This is another solid mystery in the Supper Club series. Ellery Adams definitely knows her way around a cozy mystery, and this was no exception. I do feel like this one dragged just a bit in the middle, but overall it was a nice, enjoyable read.

In this next book of the series things are going well for James, him and his ex-wife are reconnecting while raising their child together, he has started hypnotherapy to help deal with losing weight, and his new hire for the library is working out great. When his young son decides he wants to be a vegetarian James takes him to the local fresh food festival to help with the process but while there they are met by angry protestors who think it's wrong to eat meat. Later at the festival James son finds the body of a local councilman dead in the bathroom, it looks like he died of a heart attack so there is no mystery to be solved or is there? However when the body of one of the young activist is found dead in her apartment in a similar fashion to that of the councilman James begins to wonder if he might have been murdered also. Follow along as James and the other supper club members investigate this young woman's death and come across some sordid secrets along the way. Will they be able to find the killer before it's to late? James has to deal with someone leaving his ex and himself cryptic messages and his father has a stroke during a going away party will these setbacks keep him from finding the answers they all seek? This is such a fun read filled with terrific characters, I always look forward to each new diet plan and finding out if will work for the supper club. I can't wait to see what they try next.

I'm a big Ellery Adams fan, and this was my first Supper Club Mystery. James Henry, head librarian in Quincy's Gap is likeable, if not a little emotional, in leading his charming band of characters in solving murders. I'm going to go back and read the others in the series so that I can keep relationships straight. The friendships and the intellect of the characters is engaging, and I look forward to reading the series.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book. This is the sixth in the Supper Club series, but the first that I have read. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I knew the characters better - I had to search for the character names in the first half of the book as I couldn't remember who was who.

The story is about a group of overweight friends who meet weekly to plan weight loss solutions. This book begins with the group going to a hypnotist to create an aversion to sugar. James is our lead character, the librarian for the small town in Virginia they live in. He has recently learned that his ex-wife had a son after their marriage broke up and is wild about his four year old son. He's also getting close to Jane again. The other four members of the supper club also have ups-and-downs in their love lives and I see more weddings to come in future books.

The two murders in this book seem to be a sideline to the story of James and Jane, though since one member is a cop, she's more involved than the others.

There are some vegetarian recipes in the back of the book that I am going to try. I would read more by this author.

Another great book in a fantastic series. I love the characters, and how they deal with real situations. The way they interact with each other, and are there for each other, is second to none. I highly recommend this book and this series!

While I've liked all the other Supper Club Mystery Books, this book was very little mystery. It was all about relationships - James and his ex-wife, Jane; James and his son, Eliot (and where the hell did he come from?!); Lindy and Luis; Lucy and Sullie; Bennett and Gillian. Then one of the library twins has a girlfriend, and the other gets one. And there's Jackson and Milla. I felt like the book was primarily about everyone's relationships. There's a death early in the book, but it's not ruled a homicide. The second death doesn't come until 57% of the way through. I'm just very underwhelmed with this one, which is a shame because I have totally enjoyed this series.

Black Beans & Vice is the sixth book in The Supper Club Mysteries series.

The Supper Club members, James, Lindy, Lucy, Gillian, and Bennett are in need of additional help in their dieting efforts. Lindy proposes that they check out the hypnotherapist at the Wellness Village outside of Quincy Gap. After some cajoling by Lindy, they agree to give investigate the use of hypnosis to get back on track with their diets. The Wellness Village features, in addition to the hypnotist, a herbalist, an acupuncturist and holistic healers. The members see that a Village Fresh Food Festival will be held over the upcoming weekend and decide to see what it has to offer.

They all show up for the festival and are enjoying all the fresh local foods when a disturbance catches there attention. An animal rights group is protesting the inhumane killing of animals in slaughterhouses but the police arrive before the protest gets violent. James has to take his son, Eliot to the restroom and asks herbalist, Roslyn Rhodes if they could use her restroom. When the entered, they found the body of Ned Woodman, a Quincy Gap councilman. The police at first feel that he died of natural causes, but James had seen him earlier at the festival and he seemed worried and upset. They find help investigating from an unexpected source, Murphy Alistair. Alistair, editor of the local newspaper had previously written a “fictional” book that unflattering to the members of the Supper Club. Alistair had found that Woodman was possibly embezzling from the city’s coffers. Then when Tia Royale, the leader of the animal protest is killed they then to get cooking to find the killer.

Also going on in Quincy Gap with the club member, James is taking it slowly with renewing their relationship and he is also enjoying getting to know his son Eliot. Bennett and Gillian’s relationship continues to grow, while Lindy is still hoping the Luis will come to his senses and ask her to marry him.

New characters to series are Willow Singletary who has stayed in Quincy Gap after her employer was murdered in A Battered Body, and is now working for Milla, James’ stepmother. Also new to Quincy Gap is Fern Dickenson. Fern is a freelance photographer and has started working for the library.

This is another excellently told story, well-plotted and with a wonderful cast of characters. All members of the Supper Club are well developed and with their own personalities. I would love to be friends with all of them.

Delicious sounding recipes are also included with the book.

I am looking forward to reading the next book this series, Pasta Mortem.

Black Beans & Vice is the sixth book in Ellery Adams’ Supper Club Mysteries series and is an enjoyable read. The storyline is well thought out and the well-developed characters are affable. As their friendship continues to evolve, the members of the Flab Five have developed an enviable camaraderie as they continue to support each other in their quest to lose weight, supply moral support, and work together to solve mysteries. There aren’t any graphic adult situations or violence, but there is some adult language. I’m looking forward to reading the next installment in this series.

Librarian James Henry is settling into the house he recently purchased and married life is going well for his dad, Jackson, and his new stepmother, Milla. James recently reconnected with his ex-wife, Jane, and discovered he has a four-year-old son, Eliot. James loves being a dad and is spending as much time as he can with Eliot, but wonders what course his relationship with Jane will take. Murphy Alistair, his former girlfriend and author of “The Body in the Bakery,” a book about the “fictional” account about Quincy’s Gap, the lives of the Flab Five, and their crime solving endeavors, has moved back to Quincy’s Gap, Virginia and purchased the Shenandoah Star Ledger, the newspaper she used to work for. Bennett Marshall and Gillian O’Malley are together after Bennet declared his love for her on national television when he was a contestant on Jeopardy. Lucy Hanover is delighted that Sullie will be returning to the Sheriff’s Department and hoping to renew their relationship now that she and James have broken up. Lindy Perez is nervous about meeting Luis Chavez’s mother and hoping he will pop the question even though his mother wants him to marry her friend’s daughter. At Lindy’s urging, the Flab Five has agreed to sign up for hypnotherapy at Harmony York’s A Better State of Mind in their continuing endeavor to lose weight. A confrontation between farmers and animal rights activists breaks out during a fresh food festival being held at the Wellness Village and Ned Woodman, one of the town councilmen, is found dead in the bathroom at herbal healer, Roslyn Rhodes’ Health House in the Wellness Village. The Flab Five try to solve Ned’s murder and the murder of Tia Royale, an animal rights activist while also trying to figure out why Murphy moved back to town and identify the person tormenting and scaring James, Jane, and Eliot. A medical emergency brings fear to the Henry family.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.