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5th out of 293 books
—
980 voters
Catering to Nobody (A Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery #1)
Catering a wake is not Goldy's idea of fun. Yet the Colorado caterer throws herself into preparing a savory feast including Poached Salmon and Strawberry Shortcake Buffet designed to soothe forty mourners. And her culinary efforts seem to be exactly what the doctor ordered...until her ex-father-in-law gynecologist Fritz Korman is struck down and Goldy is accused of adding...more
Paperback, 301 pages
Published
February 26th 2002
by Bantam
(first published 1990)
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Listened to the Recorded Books cassette edition. Now I've previously read this book several years ago and went on to read more in the series, but why sort of escapes me. I didn't like the people in this book. I found Goldy annoying and repetitive and Tom Schulz unprofessional, pushy, and patronizing. I might try the second one at least because I know I kept going with the series previously but if I don't like that one better then I'm gone. I think this may be just one example of the problem I ha...more
Catering to Nobody" is the first delectable book in this culinary mystery series full of crazy, different characters.
Lightly entertaining, and a good murder mystery Davidson's witty writing and clever clues combine with some yummy recipes along the way to solving this short, fun mystery.
Goldy is a former battered wife who has finally divorced her abusive doctor husband and strikes out to support herself and her pre-teen son by starting an upscale catering company.
Handsome police officer Tom Schu...more
Lightly entertaining, and a good murder mystery Davidson's witty writing and clever clues combine with some yummy recipes along the way to solving this short, fun mystery.
Goldy is a former battered wife who has finally divorced her abusive doctor husband and strikes out to support herself and her pre-teen son by starting an upscale catering company.
Handsome police officer Tom Schu...more
I will be riding on Vromans Bookstore's Mystery Bus to attend the LA Times Festival of Books. Diane Mott Davidson is the author on that bus this year and I thought it would be fun to read one of her novels, so starting at the beginning of her series.
I liked the book. I found the writing a little confusing at times, but thought the story was entertaining. I would hope the writing gets better as the series continues, or maybe the reader just gets used to her particular style. Enjoyed listening to...more
I liked the book. I found the writing a little confusing at times, but thought the story was entertaining. I would hope the writing gets better as the series continues, or maybe the reader just gets used to her particular style. Enjoyed listening to...more
I really enjoyed this book. It was neat to "meet" all of the characters for the first time, as I have read many of other books from the series. Quick and fun read.
2 likes · like · see review
Typical Mott Davidson, which make an enjoyable light read between more serious tomes. And her recipies always get my cooking brain thinking... Best part was the mention of antof9's town in Colorado!
Publisher Review
Meet The Caterer Who Whipped Up The Multimillion-Copy Mystery Series– As Goldy Solves Her First Murder!
Diane Mott Davidson’s winning recipe of first-class suspense and five-star fare has won her and caterer Goldy critical raves and a regular place on major bestseller lists across the...more
Publisher Review
Meet The Caterer Who Whipped Up The Multimillion-Copy Mystery Series– As Goldy Solves Her First Murder!
Diane Mott Davidson’s winning recipe of first-class suspense and five-star fare has won her and caterer Goldy critical raves and a regular place on major bestseller lists across the...more
While catering a wake for her son’s teacher Laura Smiley, Goldy Bear finds herself in trouble when her father in-law is poisoned. He survives, but Goldy’s business is forced to shut down while an investigation is conducted. Being a single parent Goldy can not afford to sit and wait for the police to complete the investigation so begins an investigation of her own. While investigating the poisoning questions begin to arise around the death of Ms. Smiley. This is a culinary mystery story that is f...more
When I first began reading Mott's work, I started with Dying for Chocolate. I enjoyed the work and was happy to know that there were more books on Goldy Bear and her misadventures in crime solving. Catering to Nobody reintroduced me to Goldy's world, her abusive ex-husband, his parents, her son, Arch, and other characters that made the story more interesting to some level. With most readers, there are characters that you enjoy reading about and characters that you don't. Goldy is more of a in-be...more
Ok, so books like this are the reason I'm not a huge fan of commercial fiction. It was well written, had a nice marketable plot, and was cleverly done with the recipes in the middle and all--I mean, on those characteristics alone it seems like the perfect book, but I got kind of bored with it and fast.
We'll start with Goldie, the main character, who's a recovering love addict and has battled to put her life together after an abusive marriage. Doesn't that just sound like a wonderful thing to rea...more
We'll start with Goldie, the main character, who's a recovering love addict and has battled to put her life together after an abusive marriage. Doesn't that just sound like a wonderful thing to rea...more
Catering a wake is not Goldy Bear's favorite type of event. It is especially upsetting when the wake is for her son's former teacher. Eleven year old Arch was a close friend to Laura Smiley and her suicide came as a terrible shock to him.
The sad event takes a turn for the worse when, during the wake, Dr. Fritz Korman, Goldy’s ex-father-in-law becomes deathly ill. The police are called to investigate when its discovered that someone put poison in Korman’s coffee.
With the holiday season quickly...more
The sad event takes a turn for the worse when, during the wake, Dr. Fritz Korman, Goldy’s ex-father-in-law becomes deathly ill. The police are called to investigate when its discovered that someone put poison in Korman’s coffee.
With the holiday season quickly...more
I really wanted to like this book more - I mean, I am by no means an opposer of light literature and chick lit and light crime novels at all. It seemed to have a really interesting premise...
But...
The only redeeming qualities for me were the whodunnit kind of guessing game and that it was exciting. Other than that... ugh. I don't know if it was only the translation, but I felt it was badly written. Too many unnecessary details and filler sentences... and also, there were some sentences and struc...more
But...
The only redeeming qualities for me were the whodunnit kind of guessing game and that it was exciting. Other than that... ugh. I don't know if it was only the translation, but I felt it was badly written. Too many unnecessary details and filler sentences... and also, there were some sentences and struc...more
I really like the Goldy the caterer in this series of books. This is the first book in the series of many books about Goldy. In this book, she is divorced from her doctor husband (know as "the jerk") She is best friends with the ex wife who came after her.
Her son, Arch, is having difficulty adjusting to the divorce and is small and bullied by other kids in his class. Arch is really into Dungeons and Dragons. His downward spiral continues when a teacher/friend commits susicide (or was it susici...more
Her son, Arch, is having difficulty adjusting to the divorce and is small and bullied by other kids in his class. Arch is really into Dungeons and Dragons. His downward spiral continues when a teacher/friend commits susicide (or was it susici...more
The first 50 or so pages of this book was interesting, enough that I wanted to keep reading it to find out who the killer was, but the rest of the book was slow moving and the author found a way to put the blame on pretty much every character. So you never really had any idea who-done-it. Not a fast read at all, and I found most of the characters (even the one who dies) very annoying. Thank goodness one of them dies.
Goldy is catering for a funeral when her ex-father-in-law Fritz gets poisoned....more
Goldy is catering for a funeral when her ex-father-in-law Fritz gets poisoned....more
Another new author, another fun, light read! Goldy runs her own catering business. She is divorced from Richard and they have a son, Arch. She maintains a mild relationship with her in-laws Vonnette and Fritz and one of her close friends is Marla, also divorced from Richard. All are gathered for the wake of Arch's favorite teacher, Laura Smiley, who has committed suicide. Goldy is catering the event and rat poison ends up in Fritz's drink, Goldy's business is shut down by the police, namely one...more
Nov 14, 2010
Lisa (Harmonybites)
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Foodies With a Mystery Bent Who Don't Mind TSTL Protagonists
Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List
Shelves:
contemporary,
cookbooks,
humor-and-comedy,
mystery,
romance,
ultimate-reading-list,
crime,
fiction,
novels
From the beginning this was a bit too cutesy for me. The first person narrator and protagonist, "Goldy Bear" is a caterer in Aspen Meadow, Colorado, and her motto is "just right." At regular intervals we get complete recipes like "Dungeon Bars" and "Wild Man Wild Rice."
Also, the romantic interest is the detective, Tom Schulz, investigating a poisoning in which Goldie is a suspect. He had the power it seemed, to close down her business until someone is arrested--but he doesn't hesitate to date h...more
Also, the romantic interest is the detective, Tom Schulz, investigating a poisoning in which Goldie is a suspect. He had the power it seemed, to close down her business until someone is arrested--but he doesn't hesitate to date h...more
Have you ever read a book where you didnt like any of the characters (not even the kid) but couldnt stop reading it?
This happened to me with this story. Its a testament to this writer that despite my dislike of everyone in this story i still wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen. I figured some things out right away and with others was geniunely surprised.
Overall the book is not bad but personally i dont care what happened to anyone in it after i finished reading so i wont be con...more
This happened to me with this story. Its a testament to this writer that despite my dislike of everyone in this story i still wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen. I figured some things out right away and with others was geniunely surprised.
Overall the book is not bad but personally i dont care what happened to anyone in it after i finished reading so i wont be con...more
I read Diane Mott Davidson's "The Last Suppers" because (a) it is a culinary murder mystery and I love culinary murder mysteries and (b) it is about the ordination process in the Episcopal Church, a process in which I have been involved for many years. From there, it seemed reasonable to "go back" to the first in her Goldy Schulz series -- "Catering to Nobody" -- to find out how it all began: a single mother of a teenage son, running a catering business in a Colorado town, getting involved in a...more
The plot was good enough in the first of the catering mysteries, but the characters drove me to drink (rather like Vonette). Goldy, the main character, was a walking contradiction. She seems driven, inquisitive and confident, yet she's clueless and clearly makes very poor and questionable choices. She says she adores her son Archibald (really? ARCHIBALD?) yet when he comes home from school bullied and beat up, she does nothing about it. He won't talk about his teacher's death, keeps to himself,...more
Diane Mott Davidson (Goldy the caterer series)
This is a great cozy mystery. Feel free to read out of order if that's how you happen into this series, you won't miss anything. A personal preference is to read in order, but it is not neccesary to enjoy the books in this series.
Any book in this series will be a fun quick read without gore, extreme violence, sex & minimal bad language. While this may not be a 'stay up all night to read' book or a 'can't sleep after I read it' book, it is entert...more
This is a great cozy mystery. Feel free to read out of order if that's how you happen into this series, you won't miss anything. A personal preference is to read in order, but it is not neccesary to enjoy the books in this series.
Any book in this series will be a fun quick read without gore, extreme violence, sex & minimal bad language. While this may not be a 'stay up all night to read' book or a 'can't sleep after I read it' book, it is entert...more
These were light, easy reads. The stories are good, moves along quickly, the plot twist is always a little far-fetched... but at least you don't see the end coming! All the descriptions of the food the main character (who is a caterer) makes are fantastic and because most of the recipes are included, it makes the books much more fun to me!
Diane Mott Davidson is the writer of a murder mystery series about heroine Goldie Bear. Goldie, who is a professional caterer, is always cooking up something good (with some recipes included). With that said, she is also always happening into a crime scene (or being accused of one). There is definitely some wit and humour to this book and the element of wanting to read just a few more pages, or chapters, to see who done it. The problem is I felt a little smutty by the time I finished the book. T...more
This is one of my guilty pleasures. I love light mysteries. I want to see a body in the first 20 pages, lots of clues in the middle, and the solution in the last 20 pages. I never try to figure it out. I just skim the surface, suspend disbelief (how many dead bodies is a caterer likely to find, really?), and enjoy the ride.
3 likes · like · see review
First in a series of culinary mysteries. An entertaining and quick read. The main character is a divorced caterer living in a small Colorado town. As Goldy plans parties and raises her son, she becomes involved in a series of murder mysteries. The books include some of her recipes too.
The first novel by Diane Mott Davidson featuring Goldy and her trademark recipes.
After her divorce from "the jerk ", Goldy starts her own catering business. When her son's teacher commits suicide, Goldy does the catering for the wake. When her former father in law suddenly collapses in agony after eating Goldy's food, and it is determined the man was poisoned, the sheriff shuts Goldy down until they know what happened. This puts Goldy is a huge financial bind. The sheriff isn't getting answers f...more
After her divorce from "the jerk ", Goldy starts her own catering business. When her son's teacher commits suicide, Goldy does the catering for the wake. When her former father in law suddenly collapses in agony after eating Goldy's food, and it is determined the man was poisoned, the sheriff shuts Goldy down until they know what happened. This puts Goldy is a huge financial bind. The sheriff isn't getting answers f...more
Confession: I like mysteries and have been known to read and listen to quirky books with thin plots and thinner mysteries because the characters were interesting. This book is a thin mystery with an heroine so obnoxious I found myself in an unusual position: I was hoping against hope someone would knock her off. She was never in any danger, except from my outstretched hands, but I was still hopeful. She is bitter, nasty to friends, lovers, would-be paramours, hapless by-standers and well..probab...more
This murder mystery is a tad dark and disturbing, and not its not because someone was given rat pellets in their coffee. Rather, it is because Diane Mott Davidson decides to give her character an abusive ex-husband, an 11-year boy whose fantasy role playing seeps into real life, and a roommate whose smarts capacity is only outdone by her ability to work, which is to say none. I will be honest and same as some points throughout the book I was really annoyed with Goldy for not being more assertive...more
I enjoyed this culinary mystery. I found the main character and her son interesting and believable. I didn't know who did what until the end and I wanted to keep on reading until I figured it out!
How much trouble can a caterer get into? Well if you are Goldy, you get into a lot. While trying to reopen her business which is closed until it is proven her food at an event did not try to kill someone - she is dealing with a jerk ex husband, a drunken ex-mother in law, a girl living with her that has some strange medical problem and the cop who is involved with the investigation is wanting to date her. Plus she has a son involved with role playing games. How does she stay sane? She cooks? All...more
My current favorite series. I started this book when I was in labor, and read the whole series during Ivy's first year. You might be getting a copy as a gift from me someday.
This was my second Goldy mystery and once again I liked it more than I expected to. They have a really comforting, weirdly feminist feel to them. These are not really English country-house murders, they follow a trajectory that is more hard-boiled American style. Goldy, the gumshoe sleuth, keeps getting problem after problem heaped onto her, has a mixed-bag love/hate relationship with the police, and uses a lot of ill-advised, blustery investigation techniques that are neither safe nor fully leg...more
Ms. Goldie Bear looks a little like Goldilocks, hence her sobriquet. After divorce she needed a dependable source of income as the child support payments weren't arriving exactly regularly, so she opened a catering business and shares with us some of her best recipes! Would that all her affairs turned out as well as those recipes do! At a catered funeral, her ex-father-in-law is poisoned and since this obviously throws a deep shadow on her catering business, she decides to solve the crime expedi...more
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New York Times bestselling author Diane Mott Davidson wrote three novels before one was accepted for publication—when she was 41. She has since written 14 more mysteries, all featuring Goldy the caterer. In addition, she has written short stories and poetry for various publications. Davidson has won the Anthony Award from Bouchercon, and has been nominated for the Agatha, another Anthony, and the...more
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May 21, 2008 03:50pm