This book had all the makings of a good cozy but I found myself rooting against the heroine. Her fighting with her fiance is horrible. She has horrible anger issues. And she is judgemental and body shaming. I wanted to get into this but I was very distracted by how much I disliked the heroine.

I liked all the wacky characters except for Delilah. I found her too bossy, and she didn’t treat people very nicely until the end of the story. It was a good mystery and may give the next book in this series a chance. Loved the recipes at the back.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Opposites attract. And you would be hard pressed to find two more extreme opposites than Delilah and her fiancé. When they clash on the day of the soft opening for her new restaurant, he packs up and disappears. Delilah hopes that is the worst thing that happens to her that day. It is not. First the caregiver for her great-aunt is gunned down with her aunt’s gun that is discovered in her aunt’s lap.
The police shut down the restaurant before it even opens and the hunky detective leading the investigation has both Delilah and her aunt in his sights.

Could things get worse? Yes. With the disappearance of her fiancé who is the money behind the restaurant and nothing legal has her name on it, even if she can open, she does not know how she will pay the outstanding bills or her staff. And then she learns that the man she trusted to take care of her aunt, the deceased, was a thoroughly despicable character. Whoever killed him did the world a favour but until the murder is solved, there will be a black cloud over Delilah and her aunt.

The characters are great from Delilah to her great-aunt to her friends and loyal staff to her cat, Butterball. There is a Maine Coon in the story but he is the nemesis of Butterball. I protest. We Maine Coons are nothing but sweet kitties. But there is compensation. There is a great character who is a released convict on parole who ends up working for Delilah. He is wonderful. I think you will fall in love with the cast. I know I did and hope there will be further tales. Five purrs and two paws up.

This book is the first in a new series, and I hope it is not the last. Delilah and her crew are ready to open a new pizza restaurant in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin. Things seem to be going well for the opening, until her wealthy fiancee and financial backer walks out on her and the restaurant. The action goes from bad to worse when a murder occurs outside the restaurant, preventing the place from staying open. Working with local law enforcement, Dee is determined to get to the bottom of the events swirling around her restaurant and to protect the well-being of her friends and family, including her huge cat Butterball.

The setting provided an atmospheric ambience for the action. Food descriptions and recipes provide a tasty backdrop as Dee and crew struggle to open the pizza restaurant and avoid the murder publicity vibe. The characters include a variety of different individuals, including an ex-con, rich air-head fiance, elderly auntie, strongly opinionated females, and a shifty employee. The cat adds a final fun touch to the story. There were enough red herrings to keep me involved and trying to guess the perpetrator. It took me awhile to get into the book and past the early snarky remarks, but I plan to read the next in the series.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Though cozy mysteries are not really my genre, I do dip my toe in the water occasionally and found this one perfectly pleasant and nicely plotted. A bit damning with faint praise I know, but that’s as good as it’s going to get with me and cozies.

Delilah O’Leary is about to fulfill her dream and open her pizzeria in Geneva Bay on the shores of Lake Michigan. But on the night of the soft opening, Jeremy, the caregiver for Deliliah’s Aunt Biz is murdered in the woods near the restaurant. Delilah is determined to find the culprit so the opening of her restaurant can go ahead and, despite the attractions of Officer Calvin Capone (yes, he’s distantly related), she thinks she can solve the crime quicker than the police.

The murder plot clicks along comfortably with suspects and red herrings popping up on schedule, and it’s woven in with the lives of the warmly characterized cast. The slightly diverse staff at the restaurant all get onboard with the investigation, Aunt Biz is an irascible retired English teacher who has taught everyone in town, and Butterball the cat sheds some light on the miscreant. Delilah’s love life is in turmoil as her fiance Sam has bankrolled her dream but Delilah knows something is missing (see also: the attractions of Office Calvin Capone).

There’s some references to Chicago’s historical organized crime organizations - the restaurant used to be a hangout for the mob - but that fizzles out. The tensions in the town between the haves with their lakeside mansions and the have nots, never really coalesces into anything substantial. The only really serious thread is the care, or lack of, for elderly people, and how busy people will often approach this with their money but not their time.

Overall, this is a really solid cozy mystery, and just because I’m not fan of the genre doesn’t mean you should be as half-hearted about it as I am.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Delilah and Sam are opening their pizza restaurant in Geneva Bay near Chicago. Sam's sole responsibility (besides the backing money) was the new sign which was delivered the day of opening, but it said "DUTCH-dish" instead of "DEEP-dish" pizza, causing a huge argument between Sam and Delilah. Sam promptly disappeared and Delilah got on with the soft opening part. A murder occurred outside the party and Sam doesn't come back, making him one of the top suspects.
On top of the murder, Sam's disappearance means no funding for the restaurant to run on as he had, as usual, neglected to take care of an essential job of setting up the restaurant account that Delilah had access to.
Delilah manages to fund the essentials by pawning her beloved engagement ring.
As the investigation continues, Delilah is SURE Sam had nothing to do with the murder, but is not so sure he is still the man she wants to marry. And what is going on with Delilah's grandmother and her caretaker? Is her REALLY who he seems to be? And is Gran really going downhill that fast?
A great story with lots of family dynamics and redemption and forgiveness. A totally unexpected ending with the "least likely suspect" more like "totally unsuspected".

This is the first book I have read by Mindy Quigley and I really liked it! Some wit, seriousness, banter, and teamwork detective work going on. Delilah's pre-grand opening of her pizza place did not go as planned. She did not expect her fiance to leave her, especially with his cat. Delilah especially did not expect to find her beloved aunt holding a gun near a dead body. In order to clear her aunt's name, Delilah must do a little detective work because things are not looking good for her aunt. Her employees want to help and she figures if she keeps feeding the police department, she will be let in on some clues. Just a fun, light read! Really enjoyed this one and will be looking for the next Quigley read. Thanks to Ms. Quigley, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Chef Delilah is finally set to open her dream restaurant in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin and marry her wealthy finance -- set until her finance dumps her and there's a murder that takes place outside her restaurant right before opening night with her elderly aunt holding the murder weapon.

As with any good Cozy Mystery, and yes this is a good one, the main character ends up helping the police to solve the murder and get her life back on track. The plot is well paced and the characters develop nicely -- leaving ready for the next book to learn more about them. The killer is not obvious, as with some cozy mysteries.

Fun read with interesting characters including Buterball, an orange cat, that plays a role in helping to solve the crime. I look forward to the next installment in this series. Thank NetGalley for the preview copy.

Also reviewed on Goodreads

Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley is the first book in a new series. Delilah O'Leary's soft opening of her pizzeria also serves up a side of murder, which isn't even on the menu. Her aunt's caregiver is shot and with the restaurant closed for now, Delilah feels drawn to investigate, to the chagrin of the lead detective, who just happens to be related to Al Capone.

As delicious as the story is, the pizzas Delilah serves up sound mouthwatering and have me wanting more.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Paperbacks and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The first book in the Deep Dish Mystery Series--yes, I actually started a series from the beginning! Yayy for me as this rarely happens.
Delilah and Sam are engaged and opening an upscale pizza restaurant. Delilah is absolutely a Type A personality and demands perfection, Sam is easy-going and "goes with the flow". Just before the soft opening of their restaurant, located in a Wisconsin town known to have mob connections, Sam and Delilah fight and Sam breaks off their engagement.
The soft opening goes on as planned and does well--until someone is found dead and Delilah's Aunt Biz is found holding the murder weapon. Enter Detective Calvin Capone, great-grandson of Al Capone, and sparks fly.
I did enjoy this book a great deal. Vivid descriptions of Wisconsin and the food being prepped, so don't read this on an empty stomach! After reading this book I really do want to visit Wisconsin, it sounds like a great place to visit.
A lot of characters introduced in this book but I could keep track of them. My favorite is Aunt Biz and I hope she continues in the series. Delilah shows some potential growth and perhaps a tune-down of her Type A personality. I had guessed the culprit but it didn't distract from enjoying this book. I plan to continue the series.
Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for supplying this ARC. All opinions are mine.

What better focus for a new cozy mystery series than a gourmet pizza shop on a picturesque lake? With a kitchen full of great supporting characters--an ex-con, charming bartender, brash aunt, BFF, and young ingenue hostess--our boss lady heroine is ready to solve any crime that comes her way! And when her aunt's caretaker is murdered in the restaurant's backyard with her aunt's gun, she has no choice but to poke her nose into police business. A missing fiance and a handsome cop round out our cast, making for a fulsome, tasty, and intriguing start to this new series. While the book took a bit to get going, the mystery itself ended up being perhaps the highlight, with a creative yet plausible conclusion that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Chef Delilah O’Leary is just about to open her gourmet pizzeria in the resort town of Geneva Bay, Wisconsin. Engaged to a handsome, wealthy man, it seems everything is going her way.

Then she and fiancé Sam have a huge fight and break up, just before her aged aunt’s caregiver is murdered at her restaurant’s soft opening party and her aunt is found holding the murder weapon. Will the police finish their investigation in time for her to open? Will Sam’s leaving mean the end of her pizzeria before it even opens since he was the key financier of the restaurant? Will she find out what has been going on with her beloved aunt?

Delilah is surround by friends, some new and some who’ve been in her life for years. Everyone teams up to help her solve the murder so the restaurant can open and she can pay the bills to keep it going.

There are plenty of suspects and people with agendas, so it won’t be easy to unwind what’s going on in time to open for business, but Delilah isn’t one to quit.

Ms. Quigley has created an eclectic group of characters with an intriguing mystery. What a good start to a new cozy series!

What an incredible story. I love puns. I'm obsessed with them. The title and cover are what drew me into reading this book, and I'm glad they did. A cute murder Mystery that scratched the itch I had.

Opening a pizza parlour can be a tough gig even if you're an accredited chef. It gets even harder when your fiancé disappears and somebody murders your aunt's caregiver.
This cozy mystery is a mile-a-minute thrill ride with a heroine who's a trained chef and an amateur sleuth with a whole cast of potential murderers. I actually didn't figure it out until nearly the end, but it was sure fun trying to out-sleuth the heroine and the hunky cop trying to solve the case.
An all round fun read.

i was super excited to start this series from the very beginning and read each installment as they come out! i really enjoyed the concept of this plot and how everything was paced. all of delilah’s discoveries kept me on my toes and took me quite by surprise. reading this novel definitely made me hungry so i wouldn’t recommend diving into it with an empty stomach! all of the foodie talk made me excited to try the delicious sounding pizza recipes included in the back of the book!

all the characters are clearly introduced in the beginning as people who have their own flaws. for instance, rabbit is ex-convict who gets hired by delilah and is working to prove that he’s changed his ways. even delilah is going through a rough patch in her relationship with her fiancée but none of that stops them from supporting delilah and her dream business. for a moment i was worried that all of these details would muddle the plot… but it’s actually the opposite! i think the author handled these details beautifully and it’ll be interesting to see how they all continue to develop in the next novels.

If you like pizza and cozies (and who doesn't!), you'll love this new series. Even this New Yorker who won't get within 10 miles of a Chicago-style pizza adored it.

Delilah is an engaging main character, and the overall cast is just fantastic. My favorite part was getting the recipe in Sonya's voice at the end . To be honest, there are way too many recipes. I thought the book was going to be longer because there's so much stuff after the story closes. But that's my only real complaint, and it's a minor one.

Early on, there were at least three characters I was hoping would become victims, yet the author still surprised me. The end made perfect sense, but it wasn't obvious. That's my favorite type of mystery. I like to be able to figure it out without knowing before the end of the first chapter. Keep me guessing, please, and Mindy Quigley did an excellent job. I will certainly be reading the rest of this series. Highly recommended.

*Review based on ARC.

Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley is the first in the new Deep Dish Mysteries series. As Delilah is counting down the minutes to the grand opening of her new deep-dish pizzeria in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin, her relationship with her fiancé/funder implodes. Yet she manages to pull off the grand opening but before she can breathe a sigh of relief a dead body is discovered with her elderly and confused aunt holding the murder weapon. With her fiancé MIA, Delilah needs to come up with a plan B and solve the murder before her new restaurant goes under before it opens for business.

There were so many great characters in this book but Aunt Biz was my favorite. What a pip! The mystery was well-plotted and held my interest. The opening scenes leading up to Delilah’s and Sam’s break-up did not create a likeable image of Delilah. Her many wonderful qualities were overshadowed by this less than stellar introduction. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book overall and look forward to the next in this series. (I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.)

This is one of the best-written cozy mysteries I have ever read! Everything is done well: description, characterization, setting, structure, plot, red herrings, and resolution. I was totally immersed in the world of the story, and fully invested in main character Delilah and the wellbeing of her Aunt Biz. There is also a strong and well-executed moral to this story that manages to deliver an important message without being the least bit heavy-handed. I have been avoiding reading second books in cozy mystery series because they don't tend to live up to the series openers, but I loved this so much I will most likely make an exception and look for book two as soon as it comes out!

First in a new series and it was so much fun meeting these characters. Delilah O’Leary is opening a gourmet deep-dish pizzeria in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin. Who knew that Geneva Bay is the choice of millionaires wanting to live on the lake, mobsters wanting to get away from it all, and just folks wanting a great vacation spot. We start with Deliliah getting ready to open her restaurant with the backing of her millionaire fiancée, Sam. A flight between the two occurs and Sam disappears, leaving Deliliah with trying to figure out how to get her restaurant off the ground and take care of Butterball, a plus-sizedcat adopted by Deliliah and Sam. To further complicate matters, a murder occurs during the soft opening of the restaurant and her aunt is holding the murder weapon.

Some great supporting characters and the detective, Calvin Capone (yep, he’s related to that Capone), add a lot of color as Deliliah identifies and investigates suspects. And just when you think everything is settled, the author throws in a twist that reveals all. This is a great beginning to a new series. I can’t wait to read more about Deliliah and try out some of the pizza recipes.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun start to a new cozy mystery series. I loved the setting, and the author did a great job of creating the Wisconsin atmosphere with the imagery and dialogue. Our protagonist, Delilah, is a bit rough around the edges, which can make her a hard character to like, but I really enjoyed following her journey to solving the mystery. This did get a bit dark for a cozy, but the other cozy elements made up for it. I'm looking forward to the next book!