THE BODY IN THE BOUDOIR

Which matters more, the ingredients in the wedding cake or the clauses in the pre-nup?

On the flight to Italy to celebrate their anniversary, caterer Faith Fairchild (The Body in the Gazebo, 2011, etc.) reminiscences about the prelude to her marriage to Tom, which included such semi-disasters as her sister’s betrayal by her beau, her future sister-in-law’s pesky attempts to reunite Tom with their next-door neighbor, one assistant’s leaving to open her own restaurant, another’s search for a missing World War II veteran who done her granny wrong, and, oh yes, four attempts on Faith’s own life, one by food poisoning, another by a shove on a subway platform, a third by a bit of falling brickwork at her Uncle Sky’s estate, and one more when the brakes on a car she’d borrowed gave out. Unlike Faith, Sky’s housekeeper couldn’t escape someone’s murderous urges. While she lolled about in Sky’s wife’s boudoir dolled up in her marabou-trimmed peignoir, someone crept in, whacked her dead, then slithered out, resurfacing days later to incinerate the poor woman’s sister and brother-in-law in a propane fire. Would Faith’s wedding have to be cancelled, or at least postponed? Of course not. After all, the champagne had already been ordered, and all the relatives were certainly willing to cover up the scandal caused by one of their own.

Includes recipes, menus, drink concoctions and much charm, but a denouement so silly that it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.