Isis Crawford, A Catered Valentine’s Day

A Catered Valentine's Day

Isis Crawford

Kensington, January 2007, $22.00, 288 pp.

ISBN 0758206895

The Simmons sisters Bernie and Libby are not having a good day. They are mortified to find out they have gone into the wrong funeral service room, and when they try to find the right one, they run into the funeral home's director Clyde Hanson. Clyde is the father of Libby's beau, so when he tells them to go with him, they do. They do not realize he is taking them to the indigent section of the local cemetery.

He opens up the coffin of a dug up grave and they find the body of Ted Gorman, who supposedly died in a fiery car crash; his widow Marne identified the body based on the ring he was wearing. The body of the person who was supposed to be there, the reclusive Ms. McDougal is nowhere to be found. Both Clyde and Tom's widow Marne want the Simmons sisters to find out what happened and why; Marne because she needs answers, and Clyde because he doesn't want his business to be held culpable

Iris Crawford's latest mystery is an exciting and enjoyable amateur sleuth tale, though one always must wonder why not a professional. Bernie finds her boyfriend is cheating on her and breaks off their relationship, but she finds herself attracted to an old and dear friend. The ladies' father, the former chief of police helps them on the case, and the scenes when Libby's boyfriend is driving them are hilarious. The case ends up involving two murders, and the identity of the killer (s) will shock the reader. A CATERED VALENTINE'S DAY is a scintillating who done it.