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.

I have just discovered Diane Mott Davidson and I find her books very entertaining. I also like the Narrator and followed her through the Nevada Barr ..Show More »series.

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This mystery is as good as it gets. I couldn't stop listening to this book.

The ingredients I want in a Goldy mystery are all here, and, I might add, in a more generous measure than they have been of late: humor, an involving ..Show More »and
intriguing mystery, entertaining banter, and of course, the mouth watering recipes. I found the Killer Pancake to be kind of depressing, so I was relieved
that this book was such a better read. Barbara Rosenblat, as always, is a pleasure to listen to; love her. I have already purchased the next title Audible
offers, and am looking forward to it. More of the dog, Jake and the nut, McGuire; I don't want to spend my reading time thinking about the vain promises
on beauty jars, (apologies to Joni Mitchell), I like my culinary mysteries to have a bit of leavening , and this one has it.


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Diane Mott Davidson's "Goldy Bear" series is the most uneven of any of the contemporary cozy detective series. A few are absolutely excellent, a coupl..Show More »e are perfectly dreadful, and the majority are spread throughout the middle somewhere, neither remarkably good or bad. Except for the recipes. Those are ALWAYS good.

This one's in the middle, tending toward the 'not so good' side. For one thing, there's very little catering going on, which is the key element for me, anyway, the part I most enjoy. Not only that, there's not even much murder going on. What we have, instead, is Goldy holding forth, for dozens of minutes at a time, all about the evils of her former husband, "the Jerk". That's half the book. The other half is Goldy obsessing about her annoying son again, "Arch", certainly the most spoiled child in all of literature. There are times I swear she's just watching the kid -- who must be in his early teens -- minute by minute, to make sure he draws another breath. Enough, already! Goldy and 'the Jerk' have been divorced for several years, Goldy herself is remarried. At times I felt like taking her by the shoulders, shaking her, and saying, 'Get on with it!' Forget him! He's gone!" There's a real pathology there, her hanging unto all the hurts from that past relationship, ready to repeat them all, again and again, at the drop of a hat to anyone who will listen. And in an auciobook, that would be us.

I won't get started on "Arch" the son again. Suffice it to say that she's convinced both herself and Arch that the world revolves around him, and that whatever else is going on in the world -- or in their own lives -- her first obligation (which she actually says, believe it of not) is to make sure that he's happy. I can't wait to see what prison he'll be sent to when he grows up. That mother-son relationship is sick, just sick.

Even Barbara Rosenblat doesn't make this one come alive. She's my favorite female reader, and in other series (Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon books especially) she just shines and makes each book much better than it would have been, had someone else been narrating. But even she falls short this time -- not her best, either. Goldy is just annoying in this book and there isn't much the narrator can do about it.

On the upside, there is SOME catering, and that's always fun. The recipes are good -- in fact, at one point Goldy was making a cheese sandwich for someone -- fresh baked brioche, chevre, fresh tomatoes and pesto -- that sounded so good I had to run to the grocery store so I could make one of my own. Delish!

If you haven't read any of the "Goldy Bear" books before, don't start with this one. Others are much better -- actually the best of the lot is the very first, 'Dying for Chocolate', also available on Audible. This book just isn't anybody's best work.

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The Goldie cooking mysteries is one of my all time favorite series. This book is another in the line of great reads (or listens)! Lots of twists and ..Show More »turns keeps the listener/reader guessing until the end. I highly recommend.

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I've listened to all of the other Goldilocks catering books and have really enjoyed the characters, the plots and the recipes.
Not this book--it..Show More »'s taken me weeks to get to the end of part 1, and I'm not sure I'm even going to bother to listen to the second download. Arch has been transformed from an interesting multidimensional kid to a brat and a bully--and Goldie is the prime target of his bullying. Goldie's response is to chalk it up to Arch being a teenager--and then she buys him the expensive birthday gift he's bullied her about. This is supposed to be the woman who survived the Jerk and learned to be assertive. I kept waiting for her to show-or grow--a backbone. Goldie repeatedly breaks the law while doing her sleuthing. Tom is nothing more than prop who cooks while she's playing detective, and even when he discovers that she's done something grossly illegal, he gives her a hug and goes back to making dinner. Marla is almost absent, and Julian is only slightly more prominent(so far). More than in any other book, we hear ad nauseum about rich people in fabulous houses who send their kids to Elk Park Prep but don't seem to have the slightest bit of sense abouut running the businesses that supposedly support their sumptuous lifestyles. While I prefer Barbara Rosenblatt to Joyce Bean, a change in narrator wouldn't fix all of this. I agree with the reviewer who questioned whether Diane Mott Davidson actually wrote this. If I download part 2, it may be just to get the recipes at the end--at least the spice cookies. I don't CARE who did it or how Goldie figures it out. I'm glad I read all the other books in this series before encountering this one, or I would never have considered reading another. I haven't submitted a review on any of the other books, but I'd recommend ANY of them over this one.

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Book is good, I enjoy this author's mysteries. However, the woman who reads this book makes noise between almost every sentence. It interferes with ..Show More »the enjoyment of the book. I would have rated the book 4 stars, but due to the mouth noises, just 3 stars.

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Diana Mott Davidson writes another great story in her Goldy Bear Catering Series. I have read every book in the series and wait for more. I have enjoy..Show More »ed every one of her books.

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Well read as always.A plot with the twists and turns of an accomplished writer. The only thing lacking is the recipes come at the end of the audio ve..Show More »rsion and not as easily followed as in the book versions. Davidson has captured the "upscale" mountain community west of Denver and its snobs, hippies and suburbanites. The characters introduced in the beginning of her books have the half life of a Travis McGee girlfiend but then the mystery is who killed them.

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I categorize the Goldie mysteries as brain candy; fun to read, little substance. This was no exception, and I enjoyed it. Barbara Rosenblatt doesn't s..Show More »ound like Goldie to me, but she's always a great narrator, so no complaints.

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I normally love Davidson's cozy mystery series, but this volume has left me with a sour taste. Goldy barely cooked in this story, and the best parts o..Show More »f her story such as Julian and Arch were hardly mentioned. I hope Davidson's next attempt serves up more excitement or I fear this will be my last purchase of her work.

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