The menu for the wake is a Poached Salmon and Strawberry Shortcake Buffet for forty mourners. During the wake, the caterer’s ex-father-in-law drinks from a poisoned cup and nearly dies, and Goldy is accused of adding poison to the menu. St. Martin’s Press published this first novel of the series in August 1990. It was shortlisted for the Agatha, the Anthony and the Macavity awards for best first mystery.
What Is Catering to Nobody About?
Goldy is divorced and raises her 11-year-old son, Arch, in a small mountain town in Colorado. She pays the bills with her own business, Goldilocks’ Catering, “Where Everything Is Just Right”. Catering a wake for Arch’s former teacher, Laura Smiley, should be routine. The teacher’s death was ruled a suicide.
Then the gynecologist Fritz Korman collapses. The Department of Health impounds her leftovers, police investigator Tom Schulz closes her business down, and her ex-husband spreads the story all over town. With the busy season coming, she cannot afford to wait for the police. She starts asking her own questions, finds links between the poisoning and the teacher’s death, and begins to doubt the suicide verdict. Schulz, meanwhile, is plainly courting her.
Arch, Marla, Tom Schulz and “The Jerk”
The heart of the book is the heroine’s life after a violent marriage. Her ex-husband, the doctor John Richard Korman, beat her, and she and her best friend Marla call him The Jerk. Marla is his second ex-wife, which explains the friendship. Arch is in sixth grade, and his mother cooks the way other people pray: to stay steady.
Our Review: A Warm Kitchen With Dark Corners
The food is the best part. The recipes sit inside the story, a few pages after each dish appears, so you can bake along. Dungeon Bars, honey gingersnaps and a toffee are among them. Davidson tests every recipe herself, and it shows. The other strength is honesty. The abuse in her past is not played for laughs, and it explains her money worries and her fierce independence.
The mystery is the weaker side. Kirkus found the story chatty and amusingly improbable, and noticed that Schulz uses his prime suspect as a confidante. Publishers Weekly complained about an overstuffed cast and called Arch the only credible character. Some readers also feel the ending wraps up too fast. Still, this novel of suspense with recipes holds up well as the start of a long cozy series.
Is It the First Book? The Mystery Series in Order
Yes, it is book 1. The series has 17 novels. In later books the heroine marries, and the covers call her Goldy Schulz, but the order stays the same:
- Catering to Nobody (1990)
- Dying for Chocolate (1992)
- The Cereal Murders (1993)
- The Last Suppers (1994)
- Killer Pancake (1995)
- The Main Corpse (1996)
- The Grilling Season (1997)
- Prime Cut (1998)
- Tough Cookie (2000)
- Sticks & Scones (2001)
- Chopping Spree (2002)
- Double Shot (2004)
- Dark Tort (2006)
- Sweet Revenge (2007)
- Fatally Flaky (2009)
- Crunch Time (2011)
- The Whole Enchilada (2013)
What Is the Last Book Diane Mott Davidson Wrote?
Her last novel is The Whole Enchilada (2013), the 17th book in the series. Her last book of any kind is Goldy’s Kitchen Cookbook (2015), which collects recipes from the novels. As of October 2026 no new book has been announced.
Is the Curious Caterer Series Based on a Book?
Yes. Hallmark’s Curious Caterer films are based on Diane Mott Davidson’s novels. Nikki DeLoach plays the heroine, renamed Goldy Berry, with Andrew W. Walker as Tom. Five films aired on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries between 2022 and 2024, starting with Curious Caterer: Dying for Chocolate. None of them adapts this first book. The films also change a lot: she lives in a town called Elk Park and has a teenage daughter instead of Arch.
Popular Food Mysteries: Where This Series Fits
Davidson did not invent the culinary mystery. Virginia Rich put recipes into her Eugenia Potter novels from 1982. But Entertainment Weekly called Davidson the leading writer of the culinary whodunit, and her books helped make the genre popular. If you like this one, try these series openers:
- Joanne Fluke’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (2000), the first Hannah Swensen bakery mystery;
- Laura Childs’ Death by Darjeeling (2001), the first Tea Shop mystery;
- Cleo Coyle’s On What Grounds (2003), the first Coffeehouse mystery;
- Jenn McKinlay’s Sprinkle with Murder (2010), the first Cupcake Bakery mystery;
- Katherine Hall Page’s The Body in the Belfry (1990), about another caterer, which beat this book for the Agatha.
Our culinary cozy mysteries page lists more.
Who Is Diane Mott Davidson?
Diane Mott Davidson was born in Honolulu in 1949. She worked as a volunteer rape victim counselor, a tutor in a correctional facility and in several church roles before she turned to writing. She and her husband have lived in Evergreen, Colorado, since 1976, and the town in the books is modeled on it. Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers named her Writer of the Year in 1990. She later received the Anthony Award for a short story, “Cold Turkey”. She is a New York Times bestselling author, and she has been called the Julia Child of mystery writers. Julia Child herself once sent her a fan letter.
Quick Facts
| Title | Catering to Nobody |
|---|---|
| Author | Diane Mott Davidson |
| Series | Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery series, book 1 of 17 |
| First published | August 1990, St. Martin’s Press |
| Setting | Aspen Meadow, a fictional mountain town in Colorado |
| Sleuth | Goldy, a caterer and single mother |
| Audiobook | Unabridged, narrated by Barbara Rosenblat (Recorded Books), 8 h 51 min |
| Recipes included | Several, including Dungeon Bars |
| Awards | Agatha, Anthony and Macavity finalist for best first novel |
| Next book | Dying for Chocolate |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it a cozy mystery?
Yes, a culinary cozy, but with a darker backstory than most. The heroine’s abusive marriage is part of the story, so readers who avoid domestic violence should know that.
Do I need to read the rest of the series in order?
Each book solves its own murder, but her family life moves on from book to book, so publication order works best.
Who narrates the audiobook?
Barbara Rosenblat reads the unabridged Recorded Books edition, which runs almost nine hours.