A Catered Valentine's Day (Mysteries with Recipes, No. 4) [Paperback]

Isis Crawford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2008

Bernie and Libby, sisters and owners of A Taste of Heaven Catering, are partnering up with the Just Chocolate store for a Valentine's Day mega-event. When a client's mother dies, Bernie and Libby put their plans on hold to attend the funeral, only to become involved in a grisly mystery. A corpse has been found...in someone else's grave. The body belongs to Ted Gorman--the same Ted Gorman who co-owned Just Chocolate and supposedly died in a fiery car crash weeks earlier. Now Bernie and Libby, working with Ted's widow, must sort through a mixed box of dark financial scandal, sticky family ties, and bittersweet passion to unwrap a killer with a ruthless center...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Crawford's well-paced fourth culinary cozy (after 2005's A Catered Christmas), finds sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons, who run a catering business in Longely, N.Y., called A Little Taste of Heaven, flooded with a rush of orders for Valentine's Day on top of the fund-raiser they're organizing with recently widowed chocolate-store owner Marnie Gorman. But their duties take them beyond the kitchen when Marnie's dead hubby, Ted, turns up in someone else's grave—and in far better condition than after his death in a fiery car accident. Funeral home mogul Clayton Hanson, father and employer of Libby's undertaker boyfriend Marvin, calls on Bernie and Libby to solve the grave-swapping mystery, and the sisters bring in their wheelchair-bound ex-policeman dad, Sean, as reinforcement. But even as a two-time corpse, Ted is not at rest. On the romantic front, as Bernie's love with her sweetheart, Rob, fades, longtime friend and bartender Brandon appears more than willing to take his place. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"The sisters' playful rivalry, clever dialogue, and an eccentric supporting cast make for plenty of cozy fun."

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (January 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758206909
• ISBN-13: 978-0758206909
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Chocolate Cure Everything?, June 24, 2007

By 

Beth D (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: A Catered Valentine's Day (Mysteries with Recipes, No. 4) (Hardcover)

Bernie and Libby Simmons owner of "A Taste Of Heaven" have managed to humiliate themselves by coming in late, sitting in the third row and then have to leave when they realize they've come to the wrong funeral.

Things don't get any better when Clayton, the funeral director takes them on a ride out to a cemetary where he shows them a fresh dug grave, with a coffin containing the recognizable body of Ted Gorman. The strange part was Ted Gorman had died in a fiery car crash weeks earlier and had only been identified by the ring he was wearing, plus the grave should have contained the body of elderly Ms. McDougal.

Clayton's worried that if this gets out and people think it's his fault, his business will suffer, so he want the Simmons sisters to investigate.

With the help of Sean, their former chief of police father, Bernie and Libby try to unravel the mystery of why Teds body was in the wrong grave. Where was Ms McDougal and who died in the car crash, all the while, trying to get ready for the Valentine Day fundraiser.

Highlights

The four stars I've given this is the general rating I would give to this entire series so far. Each one has an interesting mystery, where Bernie, Libby and their father have to do some real investigation to solve the mystery. Just as in real investigations, not everything they check out has anything to do with the crime, just a dead end.

Libby - She's more of a homebody type, she stayed at home to help out in Taste Of Heaven after their mom died and has taken care of her father who is disabled, having to spend part of his time in a wheelchair. She doesn't like to to do anything out of her comfort zone, but will rise to the occasion.

Bernie - Returned home after catching her boyfriend in bed with her friend. I found Bernie an acquired taste. She knows everything and insists on telling everyone about every little bit of trivia that she has in her head. She's daring and unafraid of anything, and can run, fight and investigate all while wearing 4 inch heels.

Sean - The girls father, former chief of police. He's disabled and has to spend most of his time in a wheelchair. There's a story behind his illness and why he's not chief of police, but it's never fully explained in the books.

There is a lot of humor in these books. Marvin's driving, Bernie spouting off about some obscure bit of information at the most ridiculous times, Libby's addiction to chocolate, which she carries with her in many different forms and uses it to calm herself in stressful situations, which is why she's a size 12.

Lowlights

Marvin - Libby's boyfriend. He didn't start out as her boyfriend in the first book, but with Bernie pressuring her to go out with him because he's been in love with her since high school, he has over the course of the books become her permanent guy. Marvin would be considered a classic mama's boy, if his mother wasn't already dead. He's weak, scared of everything, clumsy and stupid. Bernie wouldn't go out with him if he was the last man on Earth, but she pushed and pushed Libby to date him as if Libby couldn't do better than this loser. I agree with Sean, who can't stand him.

Rob - Bernie's boyfriend. They met in the first book and have had a nice relationship up until now. For some reason the author has decided he's not the right guy and has turned him into a bum in this book. It very jarring to have someone who's been a nice guy throughout the books turn into a jerk out of the blue.

This seems to be happening more and more in mystery series, where the heroine gets stuck with some loser or outright jerk as her boyfriend, and you have to roll your eyes at their stupidity. If I wanted to read heart wrenching romance, I'd pick up a Harlequin.

Except for these minor issues, the mysteries are tight, the main characters and their extended family and friends are well written. A series worth picking up.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable amateur sleuth, December 31, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Catered Valentine's Day (Mysteries with Recipes, No. 4) (Hardcover)

The Simmons sisters Bernie and Libby are not having a good day. They are mortified to find out they have gone into the wrong funeral service room and when they try to find the right one, they run into the funeral home's director Clyde Hanson. Clyde is the father of Libby's beau so when he tells them to go with him, they do. They do not realize he is taking them to the indigent section of the local cemetery.

He opens up the coffin of a dug up grave and they find the body of Ted Gorman, who supposedly died in a fiery car crash; his widow Marne identified the body based on the ring he was wearing. The body of the person who was supposed to be there the reclusive Ms. McDougal is nowhere to be found. Both Clyde and Tom's widow Marne want the Simmons sister to find out what happened and why; Marne because she needs answers and Clyde because he doesn't want his business to be held culpable

Iris Crawford's latest mystery is an exciting and enjoyable amateur sleuth tale though one always must wonder why not a professional. Bernie finds her boyfriend is cheating on her and breaks off their relationship but she finds herself attracted to an old and dear friend. The ladies' father, the former chief of police helps them on the case and the scenes when Libby's boyfriend is driving them are hilarious. The case ends up involving two murders and the identity of the killer (s) will shock the reader. A CATERED VALENTINE'S DAY is a scintillating who done it.

Harriet Klausner

1.0 out of 5 stars Please stop with the chatter, November 24, 2011

By 

Dickinson lover "Lit. nut" (Oceanside) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Catered Valentine's Day (Mysteries with Recipes, No. 4) (Paperback)

I do not recommend this book. Bernie is always lecturing and it is more about the relationship with her sister Libby than a mystery. I struggled just getting to chapter 9 so did not finish the book. Bernie is so egotistical and such a pain in the neck with her arrogance about knowing more about everything than anyone else. Could have been a great mystery re: a mysterious change of bodies in a grave, but couldn't take Bernie.