The New York Times bestselling author of Tough Cookie dishes up another tasty treat of murder and mystery -- as caterer turned sleuth Goldy Schulz stirs up a heap of trouble while trying not to get burned by a killer who is striking far too close to home.... For Colorado caterer Goldy Schulz, accepting a series of bookings at Hyde Castle is like a dream come true. It's not every day that she gets to cook authentic Elizabethan fare -- especially at a real castle that was brought over from England and reassembled stone by stone in Aspen Meadow. Goldy is determined that everything will go right -- which is why, she figures later, everything went terribly wrong. It all started before dawn on the day of the first Anglophile lunch, when Goldy had just about the rudest awakening possible: a shotgun blast through her living room window. With her home now a crime scene and her cop husband, Tom, out of town searching for a fugitive hijacker, Goldy has no choice but to show up at the castle -- six hours early. And it doesn't take her long to realize that her early morning wake-up call was only the beginning.... While out checking on the tables for the luncheon, Goldy spots something strange lying in the Cottonwood Creek. Upon closer inspection, she can see that it is a body, clad in flannel and shot through the head. Goldy quickly dials 911, but before the police arrive, shots ring out for the second time that day -- and this time, someone Goldy loves is right in the line of fire. Now Goldy has to face tough question: Was the victim killed by his partners in crime to keep him quiet -- and would they go so far to target Goldy herself? Could Tom's investigation have trigger a murder? Or could that shots be completely unrelated, perhaps coming at the hands of Goldy's violent and recently paroled ex-husband? With her own life in peril, the last thing Goldy wants to think about is Shakespeare's Steak Pie, 911 Chocolate Emergency Cookies, or Damsel-in-Distress Plum Tart. But with death peering around every corner, she has no choice but to cook up some crime-solving solutions -- before the only dish that's left on her menu is murder.... Her first big catering gig in weeks has Goldy Bear Schulz salivating. But before she can collect her Elizabethan-inspired recipes (Queen of Scots Shortbread, Damson-in-Distress Plum Tart) and hie herself to the restored English castle in Colorado where she's putting on a donor's luncheon in Hyde Chapel and a high school fencing banquet in the castle's Great Room, someone blows a hole in her living room window. No sooner has she unloaded her pots and pans at the catering venue than another someone--or maybe the same one--shoots a hole in her detective husband, Tom. To make matters worse, Goldy's ex-husband has just been released from jail, and he seems to have a few reasons to want to kill her, too. Between trying to solve the riddle of the castle ghost, keep her son Arch and her wounded husband safe, and get the food on the table while it's still hot, Goldy is up to her elbows in trouble. The would-be lord of the manor still looks like a business-builder for Goldy, but his Swiss-born wife seems a little wacky. And even from a sickbed, Tom's got a crime wave on his hands that seems to involve Goldy's ex, his flashy new girlfriend, the castle owner, and the dead man Goldy found floating in the castle moat. Not to mention a woman Tom once loved, who seems to have returned from the dead and is causing Goldy no end of distress. But Diane Mott Davidson's gutsy, multitalented series heroine ( Prime Cut , Tough Cookie ) triumphs again--the proof is in the reading as well as the eating in this fast-paced, frothy dessert. --Jane Adams Aspen Meadows caterer/sleuth Goldy Schulz (Prime Cut) prepares an Elizabethan feast for the owners of a reconstructed castle who hope to open a conference center, but murder interrupts. Lots of action, wit, and several good recipes. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Caterer Goldy Schultz is planning several Elizabethan style meals in honor of a huge castle brought over from England to Colorado--that is, if she can keep her head after a body is found on the castle grounds, and her cop husband is wounded, all at nearly the same time. Ensconced in the castle after a picture window is shot out at her house, Goldy is surrounded by a gaggle of characters that all have parts to play: Eliot, lord of the manor, who makes jams during his sleepless nights; the castle caretaker who is also Goldy's teen son Arch's fencing coach; Julian, the vegetarian college student who assists Goldy with charm and panache. The dark side of Goldy's life finds her ex-spouse just out on parole with a new girlfriend who may have ties to Eliot and even to the murder victim. Oh, and there are stolen stamps, too. Some of the bad guys are caricatures, some of the subplots are overstuffed, and there's even a ghost, but Goldy's an engaging companion and her recipes are divine--wait