A Catered New Year’s Eve
It’s been years since Bernie and Libby’s parents became estranged from Ada Sinclair’s side of the family, though the reasons for the rift are lost to history. The sisters, however, are intrigued when Ada makes contact. She tells them about the long-ago deaths of her father and his business partner, which happened within hours of each other, and were both ruled accidental.
Ada thinks otherwise and has a plan. On New Year’s Eve, she’ll gather a group of guests and read from a diary she’s found in her mother’s attic that she thinks will expose the culprit. The Simmons sisters agree to provide refreshments for the bash, and when the night arrives, Ada’s ready to count down to a confession. But as midnight approaches, a guest drops dead. It looks like the menu tonight includes champagne and cyanide . . .
In the tumult, the diary disappears. When Ada is arrested for murder, she’ll have to hope that Bernie and Libby can provide a resolution before the clock runs out.
Series: A Mystery with Recipes – Book #15
Author: Isis Crawford
Genre: Cozy Mystery/ Culinary/Holiday
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 320
Rating: 
From Isis Crawford comes the 15th book in “A Mystery with Recipes,” a holiday-themed cozy, A Catered New Year’s Eve, published by Kensington Books https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/.
Bernie and Libby are up to their usual antics once again. Even after being warned by their father, they decide to ignore his advice and get themselves involved with a side of their family that their mother banned from her life. And, of course, it backfires on them in a big way. Namely, they end up investigating a murder when they should be working on their business and staying off the icy roads, and putting themselves in dangerous situations. Between the bad weather, a family that appears to have nothing better to do than argue, and a few too many suspects, the girls have a difficult and dangerous time getting to the heart of the murder and their crazy relatives. They do find the killer but almost get themselves killed in the process.
I have read several books in this series; this is the first holiday-themed one. I want to say that the series has improved. But the truth is, it hasn’t. The main characters of Bernie and Libby are not likable; they are immature and spend most of their time bickering and ignoring facts. The investigation they conduct is laughable. There is little to no evidence trail to follow. The only character that is remotely interesting is their father, and the only one with real investigative know-how to boot. The fact that these two women are out in the middle of snowstorms racing around in a van that barely runs and driving on slick roads chasing phantom SUVs, and that they do not seem to have any self-preservation is entirely unbelievable. The emphasis in the plot is not on the murder, motive, or suspects but appears to be one-upping each other, rebelling against common sense, and a fear of black ice.
The holiday theme is more-or-less non-existent. The few twists and turns never go anywhere, and most of the suggested clues are never fully explained. Unfortunately, I could not enjoy A Catered New Year’s Eve.
Other books and series readers may like include Julia Buckley’s https://www.juliabuckley.com/ holiday-themed cozy series “An Undercover Dish Mystery” https://www.thecozyreview.com/pudding-up-with-murder/ or Bree Baker’s https://www.breebaker.com/ series “Seaside Café Mysteries” https://www.thecozyreview.com/tide-and-punishment/.
About the Author:
Isis Crawford was born in Egypt to parents who were in the diplomatic corps. When she was five, her family returned to the States, where her mother opened a restaurant in upper Westchester County, and her father became a university professor. Since then, Isis has combined her parents’ love of food and travel by running a catering service as well as penning numerous travel-related articles about places ranging from Omsk to Paraguay. Married with twin boys, she presently resides in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, where she is working on the next Bernie and Libby culinary mystery.
Contact Isis: https://isiscrawford.com/contact-isis-crawford/
Find Isis on Social Media
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Contact The Cozy Review
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