A Catered Valentine's Day

November 20, 2006
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.

January 1, 2007
Catering sisters and moonlighting investigators Bernie and Libby Simmons ("A Catered Murder") are on the case again when the local funeral director asks them to discover why the body of Ted Gorman, owner of the town's deluxe chocolate shop, is in the grave of a Ms. McDougal. And where is her body? A charming and witty mystery, with recipes included. Patrons who enjoy Leslie Meier will like this series.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.