Here Comes the Body (A Catering Hall Mystery)
by Maria DiRico
by Maria DiRico
About Here Comes the Body
Here Comes the Body (A Catering Hall Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Kensington (February 25, 2020)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 page
ISBN-10: 1496725344
ISBN-13: 978-1496725349
Digital ASIN: B07R8WYLSC
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Kensington (February 25, 2020)
Mass Market Paperback: 304 page
ISBN-10: 1496725344
ISBN-13: 978-1496725349
Digital ASIN: B07R8WYLSC
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!
About The Guest Post
My Favorite Mob Movie
Maria DiRico
In 1989, I was on a flight from Switzerland to New York, after my first visit to Italy. My mother is Italian, and we had decided on a family trip to her native country (although we didn’t get to her hometown of Orsogna). The flight attendant began the flight’s entertainment. It was the movie, Married to the Mob. When it finished, there was still plenty of time to kill, so she ran the film again. And then again. I. LOVED. It.
I’m not a fan of violence and so many mob-related movies are full of blood and gore. Married to the Mob was a breath of fresh air for the genre – funny, relatable, and as full of heart as a mob movie could be. I watched the movie again a few years ago and except for the totally Eighties outfit, the story really doesn’t date. Don’t ask me how but classic California beach girl Michelle Pfeiffer is totally believable as Angela De Marco, the Noo Yawk talkin’ wife of goombah mobster Alec Baldwin. I never get tired of her yelling at her husband, “Everything we own fell off a truck!” Or when the lame but cute FBI agent played by Mathew Modine says, “You know, Angela, I’ve been thinking,” and she responds, “Well, there you go, working without tools again.”
My Catering Hall Mystery series is inspired by my real life. A couple of my mother’s cousins by marriage ran two catering halls in the New York City borough of Queens. When I was creating the series, I thought of Michelle’s character Angela. How smart and funny and tough she was. The lengths she’d go to in order to make a better life for herself and her son. How driven she was to divest herself of the Mob life. Mia Carina, the protagonist of the Catering Hall Mysteries, shares so much of Angela’s passion and ambitions. Like Angela, Mia was in a lousy marriage to a yutz who cheated on her. While she doesn’t have a kid, she has a father, Ravello, who she adores. Ravello happens to be a lieutenant in the Boldano crime family. A gambler who owed him a big chunk of change paid off his debt by signing over a shabby banquet hall. If Mia and Ravello can make a go of the place, which has to be run as a legitimate business, Ravello can kiss the Life goodbye. Knowing this propels Mia to do everything in her power to make Belle View Banquet Manor a shining star in the Queen catering firmament.
As an homage to my favorite movie, I hope to title a future Catering Hall Mystery Married to the Slob. I think Angela De Marco would appreciate this – and relate!
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.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CateringHallMysteries/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ellenbyronla
Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - Google Play - IndieBound
a Rafflecopter giveaway
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
February 24 – The Avid Reader - REVIEW, EXCERPT
February 24 – This Is My Truth Now – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
February 24 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
February 25 – Socrates Book Reviews - REVIEW
February 25 – Ascroft, eh? – GUEST POST
February 25 – Gimme The Scoop Reviews – REVIEW
February 26 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
February 26 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
February 26 – Laura's Interests - SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
February 27 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
February 27 – MJB Reviewers - REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
February 27 – Jane Reads- GUEST POST
February 28 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
February 28 – Christy's Cozy Corners - REVIEW, RECIPE
February 29 - Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
February 29 - A Holland Reads – REVIEW
March 1 – StoreyBook Reviews - REVIEW
March 1 – Brooke Blogs - SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
March 2 – That's What She's Reading - SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
March 2 – TBR Book Blog - REVIEW, EXCERPT
March 3 – Cozy Up With Kathy - REVIEW, RECIPE
March 3 – Baroness' Book Trove - REVIEW
March 4 – Melina's Book Blog - REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
March 4 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog - REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
Have you signed up to be a Tour Host?
You can comment as a guest, or with your Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, or Google account. To register for Disqus, or to post as a guest, click in the Name box under "Sign Up With Disqus."
