Catering to Nobody

By: Diane Mott Davidson

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Get ready for a smorgasbord of delicious suspense prepared by Goldy Bear, an irrepressible mistress of menus and amateur sleuth. Filled with a cast of colorful characters and superb recipes, Catering to Nobody is the first in a series that has made Diane Mott Davidson a best-selling author and the Queen of the Culinary Mystery.

Goldy Bear, recently divorced, has made a home for herself and her young son in scenic Aspen Valley, Colorado. There, calls for Goldilock's Catering have been steady enough to pay the bills. But when a mourner is felled by rat poison during a funeral buffet Goldy is serving, the police quickly close her business. Now it's up to Goldy to find the rat who has tainted her food and her reputation.

Diane Mott Davidson whips up a spicy mixture of cooks and crooks, and veteran narrator Barbara Rosenblat brilliantly conveys Goldy's intelligence, wit, and energy. As the mystery unfolds, its tension is sweetened by delectable recipes, including Goldy's Dream Cake, Dungeon Bars, and Honey Ginger Snaps.

©1990 Diane Mott Davidson (P)1996 Recorded Books, LLC

So, so bad...and yet...

Any additional comments?

I bought this audiobook because it was on sale. I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of money on it. There were several things wrong with this audiobook, so I'm going to try to list them. In no particular order:

1)The Writing. I thought for sure this book was written in the 50s or 60s. You know how those books read; the language is dated and the characters all feel stiff. I couldn't keep up with the amount of times a character said "gee" or "golly". The detective in the story referred to himself and other detectives as "dicks". Then various dates and times were mentioned in the book, and I realized this book had to have been written much later than I'd thought. Turns out, it was published in 1990. I never would have guessed. Then I started doing the math...a lot of the history goes back to when the main character (Goldie)'s ex was 10 (in 1967). They say the current time is 20 years after, so 1987. Goldie's ex is a gynecologist, with an 11 year old son. He was practicing when he met Goldie. If they hooked up right away, that would've made him 19 when they met. I've never in my life met a 19 year old gynecologist, and frankly I never want to.
In addition to dated language, the language is just dull. The jokes and puns (and there are a lot of them) aren't funny. Characters would refer to something being odd or unusual, when it wasn't at all. For example, the main character thought it was very funny when her 11 year old son asked, "What's geometry?" That's it. Context isn't needed; it was no funnier in the story that it was just there where I typed it. I actually created a drinking game listening to this book. Take a shot for every time Goldie says "my business", Vonette says "I have a headache" or Patty Sue says "I feel sick". Go ahead. You'll be falling down drunk in an hour.

2)Characters. I'm pretty sure Diane Mott Davidson named her characters after her pets. Fritz and Vonett and Goldie Bear and Tricksy and Patty Sue and Pomeroy. Oh, and let's not forget the 11 year old boy named Archibald. Stupid names aside, every character constantly sounded angry. This was only partly the fault of the narrator, but mostly the fault of the author. You know in bad movies, when people want to show emotion and it comes off as anger? Excitement, sadness, fear, whatever, it all comes out as anger. That's how these characters were. And annoying. There wasn't a sympathetic character among them. I wanted every single one of them to end up dead. There was the philandering grandfather and the drunken grandmother, the abusive ex, who Goldie seemed to bend over backwards to accommodate all while calling him "the jerk". The vapid roommate, boring-as-hell love interests...the whole town should just be burned and the earth salted.

3)Unbelievable Plot Points. The driver ed scene had me actually cursing out loud. I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but I just couldn't get over how ludicrous this scene was. I can't even go on...this is making me angry.

4)Narration. Barbara Rosenblat managed to make 95% of the characters sound like Phyllis Diller...even the men. Actually, especially the men. It was impossible to figure out who was speaking.

5)Pauses. There were weird, rather long pauses in between chapters. At one point I thought the book had just stopped, it was at least 30 seconds.

Despite all of this, somehow the story itself managed to be compelling. I wanted to know how it ended. Also, the recipes thrown in every now and again were nice. I want to try the one for coffee cake.

Surprises

Barbara Rosenblat does an outstanding job narrating this 'light hearted' murder mystery. I love her semi-sarcastic style! The story was not 'corney' although it contained romance, friendship and family love. There were suspenseful scenes and it wasn't easy to figure out the ending! In fact, I didn't figure it out...I had to read it. Quite enjoyable!

Narrator issues

So I actually disagree with the other review about how you can hear her breathe and swallow. You can a little but it isn't distracting. The problem is her interpretation of the text. Sure, the main character is carrying around a ton of baggage, has absolutely no patience, and is insecure about her ability to do almost anything (and yet keeps doing it all), but the tone the narrator gives to the woman makes her flat-out unsympathetic. Goldy ends up just sounding immature and whiny. This same treatment is given to multiple female characters. It's one thing to read these books and see the issues of the characters but the narration adds an extra level which pushes them over the top. The wimps are wimpier and whiners are whinier, and the cheerful optimists are so full of bon mots in the face of grumpiness that they all become extreme caricatures. I listened to this book on a road trip and found myself not caring about how it all ended up even though I have enjoyed reading other books in the series (actually reading, not listening). A different tone for many of the sentences uttered by characters could have salvaged this. They are predictable but would be pleasant enough to listen to when falling asleep except for this issue.

Great listen- Catering to Nobody!

Where does Catering to Nobody rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would rank this in the middle.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Catering to Nobody?

Description of Colorado, characters and food. Dianne Mott Davidson is a gifted writer with an outstanding ability to draw you into her story.

Which character – as performed by Barbara Rosenblat – was your favorite?

I liked Goldy the most.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I like to savour the mystery.

Any additional comments?

I had read a review complaining about Barbara Rosenblat's breathing. I found this to be a trivial matter as most people have idiocycrancies in their breathing patterns. Went well with Goldy's exasperation at being closed for the busiest season of the year.

Barbara Rosenblat MAKES this series!

Any additional comments?

This series is delightful. Romantic, funny, and clever. A really good read made incredible by the narration of Barbara Rosenblat. The characters have become my good friends! I'm going to listen to them all!

Horrible narrator

This is my first book by Diane Mott Davidson. The content of the book itself was ok. It was a bit long and drawn out. Barbara Rosenblat is the worse narrator I have ever heard. You can hear her swallow her own spit. It's disgusting. She also takes long deep breaths that are very annoying. I finished the book because I bought it. But, I don't know if I will finish the series.

First book in a series: mysteries and cooking

This first book in an on-going mystery series about a single mother and her catering business in Colorado presents the main characters and their back story. It is a pleasant story with interesting people, somewhat exaggerated in behavior. Having read the first three books, in which a different member of Goldie’s family is threatened. I have been interested enough to downloaded the nest to hear who will be the next potential victim
The description of the catering business forms a background, and the food is lovingly described. Some recipes are included.

Excellent

The story is great and the reader is absolutely perfect. Goldy is lovable and I have even made a few of the recipes!

Love these stories!

I have been through this whole series and keep coming back to listen! Each story is so well written and narrated that you feel like you’re in the book. You can imagine being in Aspen Meadow. Barbara Rosenblat is a wonderful narrator!

Slow Moving To Begin

Dead body immediately but I believe it was about 2 hours into the book before much "detecting" went on? A lot of characters and "setting the stage" but it was still okay, you can sure multi-task while listening.

Tip: as far as the mouth noises go that others warned of, being on the treadmill DOES help noticing that part. Not real horrible but still noticeable.

More on the narrator.... she did a great job on "the son, Arch", I thought. Others were okay but she has a very raspy sort of voice in general and this "sighing" type attitude. Not quite sure how to tell you but it's tiring.

All in all, I probably wouldn't have bought it had I known what it was like. I already bought the 2nd book and hoping that one is better but I'm not holding my breath. I had listened to the snippet of the book offtered and thought it was going to be pretty decent so purchased the 2nd one right away too. Probably a mistake as I have no desire to listen to it any too soon.