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

Not Bad

This first book is not bad if you can stand it when words are mispronounced (and Rosenblat never does that...but she did) and when details are wrong. The book suffers from inadequate editing and results in scenes where characters in the room seem to be forgotten by the author, details of events are wrong (e.g.: she has a scene with a stick-shift driver's ed car, and the author does not describe driving that kind of car accurately to the detriment of the story, and she actually gets a couple steps wrong in two recipes), and in the end the villain and hero have weird motivations and actions that don't match their characters or their ages. But if you listen to books like this for a bit of fluff and fun, this one is as good a choice as any. Buy on sale, and FYI: this takes place in the late 1980s or early 1990s, so it feels a bit old.

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.

Cooking with a twist!

Loved the audiobook and the narrator. Tone of voice and various characterizations. Enjoy all her books! Want more!

Dinner with Dessert and a Mystery!

Love the writing and narration! Mystery theater at its best! Barbara Rosenblatt is one of my favorite narrators .

First time reading this author

It was OK, not my favorite. I thought more character development would have helped. Not sure if I will try another.

Good story, excellent narration

I read this series about 20 years ago and decided it was time for a reread. I’m happy I did. The story is a fun, low intensity murder mystery. And Barbara Rosenblat could read me the classified ads and I’m sure I would enjoy them.

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.

OK

Not bad, but nothing outstanding. Took a while to get to a point where I wanted to continue. The Story itself is ok, but the characters are a little unbelievable.

A Delight

Beautifully read by an excellent narrator —- strong story and very enjoyable. There were a few segments where there was mike feedback that sounded like water swirling the drain that I found off-putting. I liked it and bought book two in the series.

Enjoyable

What made the experience of listening to Catering to Nobody the most enjoyable?

Having listened to several books in this series, it was very enjoyable to get the back story and get to know some of the recurring characters better.