Following up a Second Act of Series-ous Reading by Dying For Chocolate

The first of my Second Acts for this year's Series-ous Reading challenge went so well that I felt an immediate follow-up was necessary. Plus, the title of Diane Mott Davidson's book 2 in her Goldy Bear series, Dying for Chocolate, was perfect for Valentine's Day this month.

Goldy is a divorced mother who is practically raising her preteen son Arch on her own, which is a good thing considering that her vicious ex-husband has a name whose initials rightly earn him the nickname of The Jerk.

In order to make a living in Aspen,Colorado, she's become a caterer and is starting to get a good reputation for her culinary skills. Unfortunately, way too many obstacles are piling up in her path.

 For one, The Jerk has been lurking around Goldy's neighborhood so much that she's had to put in an expensive alarm system and to pay for that, she's taken a live-in private chef position with General Bo Farquhar and his wife Adele(whose sister Marla is another ex-wife of The Jerk). While Goldy is able to still run her business,not to mention get Arch into a good private school nearby, she is being threatened with a lawsuit from a rival catering company with a name similar to hers.

On top of all that, negative reviews are appearing in the local newspaper about her culinary commissions, written by a critic known only as Pierre. Goldy is being given a chance to respond but it's frustrating not knowing who this person is, especially when they keep getting the menu items wrong:

One of the few bright spots in Goldy's life is a new romance with Phillip Miller, local psychologist who happened to have a member of the Farquhar household(sponsored student Julian) as a patient.

Their relationship has been going on for a short time yet it's shocking for Goldy to witness Phillip driving dangerously on the road which leads to his death.

With no signs of intoxication, auto malfunction or bad weather to account for his on-road behavior, she becomes convinced that his accident was no accident at all. Her semi-regular beau, police detective Tom Schultz ,agrees but wants her to be careful about looking into the matter.

Meanwhile, Goldy still has work to do and that includes an "aphrodisiac" dinner party for neighbors Weezie and Brian Harrington. It's hard enough to be professional under the circumstances but at times, it feels as if it weren't for bad luck, Goldy would have no luck at all!

Things are bad enough with a pair of last minute guests who happen to be vegetarians and having to talk the hostess out of being made to wear a sexy French maid outfit during dinner service but Goldy also has to fend off the sleazy advances of host Brian, whose roving eye falls on a rather younger woman at the table instead of his own clearly annoyed wife. Yes, the dinner party winds up being badly reviewed in more ways than one indeed:

As it turns out, Weezie and Phillip were working on a local land project together, which many in town considered to be a pretense for an affair.

While a hidden romance between those two was not the case, Goldy discovers a good amount of secrets and lies that include her own employers on the list of suspects. Can she find the killer before the next flavor on her menu is fatally delicious?

Diane Mott Davidson has the distinction of being one of the big culinary crime queens in this particular mystery genre. While many have followed in her literary footsteps, I feel that her set of 17 mysteries(the last one was published in 2013, with no current plans for future books) is more in line with someone like Cleo Coyle than Joanne Fluke.

While DMD did begin the mixing in of recipes within her mystery novels much like Fluke, her leading lady Goldy has a more gritty back story, unlike Fluke's Hannah Swensen, that is more in line with Coyle's Clare Cosi, with troublesome ex-husbands(although The Jerk is far worse than Matt Allegro), raising a child on their own and dealing with money problems.

 Both series also share a wry sense of humor at times that borders on cynical yet their female leads are determined not to let any bad situation get the best of them.  Mind you, I haven't read all of the books in either series(this is actually the second Goldy Bear book for me) but it's not hard for me to imagine Goldy and Clare swapping recipes and detective stories over a cup of coffee together.

I do intend to read more of DMD's books in this series, as Goldy is an engaging heroine and it would be nice to see her finally end up with a good life(Tom is a good soul mate, the Luke to her Lorelai in my opinion).

It's a shame that DMD hasn't had a new book out in quite some time but who knows, she may surprise us all in that department. If not, she's certainly made a tasty mark on the genre that will encourage a fresh batch of culinary crime fighters to bake up some savory stories:

Speaking of Hannah Swensen, the next selection for my Series-ous Reading is  Carrot Cake Murder, which places Hannah at a friend's family reunion. While her contribution of the title cake to the festivities is appreciated, finding one of the relatives dead next to a sweet slice is a bit much for all concerned.

Don't worry, I have more Second Act reads to come but it's good to take a mini break every now and then during a project. Not to mention that I'm still trying to catch up to my mom with these books-she's ready for the latest one, Coconut Layer Cake Murder(which arrives next week!) while I am stuck at the far end of the dessert table, so to speak.

Oh well, it's not a bad place to be at, really. Granted, I'm not into carrot cake as a sweet treat but it does sound like the right delight to start the spring season off with: