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Rating: 
Summary: one of her best
Review: "The Last Suppers" was the first one of Diane Mott Davidson's charming Goldy Bear Schulz series that I read, and I rate it as one of her best. As the book opens, Goldy is at the Episcopal church gowned in full wedding splendor, worrying not only about the life-changing ceremony but also about the food for the reception.....A female British mystery author once wrote that, despite whatever else is happening in life, women still have to worry about what to make for dinner! This is certainly true for caterer Goldy, who cooks and serves no matter what or where.The wedding does not happen as planned. The priest is found murdered, and the groom, police officer Tom Schulz, disappears. For much of the action in this book, Goldy is on her own, worrying about Tom, focused on finding him. There is more tension for Goldy in "The Last Suppers" than in any of the books of the series, but she carries on and the plot will carry you along with her. Recommended as a page-turner!
Rating:
Summary: one of her best
Review: "The Last Suppers" was the first one of Diane Mott Davidson's charming Goldy Bear Schulz series that I read, and I rate it as one of her best. As the book opens, Goldy is at the Episcopal church gowned in full wedding splendor, worrying not only about the life-changing ceremony but also about the food for the reception.....A female British mystery author once wrote that, despite whatever else is happening in life, women still have to worry about what to make for dinner! This is certainly true for caterer Goldy, who cooks and serves no matter what or where. The wedding does not happen as planned. The priest is found murdered, and the groom, police officer Tom Schulz, disappears. For much of the action in this book, Goldy is on her own, worrying about Tom, focused on finding him. There is more tension for Goldy in "The Last Suppers" than in any of the books of the series, but she carries on and the plot will carry you along with her. Recommended as a page-turner!
Rating: 
Summary: Too Hard on Her Protagonists
Review: D.M.D. sure seems to know her cookery, and her mysteries function all right. Having just moved to Colorado, I renewed my acquaintance with her "Aspen" (?) based series. However, poor Goldy and her fiancee can't even get through their wedding without a major personal disaster. D.M.D. characters don't just investigate murder & mayhem, they get tragically involved in the crimes in very personal ways. It is getting hard to pick up another book, knowing the kind of angst Goldy and her family is in for, and I probably won't. By the way, isn't it kind of hypocritical to base the series around gourmet catering and then harp on the best friend's (& fellow ex-wife's) fatness? Kind of shallow; and very seldom moves the plot forward.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best in the series
Review: I managed to finish this book, but will definitely not read another one in this series. She's written a passable mystery, but I found too much emphasis on food and church. If you enjoy those two things, you would really love the whole series. The author is VERY knowledgeable about church affairs, and calls on that knowledge to write this series. the emphaszis on food is meant to bring humor into the book. But I don't find that mystery and humor mix very well. Also, I just could never come to like the main character (or any of the other characters, either), and therefore, never really got pulled into caring about what happened in the books. I had really looked forward to reading one of the books in this series. This was the first one I came across. It was a disappointment for me personally.
Rating: 
Summary: This is one of her best!
Review: OK OK the recipes are better in some of the other books. And would Goldy really be have the ability to concentrate in a church committee review board while her fiance is missing? And unfortunately this is one of the shorter books.... BUT!! This is truly a gem to read from beginning to end. Being Episcopal myself, I can relate to some of the items that Goldy talks about with her church. Her reaction to a miracle performed at the church, not to mention a certain thing happening to her at a Women's Prayer Group (I won't spoil it), show that Goldy truly is not a one-dimensional character. I guess what really got me in the end was the true love that Goldy showed for Tom by not thinking he just ran off on her. Thank you Dian Davidson! Keep on cooking
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite satisfying...
Review: This is the second Diane Mott Davidson that I have read, and although it is light and fluffy and entertaining, we're not talking great fiction or even great mystery here. Davidson is one of the many mystery writers nowadays who has come upon a theme, and her theme is food. The main character, Goldy Bear, is a caterer and while she's running around solving crimes, she's also cooking up a storm. Three things kept me from giving this book more stars. First, the plot is rather hokey and it's hard to believe that after Goldy's fiance' is kidnapped just minutes before her wedding, that in the three days following, she would take on last minute catering jobs. Also, Goldy never listens to the police and always tries to solve things on her own (makes you wonder why she hasn't been killed). Second, I'm a devout Episcopalian and while I usually enjoy books with Episcopal themes, the complicated jargon of the Episcopal Church even got tiring to me after awhile. Most non-Episcopalians would be hard pressed to give definitions of narthex or ambry. Finally, as someone who likes to cook and entertains quite a bit, I found that the dozen or so recipes that are included in this book didn't even appear appetizing (except for maybe the cinnamon buns). Anyway, I will admit that I was anxious to keep turning pages to see who the villain was in this book. But overall, I don't think it is one of Davidson's better efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite satisfying...
Review: This is the second Diane Mott Davidson that I have read, and although it is light and fluffy and entertaining, we're not talking great fiction or even great mystery here. Davidson is one of the many mystery writers nowadays who has come upon a theme, and her theme is food. The main character, Goldy Bear, is a caterer and while she's running around solving crimes, she's also cooking up a storm. Three things kept me from giving this book more stars. First, the plot is rather hokey and it's hard to believe that after Goldy's fiance' is kidnapped just minutes before her wedding, that in the three days following, she would take on last minute catering jobs. Also, Goldy never listens to the police and always tries to solve things on her own (makes you wonder why she hasn't been killed). Second, I'm a devout Episcopalian and while I usually enjoy books with Episcopal themes, the complicated jargon of the Episcopal Church even got tiring to me after awhile. Most non-Episcopalians would be hard pressed to give definitions of narthex or ambry. Finally, as someone who likes to cook and entertains quite a bit, I found that the dozen or so recipes that are included in this book didn't even appear appetizing (except for maybe the cinnamon buns). Anyway, I will admit that I was anxious to keep turning pages to see who the villain was in this book. But overall, I don't think it is one of Davidson's better efforts.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: This may be the last book that I read in the Goldy Bear series. While the writing is enjoyable and the characters are engaging, the mystery takes a back seat to the food. This is not necessarily bad, but I was able to figure out who and what fairly early into the story. On the positive side, I still wanted to read the book and find out how the solution developed - how Goldy puts all the pieces together. The long descriptions of food and its preparations made me very hungry, and the recipes that Ms. Davidson includes seem almost worth the price of the book, even if I am slightly disappointed in the mystery. So I offer a qualified recommendation of this book - enjoyable and tasty but not quite filling
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