Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfectly catered, tasty little bon-bon of a read, September 1, 2003
This review is from: Chopping Spree (Goldy Culinary Mysteries, Book 11) (Mass Market Paperback)
In contrast to other reviewers, I find the plotting in this Davidson novel to be more complex and the suspicious characters to be better developed than in her previous books. The victim was a bad guy, a good guy, a two-timer, a lover who wanted (and maybe expected himself) to become faithful, a good friend, and an exploiter -- yes, all rolled into one interesting, attractive man. Likewise, the people who might have knocked him off hardly arouse indifference. Solve riddles, read recipes, go to a Shopper's Anonymous meeting, sigh at the mistakes we all make with our children: yes, indeed, you can get a lot done reading this book. It is also a great introduction to what passes for springtime on the eastern slopes of the Rockies and to the burgeoning (some would say out of control) commercial and residential development happening here. I had allowed myself to be put off by reviews here and finally picked up the book for a holiday weekend. I was not in the least disappointed -- except that it had taken me so long to get to it. The book engaged my brain, made me laugh out loud, and brought on ruminations about how life -- and our outrageous mistakes in it -- catches up with us all.
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30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Has Goldy Lost It?, July 2, 2002
By A Customer
My devotion to this series can best be illustrated by the fact that I braved driving to the mall after eye surgery to get this latest installment. I wasn't disappointed, and a night and a half of eye strain later, I had digested a full buffet of emotional characters, clever clues, intriguing recipes, and interesting plot twists. Davidson writes well, and her main characters typically are likable and sensible. It's always nice to finish a book without once screaming at the main character, "Don't you get it, you moron?" Unfortunately, the good elements of Chopping Spree were overshadowed by the negative behavior of Goldy's son. In the early books, he was described as an introverted prodigy. It was easy to feel motherly toward him as he struggled to fit in with other kids, despite his less-than-perfect family situation. However, in the last several books, his shyness has evolved into an abusive intensity that goes beyond teenage angst. He repeatedly verbally berates Goldy, and his self-absorption exceeds anything that should be acceptable in a real family. The most disturbing part of the story is that Goldy exercises no discipline and does not explain to him that his childish outbursts and tantrums would not be acceptable for a 4-year-old, much less a 14-year-old. Is Davidson trying to illustrate that Goldy still has doormat tendencies left over from her abusive marriage? Is she a proponent of no-discipline parenting techniques? (If this is the case, I hope she knows her way to the visitors' area in the local jail). Regardless of the author's motives, the abusive child-parent relationship threatens to overshadow all of the typical good qualities that make Davidson's series such a joy to read.
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fast paced compelling story line, July 6, 2002
While Goldy's ex-husband is in jail, her marriage to policeman Tom Schulz is stable and happy and her catering business is successful beyond her wildest dreams. Her old school friend Barry Dean has commissioned her to cater an event at the Westside Mall but the evening ends in Barry's death and a trip to the hospital for Goldy. The police question her, making it clear she's a suspect but they eventually arrest Julian, Goldy's assistant and a very dear friend. Julian's fingerprints are on the murder weapon, he failed a polygraph test, and a witness says that Julian tried to run Barry over earlier in the week. Despite the overwhelming evidence, Goldy knows he is innocent and sets out to prove it as only she can. Readers will have a hard time deciding what is better: the mouth-watering descriptions of various recipes or the fast paced compelling story line. Diane Mott Davidson has once again constructed a clever and complex mystery starring a congenial heroine and her equally enjoyable friends. The protagonist's teen is so well drawn that every mother who raised a teenager will have a great deal of sympathy for Goldy. Harriet Klausner
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