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The Cereal Murders  By  cover art

The Cereal Murders

By: Diane Mott Davidson
Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
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Publisher's summary

Best-selling author Diane Mott Davidson has cooked up yet another tantalizing feast of murder, mystery, and mayhem. Dubbed "Queen of the Culinary Mystery" by her fans, Ms. Davidson adroitly defends her crown with this delectable offering of suspense, spiced with a dash of romance and a pinch of humor.

Goldy Bear, Aspen Meadow's caterer extraordinaire, is catering a dinner at the exclusive Elk Park Preparatory School. At the end of the evening, a horrified Goldy discovers the school valedictorian's battered body heaped in the snow. When a series of disturbing pranks leads her to believe that her son might be the next victim, Goldy launches her investigation. Delving into the scandals permeating the halls of academia, she stumbles upon another grisly murder, and another.

Forces collide to make this book truly a gourmet experience. Barbara Rosenblat's full-bodied and witty reading, Ms. Mott's deliciously fast-paced plot, and her heroine's recipes for such enticing delights as Sugar Plum Cake and Sweetheart Sandwiches leave the reader satisfied, yet hoping for more.

©1993 Diane Mott Davidson (P)1997 Recorded Books, LLC

What listeners say about The Cereal Murders

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Early Work from Author

This is the third in the Diane Mott Davidson series and not my favorite. The premise was a stretch, the characters confusing and unrealistic and the murderer wasn't fully developed. Had it been told from a different point of view, it could very easily have been classified as a young adult book as it was set in a prep school and focused quite a bit on the teenagers attending the school and the stress of getting into the “right” college…read Ivy League.

The main character is Goldy the caterer, apparently a highly rated one in the Aspen, CO area, but I'm nit sure why. If anyone has ever had anything to do with a catered event, even just attending one, you would know the caterer does not wander off for extended periods, argue with the client, speak impertinently to the guests or have their 12 year old son and various teenagers as servers (who also ask impertinent questions).

There are some inconsistencies that needed editing: in the beginning, the guests at a function are served both appetizers and desserts simultaneously and later, even though there’s a detail of cops outside her house, Goldy (the queen of bad decisions) jumps in her car and (not wanting to spoil the end here) gets herself into trouble.

And if there have been two murders at your son's prep school, wouldn't you think the school would be shut down or have cops stationed there? At the very least, I would take my kid out until the murders have been solved. By the end of the book, I honestly didn't care who done it!

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MY NEW FAVORITE

What did you love best about The Cereal Murders?

i love everything about this series of books.....and this narrator is perfect for these stories.....my last 3 credit have been used on this series......

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Not my kind of mystery

I found this book on a sale table at a used book store, it seemed interesting but I really found the plot line to be a little more "young adult" than I was expecting. I do not mind young adult novels but I do not think this was meant to be written as such. The story was interesting enough for me to get through the book, however there was such a focus on SAT prep and what everyone was eating it lost my attention often. I do not think I will be picking up another book in this series.

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    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

This is one of her early works and "Goldie" is very crabby, whiney and just unpleasant, to put it nicely. If she were really a caterer, she wouldn't have any clients...

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A good story, but a little rushed at the end

I think overall this is a good book and if you like Goldy Bear mysteries, such as the first two, this is a good addition. You will likely enjoy this book and the recipes are included this time unlike in the audio version of Dying For Chocolate.

Barbara Rosenblat delivers a strong performance. While I still don't love some of her inflection it is clear she is trying to give Goldy a voice and style for these books. I genuinely appreciate Rosenblat's attempts to give many different voices and characterizing the voices. I think she does a good job. However this audio recording has several odd pauses and breaks that made me check to see if my player was working properly. Further it does not divide by chapter, which some audio book readers find frustrating. It isn't a deal breaker but it is frustrating as I think this fails Barbara Rosenblat as a voice actor and the Diane Mott Davidson's story.

I really do love the Goldy Bear mysteries and I think Diane Mott Davidson can have an interesting way of delivering a story. I genuinely liked this book more then Catering to Nobody and Dying for Chocolate (which were both enjoyable). I think the story worked, the clues made sense, and the motive while incredibly petty worked. I think Goldy's monologue on the end was a bit much but clearly some people need to have ideas spelled out.

Overall the mystery itself works, I like how the clues fit together in the end, I enjoyed the escalation of events. I think it had a lot of good moments. I do think Diane Mott Davidson tends to write younger characters a tad peevishly. I found myself feeling that I'd enjoy the story more if Goldy would sit down and have a more earnest heart to heart conversation with some of the characters besides Schulz. At the same time I could easily see a woman like Goldy struggling in her connections to her son Arch.

My big complaint for this novel is that the ending feels very rushed and several plot threads for other characters (especially some of the students and one of the teachers) isn't wrapped up very well. I would have enjoyed a little more time to see some of the other characters lives and the impact of the revelation of who the killer was in this book. I also found the multiple times Goldy consummated her relationship with Schulz to be a bit much for my personal tastes.

To the author's credit she does a great job detailing how Goldy's trauma from her abusive husband as well as the trauma of seeing these deaths impacts her. Diane Mott Davidson makes it clear how these horrifying events impact Goldy and that Goldy does use a therapist. I think reminding the readers that in this book a teenage boy dies horrifically is a good thing to note. I do love how Goldy struggles emotionally to connect with people due to her trauma and how she is healing from her own pains. It was nice to see her move the relationship with Schulz forward finally and it is good to see Goldy healing from her trauma and not staying in the same place we saw her in the first book. I do admit sometimes I find Goldy's judgement and snark about some things frustrating. She can be a very judgmental person and I do wonder why some people talk to her and tell her secrets (the bit in the church in this book frustrated me). The thing is I do appreciate that Diane Mott Davidson wrote such a complex character with so much nuance.

So overall if you liked the first two books in this series you are likely to enjoy this one. I think it was a good story well written.

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excellent 👍

Good read and wonderful recipes! On to the next book. narrator is my favorites always

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    4 out of 5 stars

Snap Crackle Pop

This is the first book I have listened to from this author and I think I am hooked. I can't wait to get my next credits.

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Just OK

Not my favorite subject matter for a mystery, so this one was just OK, nothing great. I am sure somewhere out there someone or someones have tried to take the whole collegiate competition to this level but it wasn’t something I wanted to read/listen about. I continued on with this one because I have enjoyed this series and didn’t want to miss anything that I might needed to know about in a later installment.

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Barbara Rosenblat is the Voice of Goldie.

I love this narrator for these books. She brings the character alive, and you truly feel like you are in the story.

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Great Read

I love this series! I'm a fan of cooking shows and cookbooks so this helps me stay busy and focused during health procedures.

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