Fatally Flaky

February 23, 2009
Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz doesn't have a moment to spare as she frantically tries to pull everything together for two upcoming wedding receptions, including last-minute venue and menu changes from a spoiled bridezilla, in bestseller Davidson's entertaining 15th culinary suspense novel (after Sweet Revenge
). When Harold “Doc” Finn, Aspen Meadow's beloved retired doctor, dies under mysterious circumstances on his way to the first wedding ceremony, Goldy wonders if it was an accident or murder. When her godfather and Doc Finn's good friend, Jack Carmichael, is also attacked, it's obvious that Goldy will have to venture out of the kitchen and put her detecting skills to use once again. Stir in a slimy spa owner, rumors of a malpractice suit and the usual cast of supporting characters—including Goldy's patient cop husband, Tom, and her capable culinary assistant, Julian Teller—and you've got another winning entry in Davidson's mouthwatering series. 6-city author tour.

March 23, 2009
Verdict: In her 15th culinary series title, Davidson yet again concocts another excellent recipe-stuffed mystery. The familiar characters, good pacing, and puzzling mystery will make cozie fans hungry for more. Background: It's wedding season in Aspen Meadows, CO, and caterer Goldy Schulz (Double Shot) is busy, particularly with her very own bridezilla, who changes her wedding date, the menu, and finally the location-to Gold Gulch Spa, owned by one of Goldy's enemies, Victor Lane. When a well-loved local physician is killed and Goldy's godfather attacked, you know Goldy can't resist getting involved. Going undercover at a spa that serves canned fruit cocktail for dessert is a torment for Goldy.-Susan Hayes, Chattahoochee Valley Libs., Columbus, GA

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 19, 2010
Lebanese journalist Jabber covered the U.S. invasion of Baghdad for the Sunday Telegraph
along with her husband, British photographer Steve Bent. Western educated, Arabic speaking and Muslim, Jaber brings a special perspective to the Iraq War, focusing on the lives of ordinary citizens, especially women, and the story soars as she captures the mood of the city waiting for the inevitable bombs: “the joyous frequency of wedding celebrations... showed that Baghdadis sensed sorrow might not be far away.” In the midst of a city torn by sectarian violence, Jaber is instructed to find a poster child for a London charity campaign, specifically a wounded girl, between one and five, whose parents had died and whose face was unscathed. Going from hospital to hospital, she meets her destiny in a three and a half year old terribly burned girl, Zahra, who with her infant sister, Hawra, are the only survivors of a bomb that killed her entire family. Jaber uses the war and these children to frame her personal sadness at not being able to conceive her own children, and the essence is an unusual portrait of a successful professional woman who gets close enough to her subjects to question her life and her choices.