The Main Corpse

September 2, 1996
Colorado caterer and amateur sleuth Goldy Bear is back (from Killer Pancake, Dying for Chocolate, etc.) in a contrived plot featuring some preposterous adventures and 12 recipes. During what seems an interminably rainy spring, Goldy's excitable, wealthy friend Marla convinces Prospect Investment Partners, whose chief investment officer recently died in a car crash, to hire Goldy to cater a party. The affair, thrown to court investors in Prospect's latest venture, the reopening of an old gold mine, is held, in the rain, at the mine itself. As the party begins, Marla has a monumental argument with Prospect partner, Albert Lipscomb, about an assay report. Subsequently, Albert disappears with Prospect's cash. Goldy decides to find out what happened, against the advice of her new husband, Tom Schulz, a Sheriff's Department Homicide investigator. Then Marla and her boyfriend, Prospect CFO Tony Royce, are attacked while camping; next Tony vanishes and the police arrest Marla. Goldy enlists the help of her son Archie, her catering assistant Macguire, Archie's pet bloodhound, Jake, and Marla's brother-in-law, Gen. Bo Farquhar, a retired munitions expert. Breaking laws at breakneck speed, they rescue Marla from jail, solve the mysteries after a frightening climb through the old mine and a shoot-out at the airport and are exonerated by grateful cops. Only Archie, Jake and the recipes create sparks in this damp tale.

Goldy Schulz, caterer and amateur detective, is once again embroiled in a murder investigation when her best friend is charged with murder. Mary Gross's narration at first seems too upbeat for a story involving murder, but it develops depth and complexity as the story progresses. She expresses Goldy's concerns and anxieties, as well as her joys (especially her husband and her cooking). The other characters are subtly and effectively characterized. This involving mystery satisfies one's need for entertainment--while leaving one hungry for all the great food described! M.A.M. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine