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Fatally flaky / Diane Mott Davidson.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Davidson, Diane Mott. Goldy Bear mysteries ; Publication details: New York : William Morrow, 2009.Description: 323 pagesContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780061348136
  • 0061348139
Subject(s): Genre/Form: LOC classification:
  • PS3554.A925 F38 2009
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Fiction Davis (Central) Library Fiction Collection Fiction Collection DAV 1 Available T00483179
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"A series that remains as reliable and satisfying as a favorite casserole recipe."

--Cleveland Plain Dealer

Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz encounters Bridezilla--and murder--in Fatally Flaky, another delectable mystery by Diane Mott Davidson. The USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of Double Shot, Dark Tort, and Sweet Revenge whom the Baltimore Sun describes as, "a cross between Mary Higgins Clark and Betty Crocker" is "today's foremost practitioner of the culinary whodunit" according to Entertainment Weekly. Fatally Flaky is Diane Mott Davidson at her mysterious and mouth-watering best.

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Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Fatally Flaky A Novel Chapter One Cynics say getting married is a death wish. Now, I'm no Pollyanna, but I try to ignore cynics. Anyway, what I usually say is that catering weddings is a death wish. My assistant, twenty-two-year-old Julian Teller, and I laugh at that. Yucking it up provides a bit of comic relief within the stress of serving trays of appetizers with drinks, then lunch or dinner with wine, followed by cake with champagne or Asti Spumante--and doing it all quickly--to a hundred guests. Trust me: if there's one thing caterers need at weddings, it's comic relief. Unfortunately, the events surrounding Bridezilla Billie Attenborough's wedding proved the truth of the original axiom. Still, it wasn't a death wish that proved troublesome. It was death itself. And as the bodies piled up around the Attenborough nuptials, I began to think someone was gunning for me, too. Turned out, I was right. I'm always telling my husband, Tom, an investigator with the Furman County Sheriff's Department, that I should adore weddings. The reason? I love being married--to him, that is. With his mountain-man build, handsome face, jauntily parted cider-colored hair, and eyes as green as a faraway sea, he's not only kind and loving--he's gorgeous. "You're prejudiced," he says. "So what?" I reply. "You're still the greatest." "There are any number of criminals in our state penal system who would take issue with that assessment." "I'm not married to one of them." "Uh-huh." Actually, having Tom for a husband means I can watch brides and grooms kiss, laugh, and embrace, and I can smile to myself, knowing I'm going home to a great man. So when there are wedding glitches, I remind myself: I'm helping people get married. And by and large, this is a good thing. Here in Aspen Meadow, Colorado, if someone is going to have a hundred or fewer guests at their ceremony and reception, I'm the caterer of choice, by which I mean, I'm the only caterer you can choose. Our town also has but one florist, one photographer, one printing press--for invitations and the like--and a few bands. But these days, most couples choose a DJ. Aspen Meadow has one of those, too. If the bride, groom, or either family wants a bigger celebration, she, he, or they usually do all their own arrangements, and have their wedding down in Denver, forty miles to the east. There, you can hire a wedding planner, book a fancy venue, and have your pick of caterers, stationers, florists, even chocolatiers. If you go that route, though, you're going to pay. What with the gown, limos, and all the rest, you're probably looking at about a hundred grand. I can remember when a hundred grand used to buy a house. And a nice one, too. But for a hundred or fewer guests, I can do all the arranging. Once I'm given a budget and specifics as to menu, flowers, photographer, music, you name it, I draw up a detailed contract, then get signatures, along with a down payment. After that, I call the vendors, set the schedule, and arrange deliveries. Any changes to the contract mean big bucks, so generally, people are content to leave well enough alone. But Bridezilla Billie, as I'd come to call her, was never content. Billie's long-suffering mother, Charlotte, was footing the bill--Attenborough père having died of a bleeding ulcer long ago--and Billie seemed not to care that every single new arrangement she was demanding was costing hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. "It won't be a problem," Billie would say breezily, each time she called in April, then May, then June, to say we absolutely had to have lunch so she could talk about new things she wanted. "We can just put all this on my tab." And then I would arrive at the appointed time, at whatever place she'd said she wanted to have lunch. And she would be late, usually more than an hour late. The reason? She'd say she'd gotten lost, never mind that she'd lived in Aspen Meadow all her life. Or her Mercedes wouldn't start. Or she'd thought we were meeting an hour after when she'd originally said. One time, when she didn't show up at all and I called her house, she said she thought we were meeting the following week. Billie was, in short, a flake. Like most of the weddings I cater, Billie's ceremony was taking place in the summer. Let the weather cheer you up , I told myself as I typed up contract change after contract change and faxed them through to Charlotte Attenborough. And so I planned and ordered food, and waited for spring, which at eight thousand feet above sea level, generally doesn't arrive until June. By then, the thick crust of ice on our town's lake has melted. The fresh scent of pollinating pines and newly leafy aspens fills the air. With snow still blanketing the Continental Divide--visible in the distance--the setting is particularly idyllic. But this summer was different. "Maybe I should quit doing weddings," I told Tom when Bridezilla Billie stopped insisting we have lunch, and instead started phoning me an average of seventeen times a day. She'd already moved her wedding date twice. The reason? She said she wanted to lose twenty pounds to fit into a new dress she'd just bought. She claimed she was working with Victor Lane out at Gold Gulch Spa to get into tip-top shape. Getting into tip-top shape was the euphemism Billie used for trying to sweat off some of her rolls, the kind that had nothing to do with Parker House. Did I know Victor Lane? Billie asked. Yes, I began, but she tossed her highlighted blond hair over her shoulder, helped herself to the Key Lime Pie I'd left on the counter, and cut me off just as she placed an enormous piece of pie on a plate in front of herself. Once she'd forked up a mouthful, she was eager to provide me with an update on embroidery that was being added to the waist of the new dress. Then I heard about the seed pearls that were being sewn into the train, and the lace now edging the veil. Fatally Flaky A Novel . Copyright © by Diane Davidson. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson, Diane M. Davidson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Verdict: In her 15th culinary series title, Davidson yet again concocts another excellent recipe-stuffed mystery. The familiar characters, good pacing, and puzzling mystery will make cozie fans hungry for more. Background: It's wedding season in Aspen Meadows, CO, and caterer Goldy Schulz (Double Shot) is busy, particularly with her very own bridezilla, who changes her wedding date, the menu, and finally the location-to Gold Gulch Spa, owned by one of Goldy's enemies, Victor Lane. When a well-loved local physician is killed and Goldy's godfather attacked, you know Goldy can't resist getting involved. Going undercover at a spa that serves canned fruit cocktail for dessert is a torment for Goldy.-Susan Hayes, Chattahoochee Valley Libs., Columbus, GA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz doesn't have a moment to spare as she frantically tries to pull everything together for two upcoming wedding receptions, including last-minute venue and menu changes from a spoiled bridezilla, in bestseller Davidson's entertaining 15th culinary suspense novel (after Sweet Revenge). When Harold "Doc" Finn, Aspen Meadow's beloved retired doctor, dies under mysterious circumstances on his way to the first wedding ceremony, Goldy wonders if it was an accident or murder. When her godfather and Doc Finn's good friend, Jack Carmichael, is also attacked, it's obvious that Goldy will have to venture out of the kitchen and put her detecting skills to use once again. Stir in a slimy spa owner, rumors of a malpractice suit and the usual cast of supporting characters-including Goldy's patient cop husband, Tom, and her capable culinary assistant, Julian Teller-and you've got another winning entry in Davidson's mouthwatering series. 6-city author tour. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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