Tough Cookie by Diane Mott Davidson

Book Details
Tough Cookie by Diane Mott Davidson
Paperback, 336 pages
2001, Bantam
ISBN: 0553578308
Series: Book 9 in the Goldy Schulz series

Synopsis
Chef/amateur sleuth Goldy Schulz returns for a ninth outing in Davidson's popular culinary mystery series. Goldy's home-based catering business in the Colorado high country is temporarily suspended by drain problems, so she accepts a stint on a PBS cooking show before the Christmas holidays. After a meeting with Goldy, Doug Portman, her wealthy ex-boyfriend, is found dead on a back country ski run, with thousands of dollars flying from his pockets. Goldy discovers that an old acquaintance, Nate Bullock, had also been discovered there after an avalanche in almost the same spot three years earlier, and she herself is a victim of misadventure when her van is nudged over a cliff. Determined to find the killer lurking on the ski slopes, Goldy unearths motives aplenty, possibly among her culinary friends in a mountain restaurant.

Review
I loved the concept of Goldy hosting a cooking show. I also loved the idea of her getting some distance from Aspen Meadow. The cooking show didn't play as well as I had hoped, but the distance and exposure to new people seemed to breath some much needed life into Goldy. The mystery kept me guessing and the recipes were mouth-watering (mmm, Mexican Egg Rolls with Spicy Guacamole Dipping Sauce.) The last, inevitable, fleeing from the killer scene has stuck with me and seemed painfully realistic, but was written in a way that would have been better suited for screen than print. So much action is such a short period of time combined with the inner emotional turmoil took a lot of visualization to understand. I'd have to rate Touch Cookie a high three, not quite a four.

Rating