Killer Pancake: A Culinary Mystery (Culinary Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: cosmetic consultants and
Review: As "Killer Pancake" opens, Goldy is facing a difficult situation, catering to a group of cosmetic company representatives. Of course they are calorie conscious and want low-fat, low calorie fare, without all the buttery goodness of the recipes that have enabled Goldy to make a reputation for herself in the Colorado mountains.

Julian has become involved with a beautiful sales associate. When she is found dead, Goldy must deal with Julian's isolation and grief even as she delves into solving the crime. Davidson writes with warmth and understanding of Goldy's motherly love for Julian, and mothers of young adult children will find much to identify with in her characterization of their relationship.

Recommended ---you'll not be disappointed in this one!

Rating:
Summary: Killer Pancake
Review: If you already like Diane Mott Davidson, you will like this book, because it is a good example of her work. However, if you are just starting off on her books, I would not buy Killer Pancake. I think the character is a wimp and the plot was almost boring. I would recommend Joanne Fluke if you are looking for some culinary mysteries.

Rating:
Summary: Watch the Food channel instead
Review: One of the more common formulas in the "cozy mystery" genre is to have a strong female character running into murderous plots amongst her acquaintances/clients, while trying to run a business and live her life with a significant other who is a cop or detective.

This series with Goldy and her catering business uses this formula, but unfortunately (and I feel bad for saying this), not very well. The first half of this book was extremely bland. Character development seemed to be sacrificed for unnecessary details about recipes and Goldy's constant catering concerns. I knew more about how the food was packed and transported to the catering sites then about the murdered person and those who were possible suspects. Now, personally, I love to cook, and the recipes are a great idea, but I really was disappointed in the lackluster story development and dialogue between characters. There were some occasional good moments and plot twists, but not enough to give this mystery reader a reason to continue reading books in this series.

Who have I liked in this particular genre? Mary Daheim's Bed-and-Breakfast series and Dolores Johnson's Dry Cleaning series are both fun to read.

Rating:
Summary: Killer Pancake
Review: The compliments: It's full of low fat recipes. It's funny and pretty fast paced. It has good characters. It was a well written mystery.
The complaints: The ending was rather abrupt. It left me questioning what happened to everyone besides Goldy. I wish Goldy dealt with her abusive ex-husband better instead of continually having to have someone else defend her. It's time for her to take up kick boxing, judo, karate, skillet tossing, something! I didn't find the murderer's reason for killing plausible. The author describes Colorado well but at times goes overboard;some parts of the book read like a brochure.

Rating:
Summary: A deliciously light mystery!
Review: This is the 5th book in the Goldy the caterer series. This time the girlfriend of her beloved assistant and border, Julian Teller, is murdered. Of course Goldy can't stand by and let Julian suffer, so she pokes her nose into things and eventually solves a murder.

Along the way she deals with her best friend's heart attack, her vicious ex-husband, her new husband, a teenage son, demanding clients, the cut throat cosmetic industry, and animal rights activists. All while preparing delicious low fat recipes. Don't read on an empty stomache.