After the break up of his marriage and his mother's death, James Henry moves back to his small home town of Quincy's Gap, Virginia. He takes a job as head librarian of the Shenandoan County Library. He also takes care of his ill-tempered and reclusive father, Jackson.

James begins dieting with a diet supper club of five, dubbed the flab five. They have been meeting weekly for the past six months. James confesses his diet is officially a failure.

Veronica (Ronnie) Levitt opens a fitness and weight loss center, called "Witness to Fitness", in Quincy's Gap. The flab five decide this is just the motivation they need so they sign up for a six-week fitness and weight loss program.

"Chilly Willy's Polar Pagoda" ice cream shop opens next door to "Witness to Fitness". Then suddenly the ice cream shop burns to the ground with part-time employee, Pete Vandercamp, inside. Pete's whiskey bottle had been laced with valium. The flab five decide to do a little investigating of their own because this fire at Chilly Willy's just didn’t sit right with them.

The flab five discover Ronnie scammed them. They go to her home to confront her only to find her dead in her bathtub. A suicide note is conveniently taped to the bathroom mirror confessing to the fire and Pete's death. A bottle of Jack Daniels sits on the counter, next to the bathroom sink, laced with valium.

Turns out Ronnie was murdered and the flab five have no suspects. They dig deeper into Ronnie's past. A lot of skeletons begin to tumble out of Ronnie's closet, helping them to put the pieces of this mysterious puzzle together and figure out who killed Pete and Ronnie; and why.