Customer Reviews

A Catered Halloween (Mystery with Recipes)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Amethyst Applegate receives a blackmail letter from deceased Bessie Osgood, who died years ago when they attended school together. Unshaken Amethyst plans to take care of the blackmailer as she took care of Bessie.

The Simmons sisters, Libby and Bernie, owners of A Little Taste of Heaven, are ecstatic to cater the Halloween festivities at the Peabody School, a place rumored to be haunted. Businessman Mark Kane is going all out to include construction of a haunted house with high tech special effects that a Hollywood horror move would envy. Everyone is stunned when they see a torso on a table with the severed head of Amethyst nearby.

Finding the killer will not prove easy as everyone has a motive to murder the universally loathed Amethyst whose list of enemies exceeds the Longley phonebook. Libby thinks she sees the ghost of Bessie, but rationalizes that her imagination got the best of her rather than her intuitive powers. Bob Small who is working at the haunted house has a strong reason to kill Amethyst because he spent jail time due to a stunt she pulled. Inez Colley hated the female abomination for stealing her husband and her wealth by seducing and blackmailing her weak spouse. Zachary Timberland held Amethyst culpable for ruining his daughter Zoe. The list goes on. However, the police arrest Bob as he is the only one with opportunity. The Simmons siblings think otherwise so with their father along they investigate the murder of an odious witch.

Isis Crawford outdoes her usual superb catered amateur sleuth novels with A CATERED HALLOWEEN as ghosts and Libby's visions enhance a whodunit in which the townsfolk, the sisters, and the readers agree beheading is befitting the odious ogress. The two sisters are total opposites yet best friends as each is always there for the other. Due to Libby's paranormal skills they feel obligated to unmask the real killer as they believe strongly the cops got the wrong person. With euphoric ghosts and plenty of eccentric suspects toasting the killer, solving the case of the murdered witch may prove a recipe for failure for the Simmons, but catered entertainment for series fans.

Harriet Klausner

A Catered Halloween is number five in this fun series featuring sisters Libby and Bernie Simmons, who run a shop and catering service, A Little Taste of Heaven. They are catering the Longely Volunteer Firemen's Halloween Haunted House, run as a fundraiser by wealthy Mark Kane out of the mansion he had just purchased as a home for his Foundation. He has had experts put in all sorts of eerie holograms and special effects.

Before it is even open to the public, Mark, Libby and Bernie find the severed head of nasty Amethyst Applegate at the foot of some steps, her body on a platform with a pendulum swinging above it.

There is no end to the possible suspects for Amethyst's murder because she ruined so many people's lives. The two most likely are cleaning woman Inez and handyman Bob. Both were on site, and the police consider Bob Small the main suspect as he had knowledge of the wire that was used in the murder. But was he framed? Ex-policeman Sean Simmons helps to clear Bob. He is also Libby and Bernie's father, and is aided by Marvin, Libby's boyfriend. Complicating the investigation is the history of the mansion. It used to be The Peabody School, where young Bessie Osgood fell out a window and died. Was it an accident, or was Amethyst involved?

The intrepid investigators-Libby, Bernie, Marvin, Sean and friends-find Bessie's diary buried under a tree on the grounds, and learn the truth behind her miserable life at the school, and about her death. While working at the mansion all alone, Libby feels that she is targeted by Bessie's ghost, asking for help.

This pleasantly shivery culinary cozy mystery will keep you intrigued as the motives of various suspects are investigated and the sisters squabble. The book includes recipes as well.

Armchair Interviews says: Good characters and good mystery are combined for a very fun read.

I've been trying to finish this book for over a week, and finally decided to stop punishing myself tonight. The book sounds good on the surface, but as I began reading it, found the characters flat, the storyline slipshod and all over the place, completely lacking in descriptions, no introduction to most of the secondary characters- I had to guess who they were in relation to the two main characters- and dialogue so poor I could barely follow it. I was more than halfway through this "monsterpiece" and still know nothing about the people in this book, their town, what their shop looks like, what THEY look like, what their relationship is to other characters and any backstory at all.
The author leaps from scene to scene with no sense and characters pop in and out, with no explanation of who they are, and by the time I reached the center of the book, it was mostly dialogue with forgotton characters' names.
It feels like the author never took a writing class in her life, and just spews out dialogue, trying to make sense of it herself as she progresses.
To the used book store with this one, ASAP!

It wasn't till I was nearly done with this book that I realized I had read A Catered Christmas, another book in the series.

I have trouble engaging with these characters. I can't get a picture of them in my head. Are Bernie and Libby in their 20s, 30s, 40s? We get so few insights into their relationship. The interplay between their dad Sean and Marvin, the guy who drives him around (also dating one of the sisters - I forget which), is much better developed.

I know plot is important in mysteries, maybe more important than characters, and the plot in this one is fine. It's not hard to read, and Libby and Bernie are likeable enough. I feel kind of bad about it, but this writer just doesn't draw me in. There are several mystery series set in the world of catering, restaurants, tea shops, etc., that have memorable characters and appealing sleuths. This one just doesn't do it for me. Sorry.

This was one of the worst ebooks I ever bought. There are so many discrepancies I wanted to scream! I believe this book was not copied to ebook from the actual pages of the book. I cannot believe the author would make so many silly errors. For example, the main characters are discussisng the murder at 10pm on a Tuesday night and one of them looks out the window and sees a small child in a Halloween costume skipping along the street holding her mother's hand. It's awful (and this is one of many) Very disappointed.

Loved this book! This is the first book from Isis Crawford that I have read. I enjoyed it so much that I found used copies to purchase on amazon and will now be enjoying the whole series. It is a great cozy!

I recieved this book as a gift, I had high hopes for the story. As I had wanted to read it for a while. Read at halloween. Somehow it was not as good as I expected, at times it got confusing with the characters and so may suspects, it became hard to follow. There wasnt as much cozy Halloween description as I was hoping for, although the catering was fun with descriptions of cakes etc. This book is not dark in most peoples view, but for me thinking back.. it had me feeling unsettled, maybe the descriptions of some of the halloween effects were a little too real for me! And at times sad...that is the atmosphere the book was going for but left me feeling sad .. The ghost was a big part of this book and added the most to the plot... I enjoyed and will probably read her other books to see what they are like.

Sisters Libby and Bernie Simmons run their catering service and shop called A Little Taste Of Heaven. They're catering the Lonely Volunteer Fireman's Halloween Haunted House fundraiser in the mansion wealthy Mark Kane just purchased for his Foundation. He has hired experts to set up holograms and special effects.

Mark, Libby, and Bernie stumble across the severed head of Amethyst Applegate at the bottom of the steps. Her body is found on the platform with the pendulum swinging above.

Amethyst wasn't well liked, so there are a lot of suspects. Bob Small becomes the prime suspect. Libby and Bernie are asked to find the real killer. They enlist the help of their ex-policeman father Sean Simmons. Marvin, Libby's boyfriend, also lends a hand.

Years ago this mansion was The Peabody School. Bessie Osgood, a student, fell out one of the windows and died. There has been speculation that it wasn't an accident and that Amethyst was involved. But no one knows for sure.

Could Amethyst's death be related to Bessie's? Is it really Bessie's ghost they keep seeing?

I'd never read any books by this author. I found this to be an easy to read cozy mystery with a good plot and likeable characters. Reading it around Halloween enhanced the reading experience.

Libby, Bernie, and Sean are very good investigators and kept me guessing as to the real identity of the killer until it was revealed.

I recommend this book.