A Catered Birthday Party: A Mystery With Recipes - Tapa dura

When sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons cater a canine birthday celebration for Trudy the Pug, who is the mascot for the Colbert toy company, the big day is marred by murder when Trudy's pugnacious owner is poisoned, forcing Bernie and Libby to sniff out a killer among a lot of suspects--all of whom had a bone to pick with the deceased.

When sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons sign on to cater a prize pooch's birthday bash, they think they're ready for anything. But they haven't bargained for a killer with a bone to pick...A Little Taste of Heaven catering certainly knows how to feed people. Dogs, however..? Bernie and Libby will have their chance to impress guests of the four-legged variety when they lay out the spread for Trudy the Pug's birthday luncheon. But this isn't just any doggie 'do. Trudy's owner, Annabel Colbert, is one of the richest women in town - and as mascot of the Colbert toy company, Trudy herself is a bona fide celebrity. When the big day arrives, Trudy and her canine cohorts are ready to dig in to the delicacies - but the first to dip her fangs into the wine is Annabel. Mere moments later, the hostess is shrieking she's been poisoned - and proving it by falling face first into her soup. After two days in a coma, Annabel is dead. It seems the woman who had everything also had her share of enemies. In fact, Annabel was cheating, blackmailing, or backstabbing most of the people she knew, including her very own best friend, her very own husband, his personal assistant, and last but not least, Trudy's trainer and kennel owner. With so many suspects, sniffing out the truth is rapidly becoming a tricky, not to mention risky, proposition. Bernie and Libby had better close the oven on this case fast - before they get burned...