Long Island Iced Tina by Maria DiRico

Item: Long Island Iced Tina
Rating: 5
Author: karenbaron

Posted March 1, 2021 by karenbaron in #BookishRecipe, Blog Tour, Contest - Giveaway, Mystery, Review / 1 Comment

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

Long Island Iced Tina

by Maria DiRico

Series: Catering Hall Mystery #2
Series Rating:

on February 23, 2021
Genres: Cozy Culinary Mystery
Pages: 225
Format: Kindle
Source: Great Escapes Book Tours
Goodreads
BookBub
Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, IndieBound, Google
Also in this series: Here Comes the Body , It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder , Four Parties and a Funeral, The Witless Protection Program

In the second installment of Maria DiRico's new Catering Hall Mystery series, Mia Carina is back in the borough of Queens, in charge of the family catering hall Belle View Banquet Manor, and keeping her nonna company. But some events--like murder at a shower--are not the kind you can schedule...

Mia's newly pregnant friend Nicole plans to hold a shower at Belle View--but Nicole also has to attend one that her competitive (and mysteriously rich) stepmother, Tina, is throwing at the fanciest place in Queens. It's a good chance for Mia to snoop on a competitor, especially since doing a search for "how to run a catering hall" can get you only so far.

Mia tags along at the lavish party, but the ambience suffers at Nicole's Belle View shower when a fight breaks out--and then, oddly, a long-missing and valuable stolen painting is unwrapped by the mom-to-be. Tina is clearly shocked to see it. But not as shocked as Mia is when, soon afterward, she spots the lifeless body of a party guest floating in the marina . . .

Italian recipes included!

Long Island Iced Tina by Maria DiRico is another remarkably written book about this Italian catering hall.

Can Mia figure out who would kill Tina?

Mia Carina

Mia Carina is back again in the next book of A Catering Hall Mystery series. I am in love with this series. Being part of an Italian mob family, Mia knows that sometimes the police don’t like her family. She is a special character that always has a tremendous time of being funny. I love it when she translates some of the words that she knows for us readers who don’t speak Italian or really read Italian. Mia is an exceptional sleuth despite this being only her second mystery. I love reading about this character, but I’m unsure I would like to meet her in real life. Seriously, her family is a bit scary.

The Mystery

The mystery this time is about a family friend’s stepmom dying on a dock near Belle View Catering. I feel bad for Mia and her family as they are trying to keep the business legal and not doing anything with laundering money through it. She is tasked with figuring out who would kill the stepmom like that. It’s just one thing after another in this one.

Five Stars

My rating for Long Island Iced Tina by Maria DiRico is five stars, and I recommend it to anyone who loves reading culinary cozy mysteries that have recipes in it. I love Ms. DiRico’s fabulous writing style throughout this book. Also, I love this whole Italian mob family owning a catering hall to try to go legitimate. Ms. DiRico has an amazing imagination, and it shows throughout this book, which transports the reader into the story so perfectly.

Speaking of which, don’t forget to check out the delicious recipes in the back of the book. The recipes are Easiest Lasagna Ever, Potato and Beet Salad, Honey Phyllo Rollups, and Cannoli Cake. It also has a Event Tip at the end.

First Book in the Series

Coming Soon in October 2021

Tour Giveaway

Prize: (3) Print Copy of Long Island Iced Tina (A Catering Hall Mystery) by Maria DiRico U.S. Only

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Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Long Island Iced Tina by Maria DiRico. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

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.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges: