Title:	A Catered Tea Party
	Author:	Isis Crawford
	Published:	September 1 2016, Kensington Cozies
	No. of Pages:	368
	Cover Price:	$2.99 Kindle

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Bernie and Libby Simmons are back in the 12th novel of the popular culinary mystery series, A Catered Tea Party, by Isis Crawford.

Bernie and Libby Simmons have been hired to cater a tea party at the opening of a play at a venue created by Ludvoc Zalinsky, a so-called billionaire who is in charge of the play and party afterward. Zalinsky is terrible to work with and has alienated everyone near him, including the cast and crew of the play. When Zalinsky is found murdered at the end of opening night. Since the prime suspect is Casper, a friend of Bernie and Libby, they investigate with the hope of finding the real murderer.

Just like the previous novels, this one is fun. Bernie and Libby are not your run-of-the-mill protagonists – actually they are old ladies – and they tend to be fairly humorous and likeable. Crawford does an excellent job of developing them as characters who seem like real people. She also does a good job of developing the sub-characters so readers are very familiar. Crawford’s writing style is very easy to follow. She is a veteran writer and knows how to make the story flow while building some suspense and adding a surprise ending.

All told, this novel is just as fun as the previous ones in the series. It is a true culinary cozy so it’s filled with plenty of food (including good recipes for what the ladies serve at the tea party), as well as an absence of blatant sex, profanity, and violence. This one is highly recommended as a light and enjoyable read.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.