Catering to Nobody

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 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 show more 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

Goldy Baer has a catering service which gets everything "just right." At least everything was just right until someone poisoned her ex-father-in-law at an event she catered. Her business is closed down and she has lost her only means of support until the culprit can be found.

The audible version is read by the great Barbara Rosenblatt. Her great characterizations are a pleasure to listen to and I look forward to the rest of the series. It was a fun quick read. Recommended.

3.5

Quick thoughts -
Sometimes Goldy was obnoxiously nosy but I enjoyed being in her head, her son is adorable, and the mystery has a lot of complicated layers.

The cop is point blank unrealistic with a lot of information reveal and discussing her doing so much of the case, and he annoys me more than anything. Unprofessional and unconvincing. I am re-reading early books to continue series but I remember still never liking him later.

Goldy isn't the greatest character actually - she seems to have a lack of compassion for some of the deaths of certain characters, especially one toward the end, or their issues unless it affects her personally. The abuse is an element that adds a dark and realistic twist but not sure how convincing the author show more is with it in this first book.

Brownie points for recipes anyway - do want to trey Dream Cake, and Holy Moly Guacamole

Edited to add after re-read - The driving scene was particularly hilarious. show less

*spoilers*
Sue Grafton recommends on the cover... so I thought I'd give it a whirl... adequate, not special as a mystery... I am incredibly tired of the protagonist who's clueless... as if there weren't other ways to clue in the reader... protagonist claims to be a second-wave feminist... written in 1990, so I guess that's where feminism was, but strange and cardboard with Our Bodies, Ourselves and unshaved legs... how feminist is it for the protagonist to feel for a young, fairly stupid girl who was raped by her doctor, that now she was about to start the hard road of motherhood... um, maybe there are other options for her? ...and why is the abortion doctor a rapist/killer/child molester?

Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson
2 stars

Goldy is a a single mom and caterer in small-town Colorado. While catering the funeral of her son's suicidal favorite teacher Laura Smiley, her former father in-law is poisoned. Her ex is quick to lay the blame at her feet and until the matter is cleared up, her catering business and sole source of income is shut down - just in time for the Christmas holidays, a caterer's busiest season. In order to save her business Goldy starts investigating for herself and turns up a lot more than she expected, starting with the supposed suicide of Laura Smiley.

The book was the epitome of why I don't typically read cozy mysteries. I found the writing to be dreadful, littered with such awful metaphors show more as "Overhead the sky was a deep periwinkle blue, as if a celestial housecleaner had spilled a bottle of bluing agent to the four corners of the earth." Why would her editor not tell her this not an appealing description of a deep blue Colorado sky? On top of the poor writing, the characters were shallow and uninteresting, the plot formulaic and the killer obvious. I'm unclear as to why anyone would tag it 'thrillers.' The only thing thrilling about it was finally getting to the end and being done with it. The most interesting part of the book was the recipes the author occassionally shared. I know I'll be trying the Honey-I'm-Home Ginger Snaps and Holy Moly Guacamole. The only reason it didn't get one star was because I reserve single star ratings for classic novels that I expect more out of. show less

Audiobook

15% and struggling. A single mother, divorced from an abusive spouse, raising a son. So much unrealistic stuff going on that I struggle with suspension of disbelief. Starting with her ex is a doctor and he doesn’t pay child support. She apparently hasn’t heard that family court frowns on wealthy parents who don’t support their children after being told to. She has unresolved relationship issues as illustrated in her hyper-awareness of him and veiled jealousy of the current girlfriend. There’s a lot of anti-male sentiment and a few faint hints at the author’s political opinions. These are usually deal-breakers for me.

As a cozy mystery, it lacks the light humor I expect, having an overall heavy and gloomy feel. I will show more continue for the time being, hoping things will improve.
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Things did not improve.

I stopped at 18% when our “heroine” took a phone call from her ex. She asked about his father (poison vic at her shindig); he refused to tell her and began to scream at her over the phone. So, she hung up on him, right?

Well, no, she didn’t. She merely held the phone away from her ear and fretted over how to pass the time during his rant. At that point, I found her ex a more likable character than she. At least I understand him.

As another reviewer has pointed out: this woman’s best role is as a doormat. I’m done with her. show less

This was Diane Mott Davidson's first novel. Her Goldy Bear and trademark recipes are now famous. It was fun to read the very first book in the series.
Goldy uses her divorce settlement to start a catering business. When her son's teacher commits suicide, she does the food for the wake. While attending the wake, her former father-in-law keels over in agony. It is determined he was poisoned. As a result, the sheriff shuts Goldy's business down until further notice. This puts Goldy in a serious financial bind. With the Sheriff going through all the legal channels, the investigation is moving much too slow. So, Goldy jumps in and starts her own investigation to speed things along.
While trying to get to the bottom of the poisoning and Arch's show more teacher's death, Goldy has to deal with horrible ex-husband and former in-laws, and her son's increasingly disturbing behavior.
Published in 1990, the book was a touch dated. The game Dungeons and Dragons was featured as part of the plot line. The game was very popular about that time and made headlines. So, there was maybe a touch of nostalgia.
The recipes were awesome however, and I loved Tom. Great banter between Goldy and Tom. The mystery is solid and the story was absorbing. Over all a B+ show less