ARGH! . . . As I've always said, I write these book reviews for me, not for you the reader. I like to know what I've read so I can either go back and read it again, continue or discontinue the series, or avoid the author completely. At the moment I'm struggling with the fact that I can remember reading a particularly compelling thriller about the Middle East, but apparently I didn't think enough about it to actually write it down here. Nevertheless, I'm also in a bit of a quandary about this latest book I've finished, Tough Cookie by Diane Mott Davidson.
I started reading Davidson's series on cooking and sleuthing and wasn't too disappointed. Now, the mild enthusiasm has waned. It might take quite a bit of convincing for me to read another. Although I find her characters shallow, her excessive use of modifying adverbs maddening and silly and her descriptions bordering on insipid and confusing, I will say that her mysteries, the actual story, the plot is fun to watch come together. It's as if she sprinkles all her characters in her book like fish food in an aquarium and they all dance and float around higgelty-piggelty then at the last instant they all come together. Sadly that's the only positive aspect I could find.
Some of the passages I highlighted, showing both good and bad:
First, the annoying adverbs.
"Without my business, an enterprise I'd lovingly built up for almost a decade, I entered a spiritual fog as thick as the gray autumnal mist snaking between the Colorado mountains."
“I’d lovingly built up?” Would have worked as well or better without “lovingly.”
“She expertly poured both the juice and the champagne into a clean crystal flute to make a mimosa.”
Expertly poured? What’s that really mean? Think about it a sec, how descriptive is that?
Tom’s makeshift version, composed of kettle-dipped water, cocoa, sugar, powered creamer and milk was actually quite luscious, like a hot chocolate gelato.
I have no idea what that above sentence means. Have you ever tried that recipe? I have. Less than luscious to say the least. And can someone tell me what hot chocolate gelato means?
There were a million more like the above throughout the book. Too many to mention. “She rolled the luscious chocolate in her mouth” or “The scrumptious aroma of beef” etc. It’s not as bad in this forum and when I just give a souciant of the whole, but it gets tiresome throughout the book.
One thing that Davidson does do well is relate food and cooking to every aspect of her writing, including scene and character descriptions. Two examples:
Describig a ski slope: “Most runs are set up like slant-sided wedding cakes. Long sloped section alternate with narrow flat areas.”
“Just before eight o’clock, a state patrolman knocked on our door. Into our kitchen Tom ushered a tall, corpulent man with black hair so short and think it looked like someone had ground pepper over his scalp.”
Another thing Davidson does poorly is dialogue. In many cases when I think an author is struggling with dialogue I can give a bit of leeway, but in this case, it’s just horrible. I don’t know anyone who speaks like this, do you?
She sighed. “Not to worry, my dear friend. How's the planning going?”
I’ve never said “dear friend” when speaking to anyone.
“That won’t stop the ski traffic, unfortunately,” he said mournfully. “A day for accidents. What a shame.” – “Yes, indeed.” I said.
This one is filled with problems. Try reading that out loud then imagine saying it to a friend. It doesn’t work at all. “What a shame?” “Yes, indeed?” It’s stilted and unrealistic at best.
I try to read critically now, and I have to say to a great degree I notice new aspects of many of the books I’ve read. One thing I’ve noticed is that authors love to describe mornings. I could start a whole series of posts like my “First Lines” and “Last Lines” threads whereby I just include morning descriptions. Davidson used an original one when she says of the morning:
"To the east the sky was edged with pewter."
Finally, one problem I have with Davidson . . . her characters never goes to the store. She begins the description of Goldy making lasagna and meatballs with:
“Serving meatballs and lasagna could jeopardize my upscale reputation, I reflected while removing ground beef, ricotta, Fontina, whipping cream, eggs and mozzarella from the walk-in.”
I would have a hard time making a bowl of Cheerios with milk with what I have in my refrigerator right now, yet this lady can whip up lasagna, meatballs, a curry dish, shrimp scampi, cookies galore, two casseroles, desserts, etc. and never once have to go to the store. Made me think it was lazy writing. Kinda irked me.
There were a couple of vocabulary words that struck me:
Ingenue - a naive girl or young woman; an actress playing such a role
Frisson - a brief moment of emotional excitement : shudder, thrill
And finally, I love onomatopoeia. This example, although less than lyrical is certainly perfectly descriptive.
“The doorbell bing-bonged into the depths of Arthur’s condo.”
I guess what bothers me about this series is that I feel that my own novel is better; not much better, but better. My second novel will be much better. I suppose I should feel invigorated that if this can find an audience, my own novels should as well. I really only read these books cause I like cooking and enjoy mysteries. At this point though I might forego the next Davidson book. I might have outgrown them.
