This is a fun first book in a new cozy mystery series. Mia has return to NYC after the death of her husband and is living with her Nonna. She is determined to make Belle View, one of the family's legitimate businesses, a successful catering hall. When a dead body is found during a bachelor party and her father is a suspect she sets out to solve the mystery. The NYC Little Italy setting and the Italian Grandmothers are a lot of fun. The mystery was good with lots of suspects and the solution made sense. I love for word to reading the next book. Enjoy

I really enjoyed reading Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico. It's a great start to a cozy mystery series with a very interesting premise. The main character, Mia, is very likeable and easy to root for. Her Nonna, Elisabetta, is a funny character that I hope we see much more of in future books. Even Mia's father, Ravello, is a likeable character, despite his ties to "the Family." I do feel like a few secondary characters need to be fleshed out more. I really want to know more about Jamie, Guadeloupe, and Cammie. Hopefully we'll get that in future books. As for the murder mystery, I truly was surprised by who the killer turned out to be. I feel like there should've been more tiny hints and clues to it being this person because, even looking back now, I'm still not seeing it. I still really liked the book though. Between the story and the characters, it's just a very well-written book even if the mystery felt a little lacking after the big reveal.

This was an amusing cozy mystery, the first one in the Catering Hall Mystery series. Mia is working for her father at his catering hall in NY after her divorce. She planned an elaborate bachelor party that went sideways when the woman inside a giant cake doesn’t jump out…because she’s dead. Mia’s father is a prime suspect, and Mia investigates to keep him out of jail.

I liked the plot and the characters, they were quirky and memorable. 4 stars.

So much fun!

Coming from an Italian family and having a Nonna nothing like the main character, Mia Carina, I laughed at many of the exploits of her Nonna (grandmother) and the rest of the family (part of the mob). Mia's father, Ravello, is the manager of the Belle View Catering Hall, which he is trying to run as a legitimate business (he wants to stay out of prison). He has Mia return to Astoria to be the event planner and her first one is deadly. A bachelor party with a stripper to pop out of a cake, turns into a murder investigation when no one pops out and instead a stabbed body is found within. Since Ravello had an argument with the victim previously, he's heading the list of suspects. Mia is determined not to need to visit the prison for her father (she already visits her brother - auto theft) and along with her Nonna works to find the killer.

loved it!

Newly single Mia moves back to Queens and starts work in her dads catering business. After her father is suspect in the murder, Mia tries to uncover the real murderer. This is first in the A Catering Hall mystery. It's fun and like most cozies except it's set in the city. I will read more of this series.

I love how this new series is starting, Mia is one of the spunkiest female sleuths I have meet in a long time, The characters draw you in and the mystery keeps you reading way to late into the night. I can't wait to read the next book in the series

This award-winning funny cozy writer has done it again under a different name! We are so lucky to have another writer who's serious about being funny. This one is about a NY Italian gal who lives close to crime and good food. Characters we care about and want to spend time with while getting to solve a mystery of more than one dead body. Delightful and sure to be a hit with cozy lovers. Recipes included. Looking forward to book two in this new series.

A fun new cozy mystery that leaves you excited for the next book in this series! I loved the theme and setting. The characters were interesting and authentic and I loved the relationship between Mia and her grandmother. The author generously provided recipes that were pertained to integral aspects of the story so they were a great bonus at the end. Several twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to more from this author.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have been reading me some cozy mysteries and this checks a lot of the boxes. I like Mia she has this aura about her that just draws me in. I also enjoyed that recipes were included in the book since was about a catering service. Mia moves home after the death of her husband and goes to work at her father's catering service called Belle View. I know she has to go through a lot but with all that sass and attitude she makes it through all the suspense and the rumors. I need to read more by this author.

Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico is a fantastic start to a new series. Finding out that this is a pen name for Ellen Byron, the author of one of my favourite cozy series, had me happily sitting down and reading this one. It is a different setting for a cozy mystery as it takes place in New York City, not a small quaint town. However the other elements fit a cozy mystery perfectly. We have a smart, independent, loyal protagonist in Mia Carina, who has moved back home after the disappearance of her philandering husband. There are some quirky characters, especially her neighbours who also add a diverse storyline. I love that her father, Ravello Carina, is a mobster gone straight. He is running Belle View, a rundown catering hall, that Mia hopes to build up to become the place to hold events in Queens. When her first event, a bachelor ends up in murder of a local call girl, her father is arrested. The evidence is sketchy and Mia sets out to find out her the real murderer is. When a second murder victim is found, she is worried about the business as well as her father. She knows that if she wants Belle View to be successful, she has to prove that the murder has nothing to do with the hall.

Overall, I loved this first book in a new series. The catering hall seems like a great setting for future mysteries, and the Mob side story adds some interest. The characters were well developed for a first book in the series, and I am looking forward to learning more about the main characters in future books. There was enough humour to have me smiling, a bit of romantic tension, that I hope will develop into something in further books, and a complicated mystery that had me changing my mind about he culprit and the motive several times. I will definitely be watching for the next book in this series.

Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico was an okay book about the Italian mob. Not a favorite subject of mine. The characters names did not lend to easy reading but overall an okay book. Thank you to Net Galley for providing an advance reader’s copy.

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!

Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico is the first book in the new cozy A Catering Hall Mystery series. As with most cozy mystery series this book contains it’s own mystery that is solved so it could be read as a standalone if choosing to do so.

Here Comes the Body introduces readers to Mia Carina who has moved back to her hometown of Astoria in Queens, NY after the disappearance of her husband. Mia was initially a suspect in her husband’s disappearance but now that she’s cleared she wanted to be with her family and decided to take a job at Belle View, her father’s catering hall.

Mia quickly finds herself in charge of a bachelor party with a questionable groom but never expected the dancer that should pop out of the cake was now a murder victim instead. With Mia’s family not strangers to the law her father is immediately a suspect leaving her to do a little investigating of her own.

Picking up Here Comes the Body I had no idea that the new protagonist in this one had ties to the mob and that would be a big part of the story from looking at the cover or description of this one. For me once getting into the whole crime family I just really never connected with this one as it’s really not my cup of tea. There are some funny elements and I’m sure others would enjoy the mob-ish mystery but I prefer a more “normal” type of lead myself so this one ended up a bit meh to me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is book 1 in a new cozy series, A Catering Hall mystery. I can't wait for the next installment. Mia returns to her family in New York City after her philandering husband dies in a boating accident. She is going to run the Belle View, an events hall for weddings, parties, etc. When you mention the word family in this book it has several meanings. A good murder to solve, great characters for future stories and a little of a cliff hanger that could show up in the future. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico is the first book in the Catering Hall Mystery series. Mia has returned to New York to help her father with his catering business, Belle View. Mia moved in with her nonna and is ready to help her dad move on from his previous mob lifestyle. When a body is found during their first event and more suspicious activity happens, Mia wonders if she can solve the murder before it is pinned on her dad. Mia is an excellent cozy mystery heroine. She is smart and manages to investigate without the usual recklessness. I love the mob aspect of the book and found this to be a great start to a new series!

A new series? Be still my cozy mystery loving heart.

What a GREAT start and I can't wait for more. Just a delight and I really need more!

What a great start to a new cozy mystery series. Set in Queens, Mia is trying to start a new life with her family -- some of whom are in "The Family." It's a great mystery with a lot of humor.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Mia has returned from Florida where her philandering husband has disappeared and she was expected of having a hand in it. The fact that she is the daughter and sister of mobsters might have something to do with the suspicions. She has returned to help her father run a catering hall where he is trying his best to go straight. But it seems there are others who are conspiring to thwart his plans and will even resort to murder to frame him.
A woman with tenuous links to her father is found stabbed to death in the pop up cake that should have had a stripper in it at a bachelor party. Her father is immediately suspected for a variety of reasons but is soon released. There is a spider’s web of questionable characters from real estate tycoons to unethical real estate agents to mob connections and beyond. It makes for an entertaining story with great characters and wonderful complications. Mia is a busy lady trying to solve the murders and save the business from disaster.
The killer was hiding in plain sight but was well camouflaged throughout the book. The reveal was a big surprise as were some of the resolutions of other plot lines. I hope there are more stories as this one has “legs”.
Five purrs and two paws up.

Mia with her mob family and Italian grandma is just the medicine I needed during this crazy time. I laughed so often my husband had to ask what I was reading. The look on his face when I said a cozy mystery. He knows enough about cozy mysteries to know murders occur. He may be worried about me laughing at murder. I will correct him one day that I wasn't laughing at murder. One day...

This was a great start to a new series. I almost did not request from NetGalley until a read a review from another reviewer and he raved about the book. If you need laughs but still want to read your cozies then this is the book for you. Mia's grandma is a doll. I want to dive into the book and sample her cooking.

A bonus: recipes provided in the back. Not all Italian either there are some yummy Greek ones as well. If I have the ingredients I might be trying a few.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Kensington, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

FUN READ!

This is a delightfully entertaining debut novel of a new series by Maria DiRico (pen name of Ellen Byron)! It’s a story about Mia Carina moving back to help her family & realizing that the FAMILY is something you never really leave. Her Dad is doing his best to stay on the straight & narrow at a catering hall known as Belle View. Maria quickly discovers there’s more to running a catering hall than dealing with Bridezillas, finding the perfect matching “natural” hue of flowers, overcoming being in the flight path of LaGuardia & having using a ride share driven by her old boyfriend that she should have married. All of that is really quite normal stuff until the night of the Worst Bachelor Party Ever. That’s when murder, mayhem & madness breakout! Will Maria be able to find any clues to the this mystery? Will her Dad be implicated? Will he have to call in favors from the Family or is the Family somehow involved? Very clever debut novel!! I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Kensington Books & NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are completely my own and without influence.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Kensington Books, in return for an honest review. This is the first book in a new series, written by Ellen Byron, writing as Maria DiRico. This is an interesting take on the traditional cosy mystery as the protagonist, Mia Carina, returns to Astoria, Queens, New York City, after the disappearance of her philandering husband. Mia’s father is a high-ranking member of a local Crime family but is transitioning to owning and managing a catering and reception business at the Belle View. Mia joins as the party planner and encounters the usual assortment of challenging personalities, including ‘mom-zillas’, inane customers and those with over the top demands. During a high-paying bachelor party, a body is discovered inside the ‘jump out of the cake’ cake and Mia’s father is, once again, directly in the crosshairs of the police. Circumstances force Mia to start sleuthing to protect her father and the business. Ms. DiRico does a really good job of telling a solid cozy story with very interesting twists. Some are because of the murder and some because of the cast of characters. Her expertise in writing a compelling and engaging mystery are evident in this story and I look forward to the next in this series.