The Whole Enchilada: A Novel of Suspense (Goldy Schulz)

In this seventeenth novel of the Goldy Schultz mysteries, we find Goldy and friends with family celebrating Arch and Drew's seventeenth birthdays. The party was filled with angst and unexpected guests but the worst was to come. Holly, Drew's mother, collapsed at the ending and died. The entire party is in shock. Goldy's husband, Tom Schultz, an investigator for the homicide department of Aspen Springs, Colorado, has further unsettling news...it looks like Holly was poisoned! To add to the shock, Goldy begins to learn things about her friend that are stunning and almost unbelievable...then she remembers the divorcee club that Holly, Marla Korman, and herself had...she took copious notes, would there be any clues there? When, a wanna-be caterer trying to stylize Goldy is found murdered and lying next to critically injured Fr. Pete of St. Luke's the focus turns on connections. Goldy, is injured, attacked, and someone killed her look-a-like. Is Goldy the target? In the midst of all this action is the famous (for this series,) cooking. Goldy is a well-known caterer and she cooks to keep sane. Her family also loves food and after reading this novel so will you. Luckily at the end of the book is a bonus section featuring the recipes that have you entranced. It has been quite a dry spell since the last Goldy Schultz novel came out. I worried that I would never get to follow her life again. I'm beyond thrilled that this book came out. It truly was the 'Whole Enchilada.' The murder mystery was thrilling, shocking, suspenseful and yet there is always the love of family, friends, and food thrown into the mix. I pray that we continue to get updates on Goldy as she enriches my reading life.

I was so excited to get this book and dive right in. It was fun to watch Goldie on another adventure and I the involvement of the "Family" of characters. After my third Goldy book I realized I had to suspend an attitude of disbelief. Obviously, no one "lay" person is going to be involved in this many murder mysteries. All the murders would logically be hurting Goldie's reputation as a caterer. But what threw me was the epilogue. I wandered if Davidson is drawing the series to a close now. The epilogue felt rushed, too much information crammed into it and I had the sad feeling that I won't be reading more of Goldy's escapades. I hope I am wrong. I have a hard time not rushing to the back of the book to look for a recipe when it is mentioned, but this time I didn't and I was disappointed. As another reviewer mentioned, Julian's Chile Relleno Torta wasn't even included yet it was the one I was most anxious to read as it was mentioned several times in the book. I hadn't noticed until another reviewer pointed it out, Davidson is always abusing her character. Goldy always gets attacked by someone, has accidents, and is physically hurt (often has to change her catering clothes because of some mishap) but it never deters her from sticking to her catering schedule. Whenever the menus have to be revised at the last minute Goldy always has plenty of something on hand. I am amazed at all the fresh vegetables that are always on hand in great quantities, whether she had planned to use them for the dishes or not. I guess I can handle some of those moments of suspending my disbelief though. It's fiction...It's Goldy. But the epilogue threw me a curve. I just can't see any more catering and crime solving in Goldie's future.

I guess you could call me a fan! I have had this book pre ordered since March and LITERALLY marked the publishing date on my calendar! I have purchased every book of Diane Mott Davidson's and never once regretted it. Over the years I have introduced Goldy and Diane to many of my friends and to all four of my children. (Now all are old enough to enjoy the books) Such consistent quality is rare and should be honored and appreciated. How--you ask? -By purchasing quality fiction that will hopefully encourage Ms Davidson to write another! This book was a good mystery and for those of us who are true Goldy fans, very gratifying. We were able to enjoy a great murder caper as well as ultimately seeing Goldy's life become even happier, more healed and fulfilled. I truly appreciate the acknowledgement by Ms Davidson that domestic violence causes wounds on the psyche that take much longer to heal than the breaks, burns and bruises of the abuse victim. Those of us who have been on similar journeys can find inspiration, humor, compassion and healing between the covers of an entertaining mystery novel! Wow! Well worth spending your hard earned dollars on! Thank you Ms Davidson for another high quality mystery! I hope it's a best seller several times over! One criticism...if I may..... It's too long between publishing new Goldy stories! Maybe a TNT series could be produced to tide us die hard fans over between books?? What do you think? I know quality takes time but surely an expert at quality mystery novels such as yourself could speed up the process a bit? I feel like Marla between meals! :D

I confess, I reread books which I love! This is one of them. Ms. Mott Davidson created a wonderful group of characters which are relatable to the reader. Who hasn’t known a single mom, raising a teenager, and dealing with family issues? Who hasn’t known a friend who has the low down on all the latest gossip, and stands up for those she cares about? And who won’t want to meet, fall in love, and marry a wonderful, honest, intelligent and caring person? This book, and the entire series inspires hope, humor, and intrigue, with good recipes! These characteristics leads me to reread, enjoy, and appreciate life itself.

Re: The Whole Enchilada by Diane Mott Davidson The Whole Enchilada is an entertaining edition to the Goldy Schulz series. Schulz is a caterer with a heart for people, a passion for food, and a knack for solving mysteries. I've been a fan of the series and I've read every edition, with the exception of Crunch Time, which I started but couldn't finish. When I began reading WE, it was like having a conversation with old friends. Goldy's husband, Tom, and her best friend, Marla, are real-life, colorful characters who add depth to every scene. They are like comfort food. Mott Davidson knows them well, and she depicts Tom and Marla consistently on the page. Goldy's assistant, Julian, is fantastic, but he appears less real and more of a device. Julian is deployed every time Goldy needs a chore accomplished, a meal prepared, the dishes washed, or the food lugged in from the van to the work site. Goldy's son, Arch, is a typical teenager who usually disappears with a friend when Goldy is solving a case. I enjoy seeing Aspen Meadow through Goldy's eyes, and the recipes and food are deliciously weaved into the story line. My appetite is teased every time I read one of Mott Davison's books. The plot line of WE is discussed in detail in other reviews, so I won't go into a lengthy outline. In brief, Goldy is compelled to solve the murder of her friend, Holly, who apparently was keeping secrets from her close friends and family. My biggest complaint about the book is there is so much telling and little showing. Goldy talks about events and describes them in slogging backstory. Dialogue is described rather than voiced by the characters. The ending is told as an epilogue, rather than revealed as it happens. I like Goldy as a narrator, but I love Goldy as a action-figure character who solves crimes through her actions, not just words, in the books. I am less enthusiastic about Goldy providing the reader with thick paragraphs and paragraphs of descriptions of Holly's behavior. At times, I was lost in time and place in the book. For example, when Marla and Goldy descend to Goldy's basement to review some notes, the reader isn't told if the characters sit a table or desk. They simply start reviewing notes. Also, sometimes the elapse of time seems impossible: Near the end of a party at Marla's, Holly dies. Then Goldy & Co. travel to Holly's rental home where Goldy has an accident. She's rescued, and transported to a hospital. Goldy is treated, sleeps, and then is able to depart the hospital around midnight? So many events is so little time! In addition, some of the characters' actions are not believable. Why would the feisty caterer let a client go through her cupboards in her kitchen? And why would an attorney call Goldy and tell her personal details about the attorney's client after an argument at a catering site? And, really, why would the extremely minor character attorney conveniently have Goldy's mobile number? I know that in fiction, the reader must suspend reality, but some of the events in the story stretch credibility. That being said, I love Goldy and I love these books. I eagerly wait for the next book in the series, and I re-read them to spend time with some of my favorite characters. Diane Mott Davidson has created a wonderful series that's worth reading. Congrats, Ms. Davidson, and long live Goldy!

I enjoy this series as much for the recipes as for the stories. Goldy is again witness to murders - one takes place just after the victim has eaten one of Goldy's delicious concoctions. We are witnesses to her acumen as sleuth as well as her talent at cooking. The cast of characters includes her talented partner Julian, her cop husband Tom, her sidekick Marla along with the usual assortment of suspects, witnesses, bystanders and red herrings. This tale has a second plotline with Ophelia, and Ophelia's father, money and fiancé. My one gripe with this murderous outing is we are constantly being TOLD what good friends Goldy and the victim were, but are never SHOWN why they were friends rather than mere acquaintances. This is important because of the many times this friendship is used to extract information from others. Tom is even witness to a rather shady extraction that would never be condoned or attempted by real police. Still, the story is interesting, holds your attention, is solvable if you pay close attention and has enough humor to lighten a dark tale. The ending may signal the end of this series. Not much here for a book group discussion, but cozy fans will enjoy it anyway.

I have always enjoyed this series and look forward to the next installment--they can't come fast enough for me. I particularly like how Ms. Davidson's writing style has consistently improved along with her character development. It appears to me that Ms. Davidson's writing has deepened throughout the years, starting with more of a casual storytelling approach to what is now sort of a spellbinding, suspenseful style. Just when she is starting to develop a more mature way of writing, I get the feeling she is ready to abandon the characters I have grown to enjoy so much. Being a chef who is also a vegetarian who cooks for people who eat meat, I especially enjoy the character of Julian, who has grown from an incidental mention to an integral part of the storyline. The interaction between Goldy and Julian, Goldy and her husband, Goldy and her son Arch, and Goldy and her friend Marla seem genuine and based on experience (with a lot of humor thrown in for good measure). The inclusion of recipes in mystery/suspense novels is commonplace now, but I believe Ms. Davidson was among the first, if not the first. I have tried some of the recipes and, unlike some I have found in other authors' books, they actually are easy to prepare and taste good! You can even find them on the web with reviews! As I was reading this book, I had the sinking feeling it was meant to be the final chapter in the tale of Goldy and her family. Even the title gives that impression. As I finished the last page, I was certain there would be no more chapters to this tale and upon searching Ms. Davidson's Facebook page, I found other readers had come to the same conclusion. I can understand Ms. Davidson's desire to move on to other things, but I must say that in a world where self-publishing has gotten totally out of hand and every other "author" feels they can emulate an original like this, while encompassing donut shops, delis, coffee shops, and every other food-related venue under the sun so they can have an excuse to include tried and untried recipes as a "bonus," an original like the Goldy Schultz series will be sorely missed by me, as well as many others.

The Whole Enchilada was not quite that. While being fairly fast paced and quite suspenseful, it lacked the previous feature of Goldy's catering details. The catering did go on; yet a lot of the cooking seemed to be done by others - mainly Julian. It added a slightly different flavor to the story,almost as if Goldy was stepping away from her culinary career to pursue a final mystery. Throughout the story, the main emphasis was on solving Holly's mysteries and not Goldy's catering business. The final epilogue also tied up a lot more story lines than usual, as though Goldy and company had come to an end of a chapter in their collective lives and were ready to move on. I could see this book being the final one in this series should the author choose to take that route. If she chooses to continue, I think the books might have a different flavor with some additional characters. Really good read all-in-all. I would recommend this book to seasoned Goldy fans. I would not recommend this book to be the first book read in the series - it is much more enjoyable to those of us who have followed Goldy's story through the years!!