THE LAST SUPPERS

It's a perfect day for caterer Goldy Bear's wedding to Furman County (Colo.) homicide investigator Tom Schulz — or it would be if somebody hadn't killed the priest and kidnapped the groom. Before he vanishes, Tom has time only to make a brief phone call to explain why he's late and scribble an even more cryptic note, which Goldy will have to decode in order to track him down and fix the guilt. Is the murderer Agatha Preston, who went to Father Ted Olson for counseling because she feared losing her husband, Bob, but ended up falling for the counselor? Is it Bob, the oil man who's plumb out of oil? Zelda Preston, Bob's possessive, conservative mother? Or Zelda's old crony Lucille Boatwright, self-righteous head of the Altar Guild? Though Davidson shifts uneasily from Goldy's well-etched tension over Tom's disappearance to her willingness to get involved in another round of leisurely amateur sleuthing, you'll be glad to know that Goldy eventually gets to prepare everything the original wedding menu had called for and to serve it all to her regular supporting cast (preteen son Arch, boarder Julian, etc.), most of them so much more engaging than the guest stars that it's a shame they have to get dragged through a detective story at all. Davidson (The Cereal Murders, 1993, etc.) deftly dovetails Episcopal intrigue and more formulaic genre mayhem, though the conflict between the old guard and those huggy-feely charismatics wears a little thin. Includes a dinner menu and ten recipes (seen but not sampled), in case you'd like to try and improve on Goldy's nuptial festivities.