Four Parties and a Funeral by Maria DiRico

Item: Four Parties and a Funeral
Rating: 5
Author: karenbaron

Posted March 9, 2023 by karenbaron in #BookishRecipe, Mystery, Review, Series / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Four Parties and a Funeral

by Maria DiRico

Series: Catering Hall Mystery #4
Series Rating:

on March 28, 2023
Genres: Cozy Culinary Mystery
Pages: 266
Format: Kindle
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
BookBub
Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Here Comes the Body , Long Island Iced Tina, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder , The Witless Protection Program

Agatha Award-winning author Maria DiRico returns with the fourth book in the Catering Hall Mystery Series, starring Mia Carina who is coming to grips with being back in Astoria, Queens, and running her Italian-American family's catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor but a TV casting call is about to put murder in the spotlight . . .

The June events schedule at Belle View is busting out all over--proms, graduations, and of course, weddings. There are unexpected bookings too, including a casting call for the pilot of Dons of Ditmars Boulevard. But soon, Mia's fears about the cheesy reality show are confirmed . . .

Belle View quickly becomes the site of a sea of wanna-be goombahs and phony girlfriends, and some of Mia's friends insist on getting in on the action. The production company owner and his executive producer ex-wife--who's also very minor British royalty--have assembled a motley crew that does as much infighting and backstabbing as the on-screen "talent." Even so, it's a shock when a dead body is found in the pool house of a local mansion rented by the show . . .

Murder might boost the ratings. But Mia intends to make sure the killer gets jail time, not airtime . . .

Four Parties and a Funeral by Maria DiRico takes us back to Queens, New York, where Mia has a wedding to attend, and she has to deal with a production company filming a pilot.

Can Mia solve this case before anything else goes wrong?

Mia and her friends from the Catering Hall and the Family are again here to solve another murder. Well, they all pitched in to help Mia solve it this time. We also get to know more about the other people within this book that are close to Mia. Let’s say that Big Donny has made things a bit difficult for Mia concerning a couple of things this time. They both revolve around his oldest son Little Donny. One of the many things I love to read about that’s played out perfectly in this book is the main character’s relationships with everyone around her. Not just with family members but with everyone. It’s great.

The Mystery

Big Donny has tasked Mia to keep Little Donny from going to jail for this murder. For Mia, this is proven to be more complex than anything. The victim has made an enemy with everyone who surrounded him in his production company, including some of the cast members hired for the show. The show is Dons of Ditmars Boulevard which, to me, isn’t the smartest move for a show to be based around. The only good thing to have come out of this is that maybe Little Donny has found his calling, and it isn’t illegal. I did end up falling for a red herring which saddens me since I never saw the real killer coming!

Five Stars

Four Parties and a Funeral by Maria DiRico is a fabulous book set in Queens, New York, during the summer and has Mia facing some tough life choices for Belle View and her own choices. My rating is five stars for Four Parties and a Funeral by Maria DiRic, along with recommending it to anyone that likes an excellent cozy culinary mystery. It definitely had me laughing out loud at certain parts.

There are recipes in the back of the book as well. The recipes are Pasta Puttanesca, Italian Wedding Cookies, Coconut Amaretto Bread Pudding, Tricolor (Tre Colore) Cookies, aka Rainbow Cookies, and Tuna Casserole, along with an event tip at the end of the recipes.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out my interview with Maria DiRico, aka Ellen Byron – click here. This book describes the ‘poor door’ she talks about.

A Catering Hall Mystery

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Four Parties and a Funeral by Maria DiRico.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

About Maria DiRico

Maria DiRico was born in Queens, New York, and raised in Queens and Westchester County. She is a 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.

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