Ever have a day where nothing seems to right for you? Delilah, owner and chef is upset over the signage not being correct for her new restaurant. She gets into a fight about it with her fiancé Sam. When she goes into a “rage” with Sam about the signage, laidback Sam leaves as he is now rethink about marrying Delilah. Delilah decides to invite her friends and family a “soft lunch.” When her waiter disappears to be with the wine consultant, she decides to go after him to fired him on the spot. She doesn’t find the waiter but Elderly Aunt Biz with a gun over, dead Jeremy who was Aunt Biz’s live-in caretaker. Aunt Biz has no idea what happened, her memory is not good. Delilah and the police, Detective Capone don’t think it was Aunt Biz who killed him. Who did? Delilah decides to do a little investigating to help the police find the murderer. Delilah is having a difficult day as Sam had disappeared on the day of the murder and she finds herself becoming increasingly attractive to Detective Capone. Who is the murderer? Will Delilah let Detective Capone know how she feels?.

The author wrote a cozy mystery that had interesting characters. It ended up being a mystery that I enjoyed except for one thing, it made me hungry describing the delicious items she made. It’s a mystery that has humor which made it fun to read besides trying to figure out who was the murderer. There are delicious recipes at the end of the book!

2.75⭐️

The storyline of this one is a lot of fun. I like the restaurant vibes, the mixed cast of characters (all different ages), Butterball, and of course, some sleuthing.

What I don’t like? The main character. She got on my nerves right from the get-go. I just don’t like her and unfortunately we spend an entire book with her, so had she been a bit different I likely would have really enjoyed this one.

Give it a try for yourself!

Thank you to Mindy Quigley, St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Cute, enjoyable read. Great twists and turns, keeps one guessing all the way. Characters are believable, and story line is totally up to date.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

I thoroughly enjoyed this funny, exciting, suspenseful opening to the Deep Dish Mysteries series! It has many things I appreciate in cozy mysteries: engaging, likable characters, a complex mystery, cats, pizza, and summer in a Midwest lakeside town. It has recipes, including Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

Delilah had paid her dues as a chef, having worked with the best, most temperamental, and most eccentric talent in the fine dining industry. She recently moved from Chicago to Geneva Bay, Wisconsin with her fiancé, Sam. She wanted to be near her beloved great-aunt Biz and keep eyes on her live-in help as her health declined. Sam had earned a ridiculous sum of money for an app he created in college, so he offered to pay for their move and invest in a restaurant for Delilah. Living in a town she loves and opening her own upscale Chicago-style deep dish pizza restaurant is a dream come true. They named it Sam and Delilah’s Deep Dish Pizza, and her Type A+ personality made her check every detail, except the tasks Sam wanted to handle.

One of those things was getting the new sign installed on time. When the sign arrived saying Deep Dutch pizza…Sam did what Sam did best. Delilah’s perfectionism and upset at the situation messed up his serenity, so he packed his bags and left. The Prohibition-era Queen Anne mansion he purchased and was remodeling wasn’t ready to move into yet, and he didn’t tell her where he was going. She and her staff were on their own for that evening’s soft opening.

The evening’s opening began very well. Auntie Biz’s caregiver, Jeremy, dropped her off in her wheelchair and disappeared. When Jeremy reappeared, Delilah asked him to take Biz out for some fresh air. Only minutes later, Jeremy lay dead, with Biz leaning over him. In her hand was the handgun she kept in her purse, but she had passed out before Jeremy was shot, and had no idea what happened. The Grand Opening, scheduled for the following night, was not going to happen until the crime scene was cleared. Biz could be arrested for a murder she was incapable of committing, and if Sam didn’t return to pay the vendors and make payroll for the new staff, they might never open.

The author has given us a wonderful cast of characters who were described with care. Delilah is a breath of fresh air. She is like many of us, with positive traits, flaws, and scars. At times, being privy to her thoughts was like listening in on my own internal dialog. Once her shock and anger wore off, Delilah got into action, refusing to play victim. She listened to suggestions from best friend Sonya and took stock of her own shortcomings while trying to find the killer. Auntie Biz was a feisty little thing! After years of teaching high school and volunteer teaching at a nearby prison, she cared enough about others’ future to tell them what they needed to hear. It was hard for Delilah to see her mental decline.

Delilah had not known about Sam’s huge bank account until they dated for months. There wasn’t enough money to keep someone unreliable around. When the going got tough, he went to yoga retreats. Delilah tried to have a good, solid staff, and with one exception, was successful. One wild card, the very handsome Detective Calvin Capone of the famous Capone family, was intelligent, listened to Delilah’s ideas, and was determined to solve the case. I was rooting for him from the first scene he appeared in. I love Butterball, the overweight orange tabby, Sam’s cat who began to adore Delilah.

Plot twists kept throwing in surprises while adding and subtracting suspects. Delilah wanted the killer caught, knowing her auntie didn’t do it. When Biz was hospitalized in serious condition, she wanted whoever was responsible for that caught, also. She, Sonya, and their staff couldn’t re-open yet, so what did they have to lose? Detective Capone didn’t want Delilah involved with the investigation, but it wasn’t his auntie on the suspect – or hit – list. This is such a good mystery that kept me guessing throughout, yet I didn’t want to see it end! I was fully satisfied with the resolutions and conclusion, and am eager to read the next in series. I highly recommend this cozy mystery!

Six Feet Deep Dish
Deep Dish Mysteries, Book #1
Mindy Quigley
5 Stars

Synopsis:

Fresh mozzarella, tangy tomato sauce, and murder: the perfect recipe for a delicious first entry in Mindy Quigley's Six Feet Deep Dish, a delectable new series...

Delilah O’Leary can’t wait to open her new gourmet deep-dish pizzeria in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin—a charming resort town with a long history as a mobsters’ hideaway, millionaires’ playground, and vacation mecca. Engaged to a hunk with a hefty trust fund, Delilah is poised to begin a life that’s just about as delicious as one of her cheesy creations.

Just before opening night, though, Delilah’s plans for pizza perfection hit the skids when her fiancé dumps her and leaves her with a very large memento from their relationship—Butterball, their spoiled, plus-sized tabby cat.

Delilah’s trouble deepens when she discovers a dead body and finds her elderly aunt holding the murder weapon. Handsome local police detective Calvin Capone, great grandson of the legendary gangster, opens an investigation, threatening to sink Delilah’s pie-in-the-sky ambitions before they can even get off the ground. To save her aunt and get her pizza place generating some dough, Delilah must deliver the real killer. (Amazon)

Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed. We meet Delilah, Sonya, Daniel, Melody, Rabbit, Aunt Biz and Butterball. I really liked all of them and they make a tight group of characters and I enjoyed them all. Delilah has the soft opening planned for her pizzeria , but it does not go as planned. For one thing, before the night is over, she breaks it off with her fiance. And to make matters worse, Delilah’s aunt’s caregiver is killed with her aunt’s gun. Her aunt and Delilah are considered persons of interest. With the help of her friends, she will have to figure out who the culprit is.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The mystery was well plotted and I was surprised at who the culprit was, which is how I like my mysteries.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a well crafted cozy mystery. I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the next one when it is released.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

I enjoyed this story very much. It is a character driven murder mystery which is done very well. Delilah O'Leary is a chef who has accomplished her dream on the eve of opening her gourmet pizzeria, just before everything goes downhill. A murder investigation is underway and Detective Calvin Capone is investigating her elderly aunt!
I read a lot of mystery books and love figuring out 'who dun it' but this one got me and it made perfect sense. I love how the author worked the plot with this.
This is the start of a new series and I am looking forward to reading more. I love that the author had characters give recipes at the end of the book.
I received this book as an advanced reader's copy from the publisher and NetGalley. This is my own unsolicited opinion.

So glad I’m hopping into this series right at the beginning of the series. Delilah is a strong protagonist with a wealthy boyfriend, a feisty aunt, a chubby cat, and a vision for her new restaurant. She is off to a rocky start as one thing after another goes wrong at her soft opening – from a misspelled sign to a lovers’ quarrel to murder. Suspects abound, unfortunately, her aunt is at the top of the list – even though Aunt Biz isn’t much like herself these days.

So Delilah must find out what’s up with her aunt, do her best to keep her out of jail, solve a murder, repair her relationship (while resisting her urge to flirt with detective Calvin Capone – yes that Capone – who is investigating the case), and launch her restaurant.

Six Feet Deep Dish is a fun and fast-paced cozy with well-rounded characters and plenty of blind alleys to follow as you try to figure out who done it.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy of Six Feet Deep Dish from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For a first book in a series, it was amazing. Words flowed. The concept of the book was great it kept moving kept me interested. All the different actions and twist and turns was great. Even the cats talking was cute. I hope to hear and see more from this author and continue on wards!!!!!

This was a fun little cozy mystery! The mystery was great fun to try to figure out and the setting was quirky and cute. I also love pizza, so that helps! I’m not really a cat person (dog lover!), but I even loved the cat! I would definitely read more in this series.

How do you like your pizza? 🍕

Deep dish? Thin and crispy? Thin, bendy, and folded over in half? Pizza rolls? 😆

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this delicious #arc

This new #cozymystery series from @minty_fresh_books was so fun! It's got yummy food, a small lakefront town, a fiesty old lady, a very relatable #slueth - basically all the perfect ingredients for a #cozymysteryseries

Synopsis: Delilah O’Leary can’t wait to open her new gourmet deep-dish pizzeria in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin—a charming resort town with a long history as a mobsters’ hideaway, millionaires’ playground, and vacation mecca. Engaged to a hunk with a hefty trust fund, Delilah is poised to begin a life that’s just about as delicious as one of her cheesy creations.

Just before opening night, though, Delilah’s plans for pizza perfection hit the skids when her fiancé dumps her and leaves her with a very large memento from their relationship—Butterball, their spoiled, plus-sized tabby cat.

Delilah’s trouble deepens when she discovers a dead body and finds her elderly aunt holding the murder weapon. Handsome local police detective Calvin Capone, great grandson of the legendary gangster, opens an investigation, threatening to sink Delilah’s pie-in-the-sky ambitions before they can even get off the ground. To save her aunt and get her pizza place generating some dough, Delilah must deliver the real killer.

I enjoy a good cozy that involves a very round cat just as much as the next person, and this title certainly delivered. The recipes had me wishing I could cook. The side characters were endearing. The mystery was cozy, and the cat was absolutely perfect. But I really did not enjoy the main character. Her anger and behavior with the people who are supposed to be her friends did not sit well with me. Overall, I had a good time with this book. But I think I could've had a better time.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to enjoy this very much; our MC is way too combative for me to enjoy the book. Which is really a shame because the other characters, the time issues it’s dealing with, and the mystery itself are pretty good.

Mindy Quigley’s Six Feet Deep Dish is one of the best cozy mysteries I’ve read in a long time. As a first in the Deep-Dish Mystery series, the novel features chefs Delilah O’Leary and her best friend Sonya Perlman-Doktor, who leave Chicago to open a Deep Dish Pizza restaurant in toney Geneva Bay, Wisconsin. Mindy Quigley does a fantastic job introducing the series’ main characters (such as the other employees at the restaurant, Delilah’s Aunt Biz, and Delilah’s potential love interest Detective Capone), and locale. The book is also funny — including the recipes at the end of the book which have been written by the different characters. The novel is also very timely, dealing with issues such as elder abuse and opiate dependency. 5.0 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary advanced copy of this book. All of my opinions about the book are wholly my own.

I'm a little on the fence about this book. I enjoyed the setting, the mystery, the mouthwatering recipes, and most of the characters...but I struggled with the main character, Delilah. She's a chef and very driven, has anger issues and seems arrogant while also kind of body shaming. I know the first book in a new series can be hit or miss, so I'll probably give the next book a try and hope Delilah has "grown" a little.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

Well developed characters and the plot moves at a good pace. A new pizza restaurant with characters moving from Chicago with names like Leary and Capone. You'll enjoy getting to know these characters.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Delilah O’Leary has many fond memories of Geneva Bay, Wisconsin, so when her fiancé agrees to bankroll her dream of opening a gourmet deep-dish pizzeria she knows Geneva Bay is the perfect place. Plus her Aunt Biz has some health issues and Delilah wants to be nearby. She pulls inspiration for the restaurant’s decor from the mobster history of the town. Not everyone thinks that is a good idea so she hopes her idea doesn’t backfire.

On the night of a soft opening, the sign for the outdoor pizzeria arrives with an error that leads to a fight between Delilah and Sam. A fight that has Sam packing his bags and leaving Delilah in the sauce regarding the future of her dream pizza place and the future of her life if Sam truly leaves her, but for now she needs to serve her customers.

With all the things on her plate, the last thing she needs is any more trouble but this is just not her day. Her Aunt Biz wasn’t feeling well and her caregiver takes her outside for some fresh air. When they fail to return Delilah goes to look for them. She finds a horrific scene of a dead body and her aunt holding the murder weapon.

Enter hunky Detective Calvin Capone, yes he is related to that Capone. Delilah has more to worry about than if the detective thinks about her decor. She needs to find the real killer to save her Aunt Biz and her pizzeria.

I love starting a new cozy series and this one has the added delight of being set in my home state. I was thrilled that the author even got the dialogue and phrasing right. One character sounded just like my Aunt Evie. The descriptions of Wisconsin hit home too.

Speaking of characters, Delilah is very OCD and a little harsh, making her a hard protagonist to like. She has friends working with her but she is a very difficult boss. Her fiancé Sam is a trust fund guy without a care in the world. His laid-back attitude is tolerated by Delilah until it isn’t, yeah the fight. I didn’t really care for him either. Aunt Biz is a treasure. But it is Butterball that gets all my love and steals the show. He is one spoiled kitty and he has the body to show it. The author introduces a lot of characters right off the bat. Some are a bit more fleshed out than others, all have plenty of room to grow and maybe in Delilah’s case a little nicer.

The mystery was intriguing but not very complex. Detective Capone warned Delilah several times to leave the investigation to him but Delilah was basically having clues dropped in her lap. I plucked each one out right away and solved the mystery pretty early in the story. I was a little put off by Delilah’s daydreaming about the detective. It made her come off even more fickle than when the story started. I have learned it is hard to have a very complex mystery in the first book of a series because all the characters have to be introduced and the world-building needed to define the locale fills many pages.

I really enjoyed the gourmet pizzas that were created and their descriptions. I was craving pizza from the first page to the last. Recipes are included at the end of the book including the correct way to make a deep-dish pizza.

With Six Feet Deep Dish, Ms. Quigley has given the series a good crust foundation and spooned on the sauce. I hope in future books she makes her characters more engaging and more representative of the residents of Wisconsin. I have a good feeling about this series so I am rounding my rating up.

This book will absolutely make you want pizza really badly.

Geneva Bay, Wisconsin is lacking a deep dish pizza restaurant, and Delilah and her fiance, Sam, are just the people to fill this void. But on opening night, Delilah and her fiance break up, and Deliah's aunt's caregiver is murdered. To protect her aunt, and keep her restaurant afloat, Delilah must solve the mystery and track down the murderer.

Seriously, this book made me crave pizza so much-just thinking about it has me wanting to order in. The descriptions of the food are fantastic. Delilah is highly likeable, and the supporting characters are a lot of fun. I'm especially intrigued by the police detective Calvin Capone, who is both exasperated and flirtatious when it comes to Delilah and her investigations. I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes next.

Deliah and her her very rich, entrepreneur boyfriend are opening her dream pizza place in the beautiful community of Geneva Bay. Delilah spent summers here with her Aunt and thinks this will be a wonderful change of pace from Chicago. How things start to go south very fast. First she breaks-up with her fiance who is the money behind the venture. Then on the night of her soft opening someone is shot and her enfeebled Aunt is left holding the gun.

I love cozies and this was entertaining. The style was easy to read and the plot had a twist at the end that I didn't foresee. What I didn't enjoy was the main character. She was very self-centered and rarely thought of others. She did start to grow at the end, but that really turned me off. Hopefully Delilah will grow-up and become a bit nicer. Then I would like this series better.

I absolutely loved this book! The characters, the mystery, and the drama were all so good! I am off to preorder the next one!

*I received an ARC copy from NetGalley

DNF @25%

Nope. I barely got into this book [that I had to purchase an audiobook for - thankfully I was able to return that!!] when I realized that this was just not going to be for me. The MC is not a nice person and her whole attitude and treatment of those around her was so off-putting and angering and I just don't need that kind of stuff in my life right now.
The premise is good and I was looking forward to this, so it is disappointing for sure.

I was asked to read/review this by St. Martin's Press and I thank them, NetGalley and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.