Diane Mott Davidson's opening lines are great.
I was in caterer's hell -- Killer Pancake
Like a fudge souffle, life can collapse -- Prime Cut
I'd kill to get into Stanford -- The Cereal Murders
Brunch is a killer -- Dying for Chocolate
For parents of soon-to-be college students, deans of students or admissions, or professors, perhaps the next to last one is most worrisome. (Though, most recently in the news, it is not students dying for admission that are accused of murder -- even murder-for-hire.) But, my most recent re-read, taken off my own shelves, of Dying for Chocolate made me yearn for brunch. (While the brunch at Rose's Corner is great, reading about brunch can be a killer!) Oddly, Dying for Chocolate began on the exact day I started re-reading it (June 3), not something I ever do on purpose, though some readers at bookcrossing try to match the month of their reading to the month they are in (or the city of their current residence or. . . ) It is true that the re-read was more fun having been to Colorado. . .
Mott Davison raises some serious issues in the book -- including the long term consequences of spousal abuse and the ways that crosses class lines (her main character,the implausibly named Goldy Bear, is a survivor) -- but the central point is the fun with food, the mystery, and the read. Not as punny (thank goodness) as her titles always are, Dying for Chocolate does have some trivia/arcania on aphrodisiacs, not to mention recipes for "Scout's Brownies" and "Lethal Layers" which remain tempting. She does not inundate the reader with chocolate trivia, which for some reason I expected, even having read this one before. Hmmm.
As an utter side note, for those interested in religion, Mott Davidson previously served on the Board of Examining Chaplains of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado. (See her book, Last Suppers.) And, another character does suggest she change her name from Bear to Baer . . . I should note, too, that she has many newer volumes out in the series.
Back to the main event: One thing I like about Mott Davidson is that the recipes seem to be more than mere marketing ploys, and there is an index to them at the end of the book. Once in a while, little food related truisms emerge
-- Perhaps the idea of eating something called Montessori muffins made people think they were learning something. Food can substitute for so many things. (p. 122)
--We eat for different reasons. . . (p. 141)
Why do you eat? What would you kill for? Metaphorically, of course.
