A Catered Halloween
by Isis Crawford
Series: Mystery With Recipes #5
Series Rating:
Published by Kensington on September 3, 2013
Genres: Cozy Culinary Holiday Mystery
Pages: 353
Format: Kindle
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Sisters Bernadette and Libby Simmons are thrilled they've been asked to cater a haunted house fundraiser. But they soon discover that ghosts aren't the only unwanted guests when a murderer strikes...
With the promise of a hefty commission and some valuable word-of-mouth for their catering business, A Little Taste of Heaven, Bernadette and Libby Simmons agree to cater the charity haunted house being staged at the old Peabody School. The gothic building-complete with towers and turrets-is the perfect setting for a haunted house fundraiser. But what makes the setting even more eerie are the rumors milling about town that the school is haunted by the ghost of Bessie Osgood, a girl who died in an "accident" years before. Bernie and Libby don't believe in ghosts although they both agree there's something creepy about the Peabody School. And when wealthy socialite Amethyst Applegate is found dead in the haunted house, the sisters wonder if a murderer might also be lurking about Peabody's gloomy halls.
In life, Amethyst Applegate earned herself a reputation as a notorious home wrecker. The vicious vixen had so many enemies it's a surprise she stayed alive as long as she did. From Inez Colley, whose husband had a steamy fling with Amethyst one night, to Bob Small who went to jail for grand larceny because of Amethyst, and Zach Timberland who blames Amethyst for ruining his daughter's life. And that's just the beginning of the long list of suspects.
While almost everyone Amethyst ever met might have a motive for killing her, not everyone had access to the Peabody School. All Bernie and Libby know is that it's time for them to crack this case wide open. But when they keephitting one dead end after another, they realize the key to solving Amethyst's death lies in discovering what really caused Bessie's death all those years ago. And if Bernie and Libby don't solve this mystery soon, they might become the next stars in a real-life horror flick.
Includes Scrumptious Holiday Recipes for You to Try!
Can Bernie, Libby, and Sean find who killed Amethyst Applegate?
A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford is a pretty great book. This book is the first that I have read in this series and it’s a good one. The story seems to be an interesting one. I also liked the catering of the Haunted House and that there seem to be actual ghosts there.
What I liked about this book:
- To me, there seems to be some character development throughout the book, but without knowing what happened in the first four books, this one was quite a doozy.
- I liked the sisters, Libby and Bernie; they are well thought out characters despite not knowing their ages. Libby is the oldest, and I see a bit of her in me like the whole thing of wearing sensible clothes to work in the kitchen and that she doesn’t like anything scary. With Bernie, I can see a bit of my older sister in her.
- The dad is the most confusing character since he had surgery, is in remission which means he had cancer and is still at times traveling in a wheelchair but not really.
- I loved the whole thing of the haunted house and the fact that there were actual ghosts there. Okay, I know that I said I don’t like anything scary but that seems pretty cool.
What I didn’t like:
What I didn’t like was how that Bernie always went off to do something else and kept leaving Libby with the all the baking and cooking the food. I also didn’t like that Libby didn’t stand up to her sister and tell Bernie that she needed to help. Not knowing what this “gift” that Libby has since that seems to be pretty significant to know.
Five Stars
A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford was a great novel. Despite everything that I said above it was excellent. I loved everything about it including that it was written in the third person and went off to a different character in some chapters. I think that’s awesome and works well for the book. I am giving this book a five-star rating, and I will recommend this to anyone that likes cozy mysteries with some pretty great recipes in the back of the book.
The recipes are called Maria’s Pumpkin Bars, Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead), Calabaza en Tacha, and Cranberry Walnut Bread.
Anyways until the next time enjoy this review brought to you by
About Isis Crawford
This is taken from the author’s website:
I was born in Egypt to parents who were in the diplomatic corps. When I was five my family returned to the states where my mother opened a restaurant and my father became a university professor. After I graduated from college, I ran a catering service and wrote a number of travel related article for a variety of magazines. Then I got married, had twin boys, acquired a golden retriever puppy, a two hundred gallon fish tank, three ferrets, and started another catering service that specialized in deserts. I’m now living in Hastings-on-the-Hudson, still baking and trying to maintain order in my ever expanding household.
That’s the official blurb on the back flap of my dust jacket and it’s partially true, at least the part about owning a catering business and having a small zoo is, but the truth is that Isis Crawford is my pen name. Before I became Isis Crawford (named incidentally for my cat) I was Barbara Block and still am. Like Isis, I ran a catering business, which also specialized in desserts. Unlike Isis, I co-owned a pizza shop as well. I have sons too – only I have three of them and instead of living in Hastings-On-Hudson I live in Upstate New York having relocated from New York City.
Pre Isis Crawford I wrote a series of books under my own name featuring a pet shop owner called Robin Light. As opposed to Bernie and Libby, Robin has no interest in food and to a great many people’s distress survives on doughnuts, gas station coffee, and McDonalds – unlike the sisters who would be appalled by her diet. I side with Bernie and Libby on this matter.
I grew up watching my grandmother cook and was in awe of the way she could pull strudel dough so fine that you could actually read the newspaper through it. After college Julia Child became my hero. My best friend and I cooked most of Julia’s recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking to the delight of our friends. In short, I have always loved food. I love reading about it, shopping for it, cooking it, and eating it.
I have also always loved writing. Of course a lot people in my family have thought that I took my dedication to my craft a little too far. An example. When I was fourteen I honed my dialogue skills by secreting myself under my dining room table and copying down everything my mother and her friends were talking about. To say that my mother was not pleased would be an understatement.
What I adore about the Bernie and Libby series is that it has allowed me to combine my love of food, writing, and mysteries. As immersed as the sisters get in their cases, they never lose sight of the pleasure that a perfect cup of coffee or a muffin made with the best possible ingredients brings.
I hope you enjoy reading the series as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge
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