Book Review Thursday - 11/14

Last week was a whirlwind of trying to finish quilting and prepping for retreat so there were no reviews. I know you missed out, but I think that these will make up for it.

The Whole Enchilada is the most recent novel in the Goldy Schultz series by Diane Mott Davidson. Goldy is catering a birthday party for son Arch and one of his friends. The friend and his mom, Holly, just happen to be old family friends and Goldy is hoping to be able to chat with Holly and catch up on their lives. But when Holly winds up dead after eating a tiny bit of food at the party, Goldy is under scrutiny for serving the deadly dish.

I really enjoy these novels and this one was not no exception. The only gripe that I have is that Barbara Rosenblat reads her as a tad too whiny for my tastes. Although, maybe that is how Davidson is writing her. Arch has grown up quite a bit since the beginning of the series where he was a spoiled brat and Julian is back to living in the house and helping with the cooking for the catering business.

I feel like the characters are well developed and are used relevantly for the novel. There were a couple of snafus along the way - a local woman started a catering business and was in the process of sabotaging Goldy's business until she was knifed at the church. I think that was wrapped up a little too quickly and without too much worry about the situation on Goldy's part considering how whiny she is written. Overall, I think this was a good addition to the series.

I wasn't planning on reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, but it kept appearing on my library site as a suggested read so I picked it up. I hadn't heard a lot about it so I wasn't sure what to expect when I started it. (Just a warning that there is quite a bit of foul language in the novel.)

On the morning of Nick and Amy's 5th wedding anniversary, Amy disappears. There are signs of a struggle and an attempted clean up and everything points to Nick being responsible for Amy's disappearance. Interspersed with Nick living through this nightmare are pages from Amy's journal that depict her as a perfectionist who would drive anyone away from her.

The first part of this book was a little infuriating in that you never really know if Nick was or wasn't involved in the disappearance. The second part explained quite a bit and the last bit was shocking. I didn't see the twists and turns. Manipulation at it's finest! The characters were more than just the cliched perfectionist wife always disappointed in her husband and the nit picked husband driven to an affair because he can never measure up to the bitchy wife. I have thought about the book several times since I finished it and I am really contemplating reading it again so that it can all sink it. But then I remember the ending and I think that I need to get as far away from it as I can. Yes, it is that good!

What are you reading?