A Catered Mother's Day

March 23, 2015
With Mother’s Day looming, Ellen Hadley, the disgruntled wife and mother at the center of Crawford’s engaging, dialogue-driven 11th mystery with recipes (after 2014’s A Catered Fourth of July), decides to get back at her ungrateful
husband, Bruce, and two negligent sons, Ryan and Ethan, by faking her own kidnapping. A ransom note is supposed to lure Bruce to the Hudson Valley’s rundown Riverview Motel, where Ellen is hiding out, but the discovery of a dead man in her motel room instead brings the police, who suspect Ellen of killing the man. Ryan and Ethan ask their mother’s college roommate, caterer Bernie Simmons, and Bernie’s sister, Libby, for help in exonerating her. A series of murders in Longley, N.Y., leads the sisters, who are amateur sleuths, to believe that Ellen and Ellen’s partner in her dog-
biscuit business, Lisa, have secrets that connect them to each victim. Cozy fans will find plenty to like. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency.

May 1, 2015

Mother's Day is coming. Sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons, who run A Little Taste of Heaven Bakery, are preparing their favorites. But Bernie gets a call from her dear friend Ellen Hadley, who has, unfortunately, taken Bernie's flippant advice to pretend to be kidnapped to get her family, who have a bad habit of forgetting special occasions like Mother's Day, to appreciate her. Ellen has discovered a dead man in her room at the rundown Riverview Motel; how does she convince the police it's all a big misunderstanding? As the body count rises, who could be killing the good citizens of quiet Longley, NY, and why? VERDICT The 11th title in Crawford's charming culinary series (after A Catered Fourth of July) concocts the perfect recipe of family dynamics, tasty food, and fun. Diane Mott Davidson and Jerrilyn Farmer fans will find this delightful.

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