Here Comes the Body

Maria DiRico

Feb 2020 · A Catering Hall Mystery Book 1 · Kensington Cozies

About this ebook

After her philandering husband’s boat went down, newly single Mia Carina went back to Astoria, the bustling Queens neighborhood of her youth. Living with her nonna and her oversized cat, Doorstop, she’s got a whole new life—including some amateur sleuthing . . .
 
Mia is starting work at Belle View, her father’s catering hall, a popular spot for weddings, office parties, and more—despite the planes that occasionally roar overhead on their way to LaGuardia and rattle the crystal chandelier. Soon she’s planning a bachelor party for a less-than-gentlemanly groom. But it goes awry when the gigantic cake is wheeled in and a deadly surprise is revealed . . .
 
Since some of her family’s associates are on the shady side, the NYPD wastes no time in casting suspicion on Mia’s father. Now, Mia’s going to have to use all her street smarts to keep him out of Rikers Island . . .
 
Italian recipes included!
 
“Mamma mia! What a nifty story. This endearing new heroine has a lot on her plate—all of it delicious fun!”
—Laura Levine, author of Death of a Gigolo
 
“A catered feast of a mystery.”
—Sherry Harris, author of Let’s Fake a Deal
 

Ratings and reviews

Funny, unexpected, fantastic! The name may be different, the culture may be different, but the outstanding writing, amazing characters and complex mystery are all there! Here Comes the Body, the first book in A Catering Hall Mystery by Maria DiRico, is as captivating as the Cajun Country series she writes as Ellen Byron. I am a huge fan of that series so I requested Here Comes the Body from NetGalley and it was awesome. Mia Corina is coming home glad to leave the town where her maybe-late husband destroyed her self-confidence and the investigation into his disappearance that destroyed her reputation. Even more, she is thrilled to be heading to a job running an event center in Queens with her father who spent most of her life overseeing casinos for a mafia Family. Now he has been given the chance to take over an event centered the Family accepted as payment of a gambling debt. It has to be a legitimate enterprise for the feds to focus on so it has to make money but it must maintain a clean reputation! Naturally having a dead body turning up isn't exactly what the Family wants connected with the place, and just as naturally, the police are more than glad to have an obvious suspect, one they have long wanted nab. To prevent her father losing his chance at the straight-and-narrow or even going back to prison, Mia feels compelled to find the killer. She sure doesn’t trust the detective on the case. Add her old friend Jamie and the delightful senior citizens surrounding Mia to the glitz and glam of the wealth, mix a possible connection and in a murder, and you have Here Comes the Body, a great start to what is sure to be a series to be read over and over again. My thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for a chance for an early read of such a fun book! The opinions expressed are solely mine and are based on my love of the book, Here Comes the Body! Maria DiRico/Ellen Byron maintains her spot at the my top authors list. I can’t wait for the next book!

Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico has Mia Carina returning to Queens for a fresh start. She is thankful to no longer be under suspicion for her husband’s disappearance. Mia will be working for her father as assistant manager at Belle View Catering Hall. Ravello Carina, Mia’s father, is taking a stab at running a legit business which pleases Mia. Mia’s first event is a bachelor party with a woman popping out of a cake. Things go sideways when they find a woman who threatened Ravello a few days earlier inside the cake with a knife sticking out of her chest. With Ravello as the police’s prime suspect, Mia begins searching for the real culprit. Here Comes the Body is the exciting debut of A Catering Hall Mystery series. Mia Carina has had a rough time recently with her husband disappearing and the police accusing her of offing him (her family has a reputation). She is glad to be back in Astoria with her family. Mia can visit her brother, Posi during visiting hours at Triborough Correctional Facility where the guards know the family by name. Mia will be working at Belle View Catering Hall which a man gave up to cover his gambling debts. Ravello, Mia’s father, is the manager and Mia will be handling events. Belle View is run down and needs a facelift (get rid of the 80s vibe). Mia has not been home a week when a body if found inside a cake. Someone is framing Ravello and Mia does not appreciate it. She begins questioning attendees of the bachelor party in hopes of narrowing in on the killer. The mystery had several viable suspects. I had a good time following Mia on her quest to clear her father’s name. I thought Here Comes the Body contained good writing, interesting characters and humor. I laughed several times while reading. I loved Mia’s grandmother, Elisabetta Carina. She is an Italian grandmother who makes mouthwatering dishes. The ladies on her block compete to have the best decorations for each holiday (and other things as well). There are a couple of side stories as well. A greedy realtor is trying to get senior citizens to sell their homes and move into an assisted living facility. 46th Place is the new hot area where people want to take the homes, gut them and modernize them. Something is going on with Evans, the sous chef, as well. Cozy mystery readers will be delighted with Here Comes the Body which is written by Ellen Byron under the pen name Maria DiRico. Here Comes the Body is a humorous & intriguing cozy mystery with a murdered moll, a vanished feathered friend, transportation troubles, frightful free furniture, a relentless reporter, and a matchmaking mobster.

About the author

Maria DiRico was born in Queens, New York, and raised in Queens and Westchester County. She is first-generation Italian-American on her mother’s side. On her father’s side, her grandfather was a low-level Jewish mobster who disappeared in 1933 under mysterious circumstances. She also writes the award-winning, bestselling Cajun Country Mystery series under the name Ellen Byron.