During a lavish wedding between a caviar tycoon and his former secretary, the bride is killed. Who stands the most to gain from her not joining the family? Bernie and Libby are sisters who were hired to cater this wedding and now they find themselves crawling through tunnels and sneaking into hunting grounds to find justice for the bride.
This is the second book in the series. “Bernie raised her glass. ‘A toast to Simmons and Daughters. Long may we prosper.’” I agree! What a fun series this is. With sisters as the main characters, sibling rivalry, sister fights, and sister support are all abundant in this series.
A Catered Wedding by Isis Crawford
Cozy Mystery Novel with Recipes
Book Review
Murder Mystery Books🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
Book Review Outline and Tone:
One of my favorite reality shows is Say Yes to the Dress. After the bride has selected a dress, I love to imagine what the wedding will be like. Of course, the more money the bride has to spend on the dress, the more elaborate their weddings must be. In this novel, the bride, or should I say bridezilla, is marrying into a very wealthy family. The Raid family made their money by importing caviar. This factor forces my imagination to go into high gear. The only time I had caviar was at a high school event. Needless to say, this caviar was probably not the fancy variety. This cheap caviar tasted only of salt and fish and I haven’t sought out caviar since.
In the novel, the Raid family imports the best caviar in the world. Bridezilla Leeza was the CEOs secretary, but somehow convinced him she loves him and at the beginning of the novel it is their wedding day. As the gossip about their relationship flies, so does an arrow from a crossbow. Sisters Libby and Bernie had been catering the wedding and then went on to investigate the murder.
Highlights of the book include Libby and Bernie’s relationship. If you have a sister then I am positive you will see at least part of your relationship represented in them. Libby is a stay at home practical, people pleaser, while Bernie is a fashionista and able to talk to any suspect.
The Best Quote:
Libby and Bernie’s dad is a former detective. He explains the investigative process as “doing a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. First you made the frame and then started fitting the pieces until eventually you came to the center.”
The author:
Isis Crawford is the pen name for Barbara Block. Isis’s family were in the diplomatic corps which means she traveled as a child. She was born in Egypt and her family moved back to the US when she was five. Barbara has been around food service all her life as her mom opened a restaurant when Barbara was young. Ms. Crawford has a great interactive website that showcases her books and her recipes. She also has a Facebook page that highlights her books.
What is not to like?:
In the story, Libby and Bernie’s cousins hire their dad to investigate the murder, but it turns out that Libby and Bernie do most of the investigating. I just made me wonder why the plot included her dad being hired at all.
The verdict:
I really enjoy it when I can see bits of me in lead characters. If you have a sister, you will undoubtedly relate to their relationship. So the verdict is that you should read the book, and try these pumpkin bars; they are fabulous!
Book Club Recommendation: 4/5 Books 📚📚📚📚📚
Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).
Fantastic Frosted Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Assemble the Ingredients
Easy to make dessert: 5/5 on the Easy as Pie scale 🥧🥧🥧🥧🥧
Dessert Recipe 📖📖📖📖📖
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Sift together all dry ingredients.
Use a whisk to combine the dry ingredients.
This recipe is easy to mix by hand without a stand mixer. However, I do recommend using a nonslip bowl such as and a good whisk like .
Good Grips, no slip when mixing. Each bowl has a spout for easy pouring. Dishwasher safe.
Mix oil, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin.
The best liquid measuring set I have ever used is
With 7 different sizes, it makes measuring multiple liquids when baking super easy.
Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. Mix wet ingredients with a whisk but switch to a spatula when incorporating the dry ingredients.
Good utensils make for easier baking. The is heat resistant and dishwasher safe.
Pour the batter into an ungreased jelly roll pan (17x21x1) or a 9×13 cake pan.
I used a 9X13 pan. If using a larger pan, bake for 15-20 minutes, if using a cake pan, bake 25-30 minutes.
Cool in pan.
Make the cream cheese frosting and cut into 3×2-inch bars.
Assemble ingredients for the frosting
Combine butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together using an electric had mixer.
Then add sugar, one cup at a time and mix until smooth.
After the cake is frosted sprinkle some seasoning on top. You can use pumpkin pie spice or this wonderful Blnd Love My Chai spice blend.
The directions say to cut the bars into 32 squares, but that seems pretty small to me.
Will I make it again?: Absolutely Yes! 😋😋😋😋😋
Fantastic Frosted Pumpkin Bars from a cozy mystery novel
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp powdered ginger
- ½ tsp cloves
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 15 oz can solid-packed pumpkin
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz. softened cream cheese
- ½ cup softened butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Sift together all dry ingredients.
- Mix oil, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin.
- Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well.
- Pour the batter into an ungreased jelly roll pan (17x21x1) or a 9x13 cake pan.
- If using a larger pan, bake for 15-20 minutes, if using a cake pan, bake 25-30 minutes.
- Cool in pan and frost with cream cheese frosting.
- Cut into 3x2-inch bars.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Combine butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together, then add sugar, and mix until smooth.
What would I do differently next time?
Nothing, they are delicious. However, if I wanted to reduce some calories, I would try substituting half of the oil with nonfat Greek yogurt. If you do that, let me know in the comments how they turned out.
Cake Recipe 🍰🍰🍰🍰🍰
Delicious Food 😋😋😋😋😋
Here are some more cakes to try.
Ultimate Fudgy Chocolate Bundt Cake from Raspberry Danish Murder by Joanne Fluke
Cherry Cola Sheet Cake from The Cherry Cola Book Club by Ashton Lee
Dreamy Orange Dreamsicle Cake from Death of a Cupcake Queen by Lee Hollis
Ultimate Butterscotch Bundt Cake from Christmas Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
