My Nails and My Book Review - A Catered Tea Party by Isis Crawford

**NetGalley**

Title: A Catered Tea Party

Series: Mystery With Recipes #12

Author: Isis Crawford

Goodreads Summary: Quiet Longely, New York, is abuzz with excitement over the opening of a revamped art complex—and catering sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons are helping put on an elaborate tea party for the opening night gala fundraiser. But when the billionaire behind the project drops dead, the Simmons sisters find themselves steeped in a whistling kettle of murder . . .

Everyone in Longely is talking about Blue House, an art complex that will bring the town a theater, an art gallery, and even a restaurant and coffee bar. But they’re less than enthusiastic about Ludvoc “Zeb” Zalinsky, the self-made billionaire who’s funding the complex—and rubbing everyone the wrong way. Bernie and Libby reluctantly agree to cater the Alice in Wonderland themed tea party he’s planned, but it quickly becomes clear that Zeb is madder than the hatter he’ll be dressed as . . .

The night of the benefit arrives and Westchester’s finest show up in droves, having paid $500 apiece to attend Zeb’s meticulously-orchestrated tea party. But just when it seems the production is going according to plan, Zeb lifts an electric tea kettle, clutches his chest, and falls to the floor in fittingly dramatic fashion. The kettle shorted out and his pacemaker malfunctioned—but it doesn’t take long for police to decide that this seemingly random accident was actually cold-blooded murder . . .

As Bernie and Libby set out to find the culprit, they realize Zeb might have had more enemies than money. With so many possible culprits to sort through, only one thing is clear: Zeb was poured a steaming cup of revenge—and a second serving may be on the menu… 

My Review: **I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review**

My feelings about this book are a bit complicated. It started off seriously bizarre, but that was to set up the fact that the victim was horrible, possibly insane, and that many people feel he deserved to die. So, even though it was strange, I didn't have a problem with it because it was necessary for the setup. It then jumped right into a twisty mystery that had a lot of potential. I was enjoying the book right up until the ending. It was overly complicated and didn't make much sense. I liked the main characters, although I could've done with less of the subplot of how much they hate their dad's girlfriend.

My Manicure: Tea party nails! Very loosely based on the cover, I went with a nice, pale green instead of blue, and stamped some cute desserts and teapots. I decided to try my Messy Mansion clear stamper 2.0, and I feel that I had a little more luck with it than their original clear stamper. I still had some very minor issues, but I felt it picked up a lot easier. I do wish it was a little squishier, the need to roll seems to distort the images slightly. The base color is Zoya Tiana, which was a little tricky to apply, but not the worst I've dealt with. The stamping was done with Pure Ice Silver Star and MoYou London Cookbbook 7 - a plate completely dedicated to tea parties. Could there be a better plate for this book?

~Kelly