Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing.
Sleep in Heavenly Pizza
A Deep Dish Mysteries
Mindy Quigley
Minotaur Books
This is book four of the Deep Dish
Mystery series that features an amazing chef named Delilah O’Leary and her
restaurant family. This time around it
is the holiday season and Delilah has taken a catering job for a Chrismakkah
party and unbeknownst to Delilah event the guest list includes her brother-in-law
who is attending along with Delilah’s niece from California. This is the same
family who can never quite make it for a visit yet here they are, in town (AWKWARD).
Not as awkward finding a dead/frozen body of a party guest in the ice sculpture
area or as awkward as dating the detective in charge of the murder
investigation asking for Delilah’s family members and coworkers for their alibis.
A few people are not very forth coming including Delilah’s older sister, Piper.
They already have a strained relationship based on familial expectations and
perceptions. I mean it isn’t like Piper is an intimidating older sister who is
a driven rocket scientist who might not think much of a restaurateur…oh wait
yes she is.
If this is your first Deep Dish Mystery, there are a few things you need to know. First off, there will be food mentioned often, delicious sounding food. The detective in charge of this and past investigations is Calvin Capone, yes, he is related to THAT Capone and he is Delilah’s boyfriend (finally). Capone is very good at what he does and he is slowly starting to accept Delilah’s abilities to contribute useful suppositions and knack for information gathering. The evolving relationship of these two adds to the enjoyment of the series and you don’t have to start with the first book to get a good glimpse as to how far they have come in their abilities to work together while also accepting the attraction that they have for each other.
The additional characters are live well blended flavors that enhance the stories. Rabbit represents change and second chances. Melody is the girl next door who is learning to be bold. KDKDK is a man’s man and a bit of charmer but completely loyal and sincere. Sonya is a modern day pin up girl who is a ride or die friend. I could see her being the type of friend who would bail you out or possibly help you hide a body. Last but not least is Aunt Biz who has a tendency to be a little curmudgeonly but during the holiday season she has gone manic in a very happy holiday fashion.
Delilah is going to need a holiday
miracle to keep from losing family, friends, or her sanity. There are a good
number of suspects, from the well-to-do Hoffman’s, Jonathan, Piper, Rabbit, or
an unknown person. Either way Dee would much rather be the one looking into her
family than to have Capone thinking that her friends or family could be
involved. There is some serious friction and I had to agree Butterball the cat;
Capone had a job to do. Butterball adds a bit of comedic relief as well as
playing devil’s advocate which is pretty good for a cat. There are plenty of subplots
that may or intertwine or they might be a fishy misdirection. This was a
thoroughly enjoyable story with such amazing food. Be sure to check out the
recipes at the back of the book. In fact start there with the Tear-and-Share
Christmas Tree Pizza Bread to snack on while reading. There is a nice selection
of yummy recipes that are taken from the Chrismakkah party menu. I am looking
forward the next mystery with the Delilah and Son’s gang, although chances are
that Biz will be back to her usual snarky self, but we still love her.
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