CATERER WANTS GUESTS TO ASK 'WHODUNNIT?'.

Byline: Victoria Giraud

Langley Chaps, a Conejo Valley landowner who has refused to sell his pristine acreage to developers, is found dead on his land.

Who killed him? Was it Giuseppi Biceppi, the local pizzeria owner and bodybuilder? Or Muffie Wheeler, a supermom and computer genius? Or perhaps Emma Yuppie, the advocate for building the world's largest mall in the Conejo?

Karen Ise, creator of the Conejo Caper Mystery Dinner, knows the answer. And she will create the game plus dinner for those who engage her catering service, or take her Mystery Dinner class at Conejo Valley Adult Education this spring.

A caterer for 15 years, Karen came up with her unique idea after a friend had found a similar idea sold in a toy store. "After doing it with friends, I decided to include it in my catering business. I needed a creative outlet, and it was ideal to combine catering with what I enjoy. The game is campy and corny."

Karen decided she could create her own mystery, and set about writing a scenario that would be a spoof on the Conejo Valley and its residents. The game is usually played with eight people, but it can be tailored to fit more.

Karen offers a variety of themes and provides the appropriate food and music for the dinner. Her five-course dinners are designed for the time period. A mystery might occur on the Orient Express, for instance, and she will serve bouillabaisse or beef Bourguignon; for a Chicago gangster setting, Italian sausage and peppers are featured. The Watersdown Affair is an English setting in the 1930s; the food would be Cornish hens or an English high tea.

Invitations are sent with a description of the mystery and a description of the character the guest will portray during the dinner.

"Guests are told what role they play and given suggestions on how to dress. I suggest that they go to thrift shops for costumes. They get to be coy or clever, or sexy, and everyone has a blast. Everyone is a suspect, and they all have skeletons in their closet that will come out during the course of the dinner," Karen explained.

Her first mystery dinner was held for the Optimist Club, and was a bit nerve-racking, since Karen had to finish in little over an hour. A recent dinner offered other challenges: 16 people to feed and three sleepy dogs to step over as they lounged around the table.

Karen also enjoys doing English teas, more appropriately, she says, called Victorian tea with all its accompanying ceremony. She will serve scones, clotted cream and preserves and various savories (finger sandwiches, stuffed eggs, etc.) along with the tea.

This spring Conejo Adult Education is offering Karen's high tea class as well as a mother-daughter spring tea class in February. During these one-session classes, Karen explains the history of tea and its surrounding customs, and also will discuss proper etiquette. Class members will help put the finishing touches and garnishes to the already prepared food and enjoy its result at the end of class.

Cajun cooking is another of Karen's specialties, which she comes by naturally. Her mother, the youngest of 13 children, was born in Lafayette, La. Karen also is teaching a Cajun cooking class at Adult Education in April.

A single mother of two daughters and a son, all now grown, Karen works full time as an administrative assistant to the superintendent of the Conejo Unified School District. She does all her catering in her spare time. After spending her childhood years traveling around the East, Karen has been glad to call Thousand Oaks home for the past 18 years.

Karen also is pursuing a degree in psychology at California State University, Northridge. "I don't have enough time in my lifetime to do what I want to do," she says.

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Photo Karen Ise, who arranges mystery dinners as part of her catering business, knows who the culprit is. Dusty Locke/Special to the Daily News