Product Description

A chilly reception....

Caterer Goldy Schulz has been hired to host a hockey party. But the proceedings won't be all fun and games. Unfortunately, her client won't be satisfied until Goldy adds a hefty serving of revenge.

An ex-husband from hell....

Patricia McCracken is certain that her obstetrician and her penny-pinching HMO are responsible for the loss of her baby. Now she is suing both, and she wants Goldy's advice on coming out on top. For Dr. John Richard Korman, aka the Jerk, is none other than Goldy's abusive ex-husband. Goldy knows all about John Richard's secret life--but even she is shocked when he's arrested for the murder of his latest girlfriend.

A dish best served cold....

As much as Goldy would like to see her ex get his just desserts, could he really be a killer? Soon she will find herself sifting through a spicy mix of sizzling gossip for clues to a mystery that threatens her catering deadline, her relationship with her son and new husband... and even her life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68018 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-03
• Released on: 1998-08-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 432 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780553574661
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Caterer and amateur detective Goldy Schulz is at it again in this tasty treat of a novel. Although catering two events more different than a hockey party (complete with the guests chasing pucks on blades) and a decorous breakfast for a doll collectors' convention would be hard to imagine, Goldy manages each with aplomb, Goalies Grilled Tuna and Babsie's Tarts included. While this would be plenty for anyone's plate, Goldy is also trying to decide whether she wants her abusive ex-husband arrested for his current girlfriend's murder. Certainly Goldy is perfectly willing to believe that the Jerk (as Davidson's fans know she has dubbed her former spouse, John Richard Korman) could have done the loathsome deed in one of his violent moments, but she is torn by the desire both to see him brought to justice and for their son not to have a convicted killer for a father. So, between letting the pizza dough rise and baking treasures such as Chocolate Comfort Cookies, Goldy sets out to make sure the police have indeed got the right man.

Davidson's fans will recognize the pattern while new readers will relish her witty, recipe-filled, searing plot. Old friends (all of whom suitably appreciate good food) make their reappearance, including Korman's other ex, Marla, and Goldy's shrimp-peeling husband Tom. While apprentice Julian Teller has left for his restaurant management degree at Cornell, his place in the plot is filled with the more lethargic--if equally good-natured--Maguire Perkins. New characters revolve around the murder itself: Korman's predictably shapely assistant Ree Ann and the very serious doll collectors play a role, as do the administrators of the health maintenance organization Korman has joined. A pleasure to read, even if Goldy's imaginative concoctions make you hungry long before mealtime. --K.A. Crouch

From Library Journal
Davidson, known for her skillful writing and the mouth-watering recipes concocted by her series sleuth, Goldy Schulzas, serves up a tale of murder and love gone rotten.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Goldy Schulz, the catering queen of Aspen Meadow, Colorado, is once again embroiled in murder (The Main Corpse, 1996, etc.). The victim this time is Suz Craig--young blond top exec at the HMO known as ACHMO. Accused of the killing is her handsome, short-fused boyfriend, Dr. John Richard Korman, ex-husband to Goldy and later to her now best friend Marla--and referred to by both as ``the Jerk.'' Goldy, now happily married to homicide detective Tom Schulz, found the body--apparently battered to death--one early morning in front of Suz's house. Korman, with his history of wife- beating, is soon arrested, loudly protesting his innocence. Archer, Goldy's 14-year-old son with Korman, lives with Goldy and Tom but sees his father regularly. He believes Korman's denials and begs Goldy to try to find the real killer. That's all the encouragement our nosy food maven needs. Suddenly she's soon all over town, tracking down rumors and details of Korman's soon-to-happen bankruptcy; Patricia McCracken's malpractice suit against him and the HMO; Suz's firing of Dr. Ralph Shelton; reports of Suz's cruel verbal abuse of ACHMO's doctors, nurses, and department heads, and the vanished tapes she'd secretly recorded at private meetings. Meanwhile, Korman, out on bail, has disappeared; Archer is distraught; Tom and his police force seem ineffectual; and only Goldy, between cooking and catering, can get this job done. Our heroine's friends and foes on the local scene are mildly entertaining, her 11 recipes elaborate and inviting. But the plot is labyrinthine and beyond belief. Amiable, readable, forgettable. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Tuna and Suspects on Goldy's Grill
The food is the best part of this entertaining mystery. The dishes all sound irresistible, and food as therapy is well displayed both through cooking and eating. If that were all there was to the book, it would be a five star effort.

The story involves Goldy Schulz in some sleuthing when her ex-husband is charged with killing his latest girl friend. On the surface, it looks like he went overboard with his favorite activity of beating up women. Their son, Arch, is horrified and wants to protect and help his Dad. Reluctantly, Goldy tries to do the right thing, even though she cannot stand the vicious creep (referred to as The Jerk in the book).

Unfortunately, Ms. Davidson chooses to turn Goldy into a punching bag for physical and mental abuse throughout the often-distressing plot. Her ex-husband hurts her, suspects hurt her, and her son treats her like something he stepped in. Now really, enough is enough. We all know that much such abuse occurs every day. I did not see that it advanced the plot or my understanding of it to have the heroine being constantly assaulted. On the other hand, Ms. Davidson's development of the theme is well done. She nicely captures the lassitude and passive cooperation of the victim mentality, and the utter insensitivity of the abusers.

The mystery itself involves a sort of HMO gothic, filled with evil careerists who stop at nothing to advance their own ends. Where are the silver stakes when we need them?

I thought that the legal aspects of the plot were badly flawed. Goldy is married to a police officer, and she repeatedly acts in ways that compromise the legal case against various suspects. Ms. Davidson needs someone who knows criminal procedure to look these stories over for her. Goldy's marriage would have lasted about 4 minutes if she had done these things as the real wife of a real police officer. Her abuses of the legal process are awful!

If you are a devoted Diane Mott Davidson fan, you will probably enjoy the story enough to read it, but it will probably be your least favorite of her books. If you have not yet read her work, I suggest you skip this one and read any of the earlier ones instead.

After you finish the book (if you decide to read it), I suggest that you think about how you could use comfort food in a healthy and supportive way to improve your life and the lives of those you love.

Bon appetit!

Great read - love the recipes
This was the second of Davidson's books that I have read. I really enjoyed it and I love the recipes in the book. This is just something that I have never seen before and it is fun to hear how she makes the items and then to see the actual recipe. A neat idea!

Too spineless
I enjoy all of Diane Mott Davidson's books, but I found this one flawed by the totally unrealistic portrayal of Arch. How many sons would be furious with their mother because their father had abused and possibly killed another woman? And where is Goldy's backbone? She allows Arch to move out of the house to a friend's because he is angry with her. She allows him to berate her for things that are not her fault. She asks permission to speak to him! This is not a healthy mother-son relationship. The same with Maguire. Goldy is supposed to see to it that he eats, since he has lost so much weight from mononucleosis, but whenever Maguire says he doesn't feel like eating, she lets him not eat. As far as I can tell, she does nothing except put food in front of him that he doesn't like, after which he goes to bed. Goldy needs to develop the kind of backbone in dealing with teen-agers that she shows in defying the law on behalf of her friends.

Nevertheless I think readers of these mysteries will enjoy The Grilling Season. Just grit your teeth when Arch appears.