Diane Mott Davidson

What with a ridiculously implausible plot, Goldy Schulz's incredibly ill-considered interference, and author Diane Mott Davidson's apparent inability to distinguish between Santería and second sight, I simply could not force myself to finish Crunch Time -- despite being a longtime Goldy Schulz fan. Only the recipes, delectable as always, saved this monstrosity from a one-star rating.

I haven't enjoyed this series for a while, but this is an earlier entry that I had somehow missed and I hoped it might belong to the "still good" era. Alas, no. The opening sequence is a typical tired slapstick about caterer Goldy tripping over a dead body, which provides plenty of scene-setting without the subsequent throwing about of food all over a posh law firm's lobby. It's all just so over the top and ridiculous, and I swear this time I am really done with this series. I can't keep show more reading books where I'm rooting for the murderer to take out the main character, can I? At least not without knowing it actually happens at some point — that book, I would happily read. show less

This is going to be one of the shortest reviews I've ever done, because I just couldn't stand Goldy. So, instead of a traditional review, I'm just going to list the talking points that lead up to the reason I gave this book one star only, instead of leading in with an intro:

Goldy is a whiny, self- absorbed protagonist who allows her abusive ex-husband to continue to abuse her; she has an eleven-year-old son who is being bullied at school and she leaves him to work it out himself (and, I'm show more guessing, continue to be bullied) instead of informing the school to take measures or speak to the other boys' parents; she does nothing at all.

I found it odd that the recipes are in the middle of sentences! Not at the end of chapters or even paragraphs - but in the middle of sentences. Oh. My. God. Also, who on earth puts mayonnaise in guacamole? You have to wonder how far she'll go as a caterer with this recipe.

Her ex-husband is a well-heeled doctor but she doesn't make him pay child support on a regular basis even though she's struggling as a caterer to make ends meet. She'd rather keep the peace than pay the bills! She's never taken him to court about paying support on a regular basis, gotten a restraining order against him for physically assaulting her, nor told him never to speak to her that way again. Her name should be on doormats sold countrywide. But it's contradictory when she just tells people what to do, like taking her ex-mother-in-law's car and refusing to give it back.

She's not even conscientious as a caterer. She runs out of supplies. I'm a home cook and I check my cupboards and refrigerator on a regular basis, and if I'm running low I replenish, and if I use a can of anything I replace it the next time I go to the store!

She allows her son to call his grandparents by their first names because apparently neither she nor her husband could teach him otherwise. It might not bother others, but I find it disrespectful, the same as if they wouldn't call a teacher by their first name. Her son also speaks and acts like he's twenty, not eleven. It makes you wonder if the author has children of her own.

She's only investigating because her business is on the line, she doesn't really care otherwise, and she has no problem breaking into Laura's home and taking things, including smoking the dead woman's cigarettes; nor going through confidential patient files.

She's a horrible human being and unlikable in the extreme. It makes you wonder how there are so many books in this series. No, I will not read any more of them and I'm sorry I even read the first one. show less

I adored Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Schulz, but I have enjoyed the latest books less and less. I could not even finish Crunch Time, the last one I attempted to read. However, I’ve kept checking Mott Davidson’s books out of the library to get the recipes, which have maintained their excellence standard.

So I am especially thankful for this wonderful cookbook, which I got for a delicious deal in the Kindle format. So many wonderful recipes — including some that aren’t in any novels! show more Even if you’re no longer hungry for Goldy’s adventures — or misadventures — you’ll be happy to gobble up this cookbook. show less