Dying for chocolate
(Book)

"Meet Goldy Bear: a bright, opinionated, inventive caterer who whips up gastronomical delights for a living - but whose personal life has become a recipe for disaster. Blame it on her abusive ex-husband Dr. John Richard Korman, aka the Jerk, who has taken to driving slowly by her house, phoning just to hang up, and in general making some pretty tasteless threats. Or on the mounting monthly bills that have taken a huge bite out of her strained budget. Or on the fact that after years of romantic starvation Goldy is now torn between two eligible and eminently appealing men." "It's enough to make the sanest of women crack under the strain. But instead, Goldy has taken steps. She's moved herself, her eleven-year-old son, Arch, and her catering business (Goldilocks' Catering, Where Everything Is Just Right!) out to the ritzy Aspen Meadow Country Club area, where she's accepted a summer job as a live-in cook - in a mansion that has more alarms than the Denver Mint." "As for her complicated love life, Goldy can't predict who'll win her heart. But she's doing her best to enjoy the favors of Philip Miller, a handsome local shrink who's also an old flame, and the friendship of Tom Schulz, a burly homicide investigator at the Furman County Sheriff's Department. Until one morning, after catering the dreaded Elk Park Preparatory School alumni brunch, Goldy sets out to share an espresso with Philip and bears witness as his custard-colored BMW swerves wildly on a hazardous descent, skids onto a slick highway, and slams into an oncoming bus." "The shock is absolute; the questions legion: How could Philip be fine one minute and driving as if drunk the next? Why was he wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day? If he had car trouble, why hadn't he simply pulled over? Convinced that Philip's death was no accident, Goldy feels compelled to do some investigating on her own." "Between catering decadent dinners and posh society picnics - and with the help of her more-than-friendly neighborhood cop - Goldy sifts through the secrets of Philip's life to discover who among his clients, lovers, and friends wanted him dead...only to find herself steeped in a case peppered with eccentrics, spiced with danger, and seasoned with unwelcome revelations. And then another body turns up in an unappetizing state, and the queen of Aspen Meadow catering cuisine knows she must serve up an unsavory killer - before death stalks the one who means more to her than life itself." "In Dying for Chocolate, Diane Mott Davidson blends wry humor with a generous helping of suspense to create the perfect whodunit. And as an added bonus she offers eleven original recipes for such death-defying delights as Lethal Layers, Scout's Brownies, and Goldilocks' Gourmet Spinach Soup. It's a mystery with an epicurean twist - and a cookbook that you won't be able to resist."--BOOK JACKET