It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder (A Catering Hall Mystery)
by Maria DiRico
About It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder (A Catering Hall Mystery) 
Astoria, Queens, is decorated within an inch of its life for the Christmas season, and Mia Carina is juggling her job at the Belle View catering hall with a case of murder . . .
Mia’s busy with a full schedule of events at the family business—among them an over-the-top Nativity-themed first birthday party and a Sweet Sixteen for a teen drama queen. But her personal life is even more challenging. Her estranged mother has returned—and her lifelong friend Jamie has discovered a shocking secret about his past. He’s so angry that he starts hanging out with Lorenzo, who claims to be his long-lost brother—even after it becomes clear that Lorenzo’s story is as fake as a plastic Christmas tree.
Then a body turns up among the elves in a Santa’s-workshop lawn display, and amateur sleuth Mia has a buffet of suspects to choose from. Amid the holiday celebrations, she intends to find out who’s the guilty party . . .
Italian recipes included!
What I Thought:
This is the third in the Catering Hall Mystery Series set in Astoria Queens. This series features Mia and her somewhat shady family, her brother is serving a jail sentence, her mother took off long ago, and her dad well... Then there is Nonna who is just Nonna. It is the holiday season and Mia has her hands full at Belle View catering with an over the top Nativity themed first birthday party and a sweet sixteen for a complete drama queen. There is also the neighborhood holiday decorating competition. On top of all this, Mia's estranged mother shows back up and her friend Jamie discovers a shocking secret. If all that is not enough, a dead body shows up in the holiday decorations. Of course Mia has to investigate. This cozy will leave you chuckling at times over the antics of the Boldano family. I like the setting and the premise of this series. I think visiting Queens at Christmastime would be awesome and Maria did a good job describing everything, I felt I was actually there Mia is a great heroine who keeps things interesting in this series. This one flowed well and kept me guessing till the very end. The victim had upset so many people, it was hard to pin point who the killer actually was. I really enjoy cozies where I cannot figure out the killer till the reveal. There is a little romance in this one, but not in a sappy way. I look forward to more in this series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book.
About Maria DiRico
Maria DiRico is the pseudonym for Ellen Byron, author of the award winning, USA Today bestselling Cajun Country Mysteries. Born in Queens, New York, she is first-generation Italian-American on her mother's side and the granddaughter of a low-level Jewish mobster on her father's side. She grew up visiting the Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina catering halls, which were run by her Italian mother's family in Queens and have become the inspiration for her Catering Hall Mystery Series. DiRico has been a writer-producer for hit television series like Wings and Just Shoot Me, and her first play, Graceland, appears in the Best Short Plays collection. She's a freelance journalist, with over 200 articles published in national magazines, and previously worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. A native New Yorker who attended Tulane University, Ellen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and two rescue dogs.
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Thanks so much for a nice review!
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