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This holiday season caterer Goldy Schulz is completely booked and is thrilled at how well her catering business is doing, but she's already tired. When she thinks she spots Sandee Brisbane, the woman who confessed to killing Goldy's ex-husband, and then perished herself in a fire, Goldy is hoping that fatigue is making her see things. As she is hurrying to set up a breakfast in the local library, racing the bad weather that's coming in, she hears a hubbub and runs over to find a librarian trying to help Drew Wellington, a disgraced local DA who is looks like he's dying. The cops are called but before they get there Drew dies and an upset Goldy again sees Sandee lurking near the stacks. It's later found that Drew had very rare and expensive maps on him that might or might not have been stolen goods. By then Goldy has been asked to look into his death by Drew's fiancée Patricia. Goldy insists that she doesn't have the time or inclination to look into the situation. After all, Tom, her homicide cop husband and his colleagues don't want Goldy, a local well-known amateur sleuth, to butt into their case. On top of that the cops don't believe that she's seen Sandee. But Goldy just can't help but delve into the case. Her mind brings up questions that just have to be solved, and if the murder is solved at the same time, well, that's just icing on her cupcake. Goldy knows in her heart that Sandee must be involved somehow, and if she is, then Goldy and her son Arch might also be on her hit list – and putting her son in danger is something that Goldy can't bear to think about. This is the 14th in the series and it again shows us a caterer who knows her business and shares her love of rich and flavorful cooking with the readers. Though there are some people who try to eat healthily, Goldy and her catering business only offers the best and richest food. Real butter, sugar and cream seem to be part of every recipe that Goldy whips up in the pages of this book and the same ingredients show up in the recipe section at the end. Writer Diane Mott Davidson does an exemplary job of describing the way a real caterer and foodie would go about calming herself down – she cooks. In SWEET REVENGE, Goldy feels compelled to pick up a spatula when her life gets too crazy. That's always been a great point in these books and has always helped make Goldy a true to life character. I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed that Davidson is joining the popular "not really dead" plot potboiler where the readers are told a character is dead only for that character to again show up at a later time. It's happening a lot in mysteries lately and I find it a cheap trick for writers too lazy to work out a better twist to their story. I always thought Davidson too skilled to need to use something like that ruse. SWEET REVENGE didn't keep my attention and I kept putting it down, something I rarely did with the others in the series. Goldy insists on doing things on this case that made her seem like a smug superwoman. Even after just going through a hazardous situation where she is hurt and she complains that she's in pain, Goldy then continues on to insert herself in another potentially perilous situation where she is once again risking her life. Here all of Goldy's friends and co-stars of the series, like her husband Tom, Marla her best friend, her son and her catering helper are all pushed aside and not used other than for small things, like giving her a hug, loaning her a car, chopping vegetables or taking Arch to yet another of his many snowboarding runs. Goldy even ruins Marla's car and fur coat and doesn't seem to really care that she's destroyed a friend's property. Goldy is totally on her own in this book as she acts like a super hero. I think that even fans of this series will be disappointed in this installment. Readers are always able to hear Goldy's thoughts but in this book, when she finally sees a clue that helps her solve a question, the readers are suddenly barred from Goldy's thoughts! This book has lost my trust and has dimmed my enthusiasm for the series. SWEET REVENGE just isn't top grade.
Reviewed by A. L. Katz, November 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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