It's a Mystery

About ten years ago, my mother gave me a copy of Dying for Chocolate, by Diane Mott Davidson. It was a culinary mystery and Mom just knew I'd love it. I was in Dallas for a cookbook signing and a local television spot to promote my newly released cookbook, The Great Ranch Cookbook.

I read that book in less than a day, and it left me wanting more. Now, it is not a great literary read. Ms. Davidson's books are beach reads...think of them as romance-cum-mystery novels for the food obsessed. You can breeze through them quicker than it takes to assemble and bake a souffle...almost.

But they are fun reads. And Ms. Davidson has just penned her 14th book in the series featuring the unflappable caterer, Goldie, who has seen hard times with an abusive ex-husband called "the jerk" but is now married to the wonderful, loving, attentive, strong, handsome Tom... which brings me to why I'm writing this post.

I attended a business meeting of culinary professional women last night, and our host, Ms. Gaye, served these luscious little prosciutto bites -- halved croissants spread with peach jam, topped with prosciutto and goat cheese, warmed in an oven. They were delicious -- sweet, salty, buttery, crunchy -- so naturally I asked Ms. Gaye about them.

"I read this book, and there were recipes in the back," she said. It turns out that the book was Dark Tort by Ms. Davidson. Go figure. I've read 11 of her 14 books. I never thought about trying any of the recipes she sprinkles throughout her books (her later books group them in the back instead of breaking up the novel with them).

The recipes really didn't sound that appealing to me as I was reading the novels, but after tasting the prosciutto bites last night, I think I will flip through the Mott Davidson paperbacks I have on my shelf. There might be other treasures buried in there along with the dead bodies that Goldie invariably digs up.

Ms. Davidson will be starting a book tour of 25 or so cities beginning in August. Visit her website to see if she's coming to your town. She'll be in Phoenix at the Poisoned Pen on October 17. I hope she brings Tom. I'm curious to see what "the perfect man" looks like.