As daughters of a retired police detective, the sisters are naturally curious. They are approached by family friends, eccentrics Eunice and Gertrude Walker, to help find the murderer. The sisters feel partly responsible as they steered Leeza toward the job in Jura’s caviar empire. With the help of their father and funeral director Marvin (who is sweet on Libby), Libby and Bernie begin looking into the world of imported caviar - not realizing the business is cutthroat enough to kill for.

The premise of A Catered Wedding has all the elements for an enjoyable mystery, but the ingredients never really come together. Libby and Bernie are not very interesting characters and are not at all substantial. Vague references are made to their pasts, but why they do things and what they did in the past that led them to this point in their lives is glossed over. Marvin is typically dopey, besotted with Libby since grammar school, yet always afraid to make a move. He has enough self confidence to help grieving family members plan and execute a fitting final tribute to a loved-one, yet can’t get up the nerve to ask Libby for a drink.

The Walker sisters’ interest in solving Leeza’s murder comes off more as them being busybodies than concerned friends. The sisters also helped Libby and Bernie get the catering job so their penchant for sticking their noses in things is obvious. Their father Sean’s willingness to go along with and aid the girls in the investigation is not believable, though it does help the invalid former detective get out of the house and show interest again in something he once loved. The means the girls use to investigate are questionable as they waltz in to importers and exclusive stores, insinuating themselves into the business.

Because the murder was committed in a way that is personal and would require a certain skill level, and even planning (assumedly there were not bows with specially made arrows laying around at the wedding reception site) the suspects are few and the murderer should rise quickly to the top; the information the sisters dig up should have been easily ascertained in a day or two by skilled policemen. While culinary mysteries continue to be popular, a disappointing plot and unappealing characters, leaves this series lacking.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry