Dark Tort

Diane Mott Davidson

Goldy Schulz has a steady catering job for a lawyer's firm. She provides breakfasts for them for meetings two or three times a week. This is the type of job that keeps a caterer afloat during the slow season. This Thursday night she enters the office to prepare for Friday morning's breakfast. She takes a comic prat fall - over the body of the office paralegal and Goldy's neighbor.

Once again Goldy finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. Dusty Routt was a young woman who had a rough past. Her father left when her younger brother was born. Her blind grandfather lives with her mother, brother, and herself in a small home across from Goldy. The Routt family is known around Aspen Meadow as the welfare family. But Dusty's uncle is the elder lawyer at Hanrahan & Jule. After Dusty finishes her GED and attends community college, he hires her to work in his office with the other estate lawyers.

Dusty's mother doesn't trust the police due to past history. She asks Goldy to find out who killed her daughter. Goldy is catering another event for one of the lawyer's wife over the weekend and two more events in the next few days where some of them will be. She also learns more about the partners at the firm and their wives. Were any of them involved in Dusty's death? Or perhaps her ex-boyfriend? Who gave Dusty the beautiful opal and diamond bracelet? Where was that bracelet? It was missing from the body and not in her home. Did someone take it?

The Goldy Bear mysteries are cozy, non-threatening mysteries. Dark Tort is the latest novel in the series. This is a well planned mystery with good twists on the way to the solution. Goldy's personal story is intertwined, of course, but doesn't overwhelm the story. Dusty's murder is the focus of the book and handled well. Once again, the murderer is not obvious. This is a nice cozy read and a good addition to the series by Diane Mott Davidson.

Catering to Nobody
Dying for Chocolate
The Cereal Murders
The Last Suppers
Killer Pancake
The Main Corpse
The Grilling Season
Prime Cut
Tough Cookie
Sticks and Scones
Chopping Spree
Double Shot
Dark Tort
Sweet Revenge
Fatally Flaky
Crunch Time