-comic, semi-human-interest domestic nut to crack, and with an old-friends' reunion for those who've known Doris since way back when, this is one of Ms. Fein's more likable appearances.

Pub Date: April 15, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1982

Categories: FICTION