Another fun and crazy adventure with these sleuthing sisters, one the voice of reason and the other completely uninhibited as proven when Bernie found her way into a suspect's house through a window. I always enjoy their banter with each other that sometimes has nothing to do with the case but after all, they're bakers by trade, so yeah it's not weird to hear some food and bakery talk going on either. I love the characters of their dad Sean and his police buddy Clyde. Poor Clyde always gets conned by yummy baked goodness into spilling whatever he can about the case.

I really had no idea until the end whodunit. It seemed like in that whole book club that had the sisters investigating a member's murder, no one was able to be completely trusted. The showdown was pretty exciting. This is one of the few series I can read out of order but still have it make decent sense. I'm sure there are a few little things that happened along the way. Someday I do intend to start it from the beginning.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

I really loves cozy mysteries and this was a good one and comes with recipes! Though I do wish the book was a bit longer I can't wait to read more.

This is the sixteenth book in a series by Isis Crawford and my first.

Catering sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons are providing the goodies for one of their regular customers, Margo Hemsley, the leader of a mystery book reading club, but she fails to turn up to collect her delectable desserts. They go looking for Margo, but find her dead and so the sisters agree to help the other nine club members investigate, believing her to have been murdered, though the police appear to be treating the incident as a mere disappearance...

Although I am exceptionally late to the party in Isis Crawford's 'A Mystery with Recipes' series, I still found A Catered Book Club Murder an enthralling, fun read. I loved the parts of the story that were set in A Little Taste of Heaven, the sisters' catering business and some of their culinary creations sounded absolutely delicious! I would particularly like to try their Orange-Cardamom Morning Muffins.

The character development was excellent, the plotline was well done and I was turning the pages late into the night. A humourous, compelling story of mystery and mayhem with a light dusting of romance that has inspired me to read some of the other instalments.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

A Catered Book Club Murder
by Isis Crawford
Kensington Books
Kensington
Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 29 Dec 2020


I am reviewing a copy of A Catered Book Club Murder through Ke sing tonight Books and Netgalley:



Bernie and Libby Simmons are sisters who run a catering business in the upstate New York town they live in. And now they are excited about providing delicious deserts for the local Mystery lovers Book Club. But when fiction spills into a reality and the sisters find themselves investigating a suspicious death, it's up to them to figure out whodunit.




If one thing can be said about the endearingly predictable Margo Hemsley, it's that she always serves elaborate desserts at her mystery book club meetings. Which makes everyone fear the worse when after she doesn’t pick up her desert order from Libby and Bernie, and then skips out on the monthly meeting. The sisters can’t imagine Margo vanishing like the characters from her favorite Mystery novels, at least not willingly!


After the search ends in the discovery of a dead body Bernie and Libby agree to help the nine remaining book club members prove their friend was murdered. But a speed read through Margo's background reveals there was more to the victim than harmless hobbies and frumpy cardigans would suggest. As the sleuth sisters dig up scandalous secrets about the book club members, they'll have to determine who was connected to Margo's shady dealings--and who sent her to an early grave.


If you are looking for a light hearted cozy to give you an escape from the crazy times we are living with, I’d recommend A Catered Book Club Murder!


Five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

A Catered Book Club Murder by Isis Crawford is part of the Mysteries with Recipes series. This was the first one I have read.
This quick, easy to read Cozy has plenty of suspects and plot twists, sisters working together, not only at their business, but also as amature private investigators., I loved the family story line with their father and his years of experience. There are also recipes included.
I was given an ARC from Kensington via NetGalley for an honest review.

The sixteenth installment of the Murder With Recipes series finds the intrepid Simmons sisters wondering why a regular customer has forgotten to pick up her long-standing monthly order. Margo Hemsley is the kind of person who isn’t just punctual: she’s habitually early. Every month for the past five years, she’s ordered the same few items to bring to the Longely Mystery Book Club meeting. When she doesn’t show up at Bernie and Libby’s cafe and doesn’t answer her phone either, the sisters decide to give another member of the book club a call, only to discover that Margo has gone missing.

The LMBC has perhaps been reading too many mystery novels, as after a quick visit to Margo’s seemingly undisturbed home, they conclude that something terrible must have happened to her. The police are, of course, more skeptical as there’s no evidence to suggest anything beyond Margo deciding to just take off for a while. The book club, being made up mostly of affluent artists, dealers and others in the industry, decide to pool together funds and hire the Simmons to look into what they’re sure is foul play.

Being inveterate snoops, Bernie and Libby are happy to accept, especially with a fee on the table. Their investigations lead not only to Margo’s body, but to secrets the members of the LMBC probably wouldn’t want exposed to the public. But could any of those secrets be enough to kill for, especially when the victim is someone they called a friend? Bernie and Libby must race to find out before the body count increases.

I far preferred this novel to its immediate predecessor, as it featured the sisters’ sassy wit and questionable tactics well-balanced with their father’s more methodical use of his former professional contacts. I felt like the last book relied too much on retired police chief Simon to figure things out while his daughters heedlessly threw themselves into peril: A Catered Book Club Murder felt far more tempered by reality. It was also easier to differentiate between the sisters in this novel, though I must say I admire Libby’s patience with the breathtakingly reckless Bernie -- not that Bernie’s leaps of faith aren’t sometimes justified!

As promised by the series title, this volume included three recipes, all for baked goods. I decided to try out this one:

QUOTE
Orange-Cardamom Morning Muffins

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
⅔ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
3.4 stick of butter
Grated zest of 1 orange and 1 Tbs juice
1 tsp cardamom seeds, divided in half
⅔ cup Greek yogurt or buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
1 Tbs brown sugar
½ cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400° F, and place oven rack in center. Grease 12-cup muffin tin. Sift together dry ingredients. Melt butter with orange juice and orange zest, then add ½ teaspoon cardamom. Take butter off stove, and slowly add yogurt. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then transfer to medium-size bowl and add eggs and vanilla. Make a well in the middle of dry ingredients, and slowly add wet ones, using spatula and mixing just until everything is combined. Add nuts and chocolate chips, if using. Pour batter into tin, then mix brown sugar and ½ teaspoon cardamom together and sprinkle on top of muffins. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for five minutes, then turn out onto rack to finish cooling.
END QUOTE

Unsurprisingly, I skipped the nuts, but also decided to use chocolate chips in only half the muffins, leaving the orange and cardamom flavors to shine through in the other half. Both versions are good, though I wound up preferring the chocolate version a wee bit more. A little cardamom goes a long way when using seeds, so don’t be a maximalist like I was and sprinkle generously: half a teaspoon was exactly enough, I felt. These muffins also fall on the dry side. They were perfectly baked at 18 minutes even in my cool running oven, and while they were delicious in the first 24 hours after baking, their lack of moistness meant that their shelf life was definitely more limited than that of less dry baked goods. It was definitely an adventurous flavor pairing, however, and one I’ll make again.

Next week, we head south a short ways for more baked goods while investigating the death of an unpopular schoolteacher. Do join me!

The Simmons sisters are professional bakers and amateur sleuth's although Bernie would argue that since they have been hired by the Longley Mystery Book Club, they are now professionals. As professionals they are willing to kick over rocks and "break" into buildings/homes if need be to find the answers to the question of who killed Margo. You have to respect a girl or a couple of girls who can ask the hard questions and go the extra mile, hopefully that extra mile won't include quicksand. This book comes with a nice variety of baking recipes and some tasty baked good descriptions as well. Several red herrings and realism when it comes to siblings being siblings with their Dad reflecting on the fact that they still bicker just like when they were children. This was my second Mystery With Recipes mystery and I liked the extra twist of a first person aspect of their Dad and former police chief, Sean, and his bit to help their investigation. As a diehard romantic I would have liked to have seen a little bit more interaction between Bernie and Brandon and Libbie with Marvin, beyond a few pages in the RJ's bar setting.

In this next book of the series the sisters think it's weird when regular Margo Hemsley doesn't come to pick her regular order but figure there has to be a reason why. When she doesn't make it to her book club meeting the others in the club get worried and pull the sisters into going to Margo's house to see what is going on. Bernie and Libby decide to help the ladies and they soon learn why Margo was a no show, they find her dead, murdered in her own home. The book club ladies ask the sisters to look into the death and they soon learn there was more to Margo than anyone knew. She was hiding more than one secret but the question is which one got her killed. They decide they must delve deeper to figure out the reason Margo was murdered and why. Follow along to find out if one of the book clubbers did the dirty deed or was it someone from her past?

A Catered Book Club Murder was a good read, with some flaws. The story was entertaining, even if the actions of some characters did not always make sense. I still never figured out why someone would pay Libby and Bernie to solve a murder, since they are caterers instead of PIs. I am assuming I am missing things by starting with the sixteenth book in the series. And the crime could have been solved without the illegal actives of the two amateur detectives. There are more examples, but I do not want to give away any spoilers.

There was very little about the Libby and Bernie as characters. I felt that way with all of the recurring characters. Things were said that made me realize there was a back story, but I really could only a small idea of their personalities. If I hit a lull with my TBR pile, I might go back and try earlier books in the series with the hope of getting to know them better.

As for the actual mystery, there were definitely enough clues dropped to solve this one before the ending. As I am not a huge fan of suspense, I was fine with that.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It is not a new favorite series, but not one I would avoid in the future.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars

This is the sixteenth book in the Mystery with Recipes series by Isis Crawford.

Bernie and her sister Libby are requested by a couple of Margo’s friends to look into her death. All signs seem to point back to her book club participants and then things just start to get interesting,

I really enjoyed how the red herrings were placed in this story. Just fun stuff. I think I have read a book or two in this series and it is totally worth digging into. Loved how tenacious Bernie was looking for the truth and having her dad by her side during the investigation was new and nice.

Overall quite a nice read. Definitely a series I would recommend.

If you like cozy mysteries, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Margo Hemsley is late. She is known for her punctuality. But today, Margo is late picking up the monthly dessert order for the Longley Mystery Book Club meetings. Bernie and Libby Simmons, owners of A Little Taste of Heaven, are baffled by their friend’s unusual absence. Members of the book club are worried when Margo hasn’t appeared for their meeting. Margo isn’t answering her phone and a search of her house comes up empty. Margo’s car is also gone, and the book club decides to search for her. When the book club members don’t locate Margo, Bernie and Libby are hired to discover what happened to the vanished book club member.
Eventually Margo’s body is discovered and with it, questions. Who killed her? Why? Why is her body in such an out of the way place? Why was she here? As Bernie and Libby try to find answers to these questions as well as others, they enter into the dark side of the art world and discover there’s more to book club than meets the eye.


Recommendation
Intriguing whodunit.

A Catered Book Club Murder by Isis Crawford is the newest in a long-running series, none of which have I read. This may account for why it was a little difficult to get in to, around all the bickering that confused the issue. These two women were scattered and disorganized and it was difficult to believe that they could successfully solve a murder. Lots of things seemed to come from left field. There were plenty of characters to keep track of, both directly involved with the murder or not. The plot was complex and bordered on difficult to keep up with. Admittedly, it all came together at the end.

Bernie and Libby are sisters who run a restaurant and catering business called A Little Taste of Heaven. Their father is a retired police detective and they are amateur detectives who charge for their services having no license. Their father has contacts from his time on the force that they use when necessary. They drive around in their business's van, making it hard to keep a low profile. They do seem to know a lot of people. I didn't love it.

I was invited to read a free ARC of A Catered Book Club Murder by Netgalley. All opinions contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #acateredbookclubmurder

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was really looking forward to this new entry in the series. I just love how Bernie and Libby solve mysteries together, and how they are so different from each other. I was interested in what happened to Margo from the moment she disappeared. Isis Crawford writes an interesting storyline, and I could not wait to find out what was happening next. A Catered Book Club Murder is a perfect book for a relaxing read at the end of the day. The story pulls the reader in, right until the very end, which is what I expect from a good mystery book.

An entertaining and well written cozy mystery. Great plot and character dynamics. Cozy mystery fans will enjoy this book. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

This is the 16th book in the series '"Mystery With Recipes" . Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own.. I have read most of this series and always enjoy returning to the likable charcters and the receipes.

In this next in series our protagnist Libby and her sidekick Bernie are as hilarious as ever as they try to solve a missing person case while running their catering company. I love how they work together to solve clues . This mystery combines a book club with the sleuth that is a fun addition. There are lots of funny moments as clues abound and they become involved in the mystery. The mystery was fun and the charcters as always are delightful. This is a charming next in series with mouthwatering food sure to please every reader.

Libbie and Bernie are sisters, caterers, and mystery solvers. When one of their friends, and fellow mystery book club member goes missing, they decide to take on the investigation themselves. I thought this was a really cute cozy mystery, but I wish I got to learn more about the personality of the characters and I also wish the book club theme was more pervasive throughout. I think if I had read more books in this series I would have liked it more but I often found it hard to connect to the characters. Overall it's a good book, but maybe start earlier in the series.

3/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cozy fans know there was more to Margo than most knew- and that it will all come out after her body is found in a marsh. Sisters Bernie and Libby, who run a catering business regularly dealt with Margo as she ordered from them for her book club. While law enforcement isn't suspicious about Margo's death, members of the club, as well as the sisters are, and of course, they investigate. The mystery here was a little confusing to me (there wee multiple elements involving Margo) but the positive to that is that I was kept guessing. The interplay between the sisters is good, as are their interactions with others. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is part of a long running series and. regrettably, I think you will enjoy it more if you've read one or more of the preceding installments. It's a good read for Crawford's fans AND there are recipes!

I received this book from netgalley. I loved this book great cozy mystery read! I can't wait for more, sure hope there will be more.

Bernie and Libby Simmons run a successful catering business named A Little Taste of Heaven but have been known to investigate the crimes which happen in their upstate New York town. After all their dad used to be a cop so they have experience, right?

When local artist and member of the mystery book club, Margo Hemsley doesn't come in for the regular order she takes to the meetings Bernie and Libby wonder if they should be concerned. By the following morning not only has Margo not turned up but her remaining club members have hired the sisters to find her.

With very little to go on they begin their investigation but as secrets are revealed it becomes clear there is way more going on than either of them could ever have imagined. Determined to keep searching the sisters soon find themselves in grave danger with only their wits to keep them safe.

Unfortunately I found this book a struggle. Had I realised it was number sixteen in the series I would probably not have considered it as too much has already happened even though it can be read as a standalone. It was also more than a little far fetched. They may have an ex cop for a dad but Libby and Bernie seemed to move through the clues with impunity, breaking and entering if things didn't go their way without so much as a slap on the wrist. I would also think running a catering business at a profit needs to be more than a passing interest along with their sideline.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. Regrettably I can't recommend this book unless you are already a fan of the series.

Loved the book club premise. However I wish that the story mentioned more about the book club. The characters were superficial. It was hard to follow this story. I received a free digital advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.