Rating: 
Summary: IS IT TIME TO RETIRE GOLDY?
Review: "Sticks and Scones" is a major disappointment in light of the earlier efforts by Ms. Davidson. Goldy is back, and unfortunately, so is her ridiculously cartoonish ex-husband, John Norman, and her increasingly annoying fourteen year old son, Arch. Her usually enjoyable husband, Tom, is merely a plot device in this one, and none of his usual charm and security is evidenced. I don't know why Davidson had to give Tom an ex-lover mysteriously returned from the dead, and if Goldy really loved Tom as much as she says, how could she doubt him on such little evidence? The murders in this book are so under-written that you find yourself not really caring if they are caught, and when the culprit is revealed, I found myself saying, "Big deal...who else could it have been?" And as for the recipes, which once were novel and entertaining, they are now merely interruptions in the plot. And, besides, who would really eat this kind of "snobbish" food? Let's have some good basic recipes, or better yet, why don't we retire Goldy from the catering business. Let her go nuts and shoot and kill her ex-husband, send Arch off to a disciplinary boarding school and she, Tom and Marla can open their own detective agency. It's sad to see a good series start to fail so miserably as in "Sticks and Scones."
Rating: 
Summary: I agree with Somis, CA
Review: I really liked this series, but I, too, grew weary of Goldy's ex and that bratty son she indulges...and Somis, CA is right...no policeman worth his shoulder holster would put up with such nonsense. Goldy needs to put her foot down with the son, file enough charges against the ex to put him UNDER the jail and then start giving Tom the attention and love he so richly deserves. It's time for Mott Davidson to find another character to develop. Goldy's just run out of steam.
Rating:
Summary: Sticks and Scones is a disappointment
Review: As a longtime reader of Mott Davidson's, I found STICKS AND SCONES disappointingly disjointed and implausible....Loose ends, and too many leaps of logic. Besides which, juvenile son, Arch, gets more tediously obnoxious as the years go by with NO redeeming qualities, and ex-husband, John Richard, keeps up harassment that NO wife of a police officer would ever have to endure. I know this is fiction, but no heroine can be interesting being as much of a career victim as Goldy is. Even the recipes in this book are disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Great recipes and fun mystery......
Review: Diane Mott Davidson has done it again, another fun mystery involving Goldy, the caterer/sleuth along with murder and missing valuable stamps, not to mention an appearance by Goldy's husband's old girlfriend. The story begins with Goldy's picture window being shot out, a suspect in a police case turning up dead near a catering sight, and after that , the clues and suspects mount up faster than the calories in the recipes!! There are wonderful recipes for scones, shortbread cookies and the totally fantastic and irrestible chocolate emergency 911 cookies!!! Davidson's mysteries are fun and interesting, and while some may find them a bit of a stretch for their imagination, the story is very entertaining and enjoyable. You will not be dissapointed. The characters are interesting, and some of them are really out there, and that is what makes the story move! I have read all of this series of books, and while some are better than others, this one is one of the most fun!!
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Summary: Femmes Fatales Everywhere!
Review: Diane Mott Davidson has written her most far-fetched plot, filled it with action, and added her usual excellent recipes (this time themed to Elizabethan times). If you treat this mystery as a satire on the kind of romance mystery novels that fill the bookstores, you'll love it. If you try to take it seriously, you'll be disappointed unless you have a few alcoholic beverages first to dull your rational mind. The main advantage of this book is that the unpleasant theme of violence at the hands of Goldy's ex (from The Grilling Season) turns into a minor key from a major one in that book. The book opens with Goldy home with Arch and Jake in the wee hours of the morning, while Tom is gone in New Jersey on a manhunt for a suspect in a FedEx truckjacking. A shotgun blast takes out her living room window, and the neighbors arrive with arms to look for the culprit. They find no one. Goldy is supposed to cater a job later in the day, so she clears out with the food and Arch. Before the day ends, Goldy finds the man Tom was tracking dead in a creek near her client's castle. When Tom joins her to investigate, a rifle shot rings out and wings him. Soon they are on a helicopter headed for the hospital in a hurry, because Tom has lost a lot of blood. This powerful beginning is Ms. Davidson's best in this series. Plot complications soon pile on. Her ex-husband, Dr. John Richard Korman, has been released from jail on parole. Could he be shooting at Goldy and Tom? What about the parents she accused of abusing a baby? Who is the mystery woman staking out the house? Goldy and Arch move in with their clients in a restored castle transported from Europe, while Tom recovers in the hospital. The story rapidly evolves to include a letter from Henry VIII, some of the world's rarest stamps, exotic castle features, ghosts, unlikely co-conspirators, confidential e-mails, old girl friends, passion, love, and revenge. Normally, all of this would make a delightful story. In this case, the story is flawed by far-fetched twists and turns that stretch credibility well past the breaking point. With less imagination, this story would have been more. As written, it is such a fantastic tale that you will be disappointed when you find out the resolution. As you think about this story, I suggest that you consider the question of balance in your life. When is more too much? If one ice cream soda tastes good, are four better at one time? How about twelve? Seek balance in all that you do!
Rating: 
Summary: A Recipe for Success
Review: Diane Mott Davidson takes her formula cozy and adds some wickedly clever ingredients. Yes, they are lighthearted, far fetched - and absolutely delicious. Goldy Bear Schultz, caterer extraordinaire, starts her morning with a bang ... and then proceeds to have the worst couple of days anyone could fathom. The writer gets the Testy Teen just right (again) as well as the dinner and particularly the scones. This tale also provides a dollop of stamp collecting, a couple of cups of Elizabethan England, garnished with a lovely castle, a luscious labyrinth and some truly tangy individuals - not to mention a pinch or two of morality and romance. The pace is fast, but I did miss Marla who is very much in the background, as well as a trip to church with Goldy. Somehow Ms. Davidson manages to whip up an unexpected variety of ingredients and come out with a scrumptious culinary cozy.
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Summary: quick-paced fun
Review: Diane Mott Davidson's characters in "Sticks and Scones" may be more eccentric than usual, but the recipes are great, especially the scones recipe, and if you try them you'll be hooked on her books. In this one, she combats not only living people with questionable motives, but also what may be the ghost of her husband Tom's first love, a nurse whom he thought had been killed in Viet Nam. Davidson is stretching it a little in her depiction of Tom's high school love---how unusual is it for a high schooler to be several years younger than his true love ? We all know girls mature much faster than boys! That small objection aside, this book is full of fun, typical of all Davidson's works. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: quick-paced fun
Review: Diane Mott Davidson's characters in "Sticks and Scones" may be more eccentric than usual, but the recipes are great, especially the scones recipe, and if you try them you'll be hooked on her books. In this one, she combats not only living people with questionable motives, but also what may be the ghost of her husband Tom's first love, a nurse whom he thought had been killed in Viet Nam. Davidson is stretching it a little in her depiction of Tom's high school love---how unusual is it for a high schooler to be several years younger than his true love ? We all know girls mature much faster than boys! That small objection aside, this book is full of fun, typical of all Davidson's works. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Goldy goes Gothic
Review: Goldy the caterer and her crew are back with more murder and tasty morsels. The action this time centers around an English castle which has been dismantled, moved, and re-assembled in the Colorado Rockies (think Jerry Jeff Walker: o/~ "even London Bridge is falling down and moved to Arizona" o/~ The characterizations here are much better than the disappointments of Goldy's most recent prior endeavors, but her whiney son and his adulation of his abusive father is really beginning to grate.
Rating:
Summary: Members of the Family
Review: Having read the nine previous mysteries featuring caterer Goldie Schulz, she and her family have become almost real to me, have almost become friends. I am always excited to buy the new one and delve into it. This one did not disappoint me. The mystery begins when Goldie's living room window is shot out in the middle of the night, then Tom is shot, and there are mysterious ghost-like happenings occurring at the reconstructed medieval castle in which she is catering some events. There are plenty of red herrings thrown into the mix and plenty of oddball characters to make it interesting. I really like the fact that Diane Mott Davidson can usually write interesting characters without making them caricatures...although I have to say here that Goldie's ex-husband's new girlfriend is not written so well, being the stereotypical blond bimbo type. I also was very happy that Julian played a big part in this episode as I like him...now let's have more from Marla, Ms. Davidson. Great series!
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