The thing about Diane Mott Davidson’s books is, they are instant gratification. First, you check out the recipes and fix the one that sounds best. (I recommend the Fatally Flaky Cookies, because the Black-and-White Cake is tricky, and the Totally Unorthodox Coeur a la Crème has to sit awhile.) Then you sit down and eat yourself through a thoroughly entertaining read.
If you are a mystery reader, you know that Davidson is the queen of culinary mysteries. I have read them all, and by now, Davidson’s sleuth, Goldy Schultz of Goldilocks Catering in Aspen Meadow, Colo., (which is really Evergreen) and I are like that. So you can trust me when I tell you that “Fatally Flaky” is one of Davidson’s best.
The author hit her stride a few books back. Her plots are more believable, her characters funnier and more sure of themselves, and her style is as smooth as crème brûlee.
In the previous 14 novels, Goldy faced one catering disaster after another, but none was quite as bad as Billie Attenburough’s wedding reception. The flaky, overweight, long-in-the-tooth bride has already been dumped by two fiances, and with good reason. She is rude and demanding and overbearing. So Goldy has her work cut out for her.
Bridezilla Billie has changed the reception menu a dozen times, and now, just 48 hours before the wedding, she informs Goldy that she’s adding 50 guests and moving the venue to the Gold Gulch Spa.
Of course, in the midst of all this, there is a murder. Billie is seen arguing vehemently with kindly old Doc Finn, who the day before Billie’s wedding is found dead in a car wreck, and Billie’s mother’s shoes, which Billie sometimes borrows, are in the back seat.
Tom Schultz, Goldy’s cop- husband determines the good doctor was rear-ended, then his head crushed with a rock. Things couldn’t get worse — but they do. There’s a second murder and an encounter with Victor Lane, Goldy’s longtime nemesis and the owner of the Gold Gulch Spa.
The two have been at odds since Goldy started her catering business after Victor told her women couldn’t cook. Goldy promptly ran him out of business, so he is not pleased to see her in the kitchen of his establishment, preparing for the wedding reception.
Nor does Goldy have any desire to appease Victor. In fact, she is suspicious of Gold Gulch Spa, a weight-loss clinic with wretched food. Goldy suspects Victor may be doctoring the smoothies he feeds to his guests.
We all know that despite Tom’s warnings to stick to her cooking, Goldy sticks her nose into the investigation and does it while downing Summertime Specials (four shots of espresso with whipping cream and ice) and preparing meals that are to die for, although nobody’s ever been taken down by Goldy’s cooking — unless it was doctored.
And we know that in the end, Goldy will solve the case. That’s not giving away the ending. It’s just to assure you that there will be a 16th mystery.
The bonus of Davidson’s books is the recipe section. There is a particularly good Chilled Curried Chicken Salad recipe, and as soon as I finish this, I’m going to try the Nutcase Cranberry-Apricot Bread.
This is not low-calorie fare. Words such as “sugar substitute” and “margarine” are not part of the author’s vocabulary.
But trust me, these are great recipes, and they are a perfect accompaniment to a Davidson mystery.
Sandra Dallas is a Denver novelist whose latest, “Prayers for Sale,” is in bookstores.
FICTION
Fatally Flaky
by Diane Mott Davidson
$25.99
