Dying for Chocolate (Goldy Culinary Mystery Series #2)
Diane Mott Davidson, 1992
Random House
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780553560244
Summary
The Caterer—Meet Goldy Bear: a bright, opinionated, wildly inventive caterer whose personal life has become a recipe for disaster. She's got an abusive ex-husband who's into making tasteless threats, a rash of mounting bills that are taking a huge bite out of her budget, and two enticing men knocking on her door.
The Dish— Now determined to take control of her life, Goldy moves her business and her son to ritzy Aspen Meadow Country Club, where she accepts a job as a live-in cook. But just as she's beginning to think she's got it made—catering decadent dinners and posh society picnics and enjoying the favors of Philip Miller, a handsome local shrink, and Tom Shulz, her more-than-friendly neighborhood cop—the dishy doctor inexplicably drives his BMW into an oncoming bus.
The Unsavory Killer— Convinced that Philip's bizarre death was no accident, Goldy decides to do a little investigating of her own. But sifting through the unpalatable secrets of the dead doc's life will toss her into a case seasoned with unexpected danger and even more unexpected revelations—the kind that could get a caterer and the son she loves killed. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—March 22, 1949
• Where—Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
• Education—B.A., Stanford University; M.A. Johns Hopkins
• Awards—Anthony Award from Bouchercon (World Mystery
Convention)
• Currently—Evergreen, Colorado
Diane Mott Davidson is an American author of mystery novels that use the theme of food. Several recipes are included in each book, and each novel title is a play on a food or drink word.
Mott Davidson studied political science at Wellesley College and lived across the hall from Hillary Clinton. In a few of her novels (particularly, The Cereal Murders), she references a prestigious eastern women's college that her sleuth, Goldy Schulz, attended before transferring to a Colorado state university. In real life, Mott Davidson transferred from Wellesley and eventually graduated from Stanford University.
The main character in Mott Davidson's novels is Goldy Schulz, a small town caterer who also solves murder mysteries in her spare time. At the start of the series, Goldy is a recently divorced mother with a young son trying to make a living as a caterer in the fictional town of Aspen Meadows, CO. As the series progresses, new characters are introduced that change Goldy's professional and personal life. It has been noted that Aspen Meadows closely resembles a real Colorado town, Evergreen. Evergreen is where Mott Davidson currently resides with her family.
The series has now reached 15 books, with Fataly Flakey (2009) as the most recent. The first 12 books interwove recipes with the novel's text. When a dish is first described in the novel, the relevant recipe followed within the next few pages. Double Shot, the 12th novel, marked a change in the publishing of these recipes. In that book all recipes are compiled and printed at the end of the novel.
She was the guest of honor at the 2007 Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave in Manhattan, Kansas. (From Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
A classic whodunit that's the perfect book for food lovers.
New York Daily News
Gourmet magazine meets Sherlock Holmes.
Washington Times
In this perky mystery complete with toothsome hi-cal recipes, Davidson (Catering to Nobody) brings back Goldy Bear, the cherubic culinary sleuth with Shirley Temple curls. Fleeing her abusive ex-spouse, a physician she dubs "The Jerk," Goldy and her teenage son Arch find a snug third-floor refuge in the Aspen Meadow, Colo., mansion of quirky Gen. Bo Farquhar, a retired munitions and terrorist pro who breezily detonates bombs while gardening and bird-watching. As the general's live-in gourmet cook, Goldly still has time to run Goldilocks' Catering and juggle two suitors—attractive psychiatrist Philip Miller and comfortably chubby cop Tom Schultz. Philip's shocking death—he careens off a cliff in a BMW after munching her brunch—casts suspicion on Goldy. Which of her foes might want to frame her? And who is the critic writing vicious reviews of her cooking in the Mountain Journal ? The plot spins along in good-humored fashion, while Goldy continues to whip up goodies for events like a disastrous "aphrodisiac dinner" for eight and a barbecue at which her luscious dessert smashes on the floor. When Arch vanishes, Goldly panics, but the author makes sure that all enigmas wind up in solutions that will surprise and please.
Publishers Weekly
Aspen caterer Goldy Bear (Catering to Nobody) is horrified when her new beau, psychologist Philip Miller, suddenly begins driving erratically, crashes, and dies, while she, right behind in her own car, is helpless. Is there any way in which his death might have been caused by a patient? Among his appointments last week were munitions stockpiler General Farquhar and his wife Adele, who accompanied teenager Julian, their boarder and charity student; and the day before Philip died, he had had lunch with Weezie Harrington, who, to Goldy's surprise, was supposed to be his lover. Did Weezie's lecherous husband kill him? If so, then who dispatched him later on in the week? Goldy again turns to handsome cop Tom Schultz for advice, while trying to sidestep the irrational rages of her own ex-husband. Delving into the pasts of the Farquhars and the Harringtons, she discovers an unacknowledged birth—which is brought to light between Goldy's pig-outs on chocolate. A flat second effort, which weighs Goldy down with a battering former husband (this year's mystery trend), pedestrian menu-planning, and a contrived plot. Son Arch, however, rings true and likable.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Dying for Chocolate:
1. What makes Goldy suspect that Phillip Miller's death was not an accident? Who are her initial possible suspects? Were you surprised to learn about Weezie?
2. How well do you think Goldy copes with the various roles she's called upon to play—motherhood, caterer, and detective? How would you describe her as a character?
3. Describe Goldy's relationship with her son Arch. Is she overbearing or careless...or what? How well does she do as a mom? How about Arch—what do you make of him? Why does he run away?
4. Then there's "The Jerk." Want to talk about him...or move on? Up to you.
5. Julian is the young person in the story. Did you come to suspect him in Phillip's death...or not?
6. General Bo and his wife Adele Farquhar are quirky characters. Do you like them...and what roles do they play with regards to the two strands of this mystery, particularly regarding the mysterious birth certificate? Was it fun for you to get a bird's-eye-view of a privileged segment of society?
7. Now that you've finished the book, go back and identify the the clues that Davidson embeds in her story. Did you figure them out as you were reading and thus solve the mystery? Or were the clues cleverly hidden, leading to a surprise (rather than predictable) ending? In other words...does this Davidson deliver a good mystery?
8. What do the recipes add to this book? Have you tried them out; in fact, are you serving them at your book club meeting?
9. Some readers say that Goldy annoys them—she's whiny and complaining—until she puts on her caterer's hat and cooks. Then she is transformed into someone more likable. Care to comment on that?
10. If you've read other Goldy Bear mysteries, how does this one compare? If this is your first, are you inspired to read more of the series? Does this detective remind you of other female crime sleuths, like Stephanie Plum...or Precious Ramotswe...or China Bale? If so, how does Goldy stack up with her co-horts in other series?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)