Source: Publisher
Description: While Geneva Bay’s upper crust gets ready to party down at a Prohibition-themed fundraiser, pizza chef Delilah O’Leary is focused on seeing her struggling restaurant through the winter slow season. The temperature outside is plummeting, but Delilah’s love life might finally be heating up, as hunky police detective Calvin Capone seems poised to (finally) make a move.
But Delilah’s hopes of perfecting a new “free-from” pizza recipe for a charity bash are dashed when a dead body crashes the party. Soon, Capone, Delilah, and her entire staff are trapped in an isolated mansion and embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
To catch an increasingly-desperate killer, Delilah will have to top all of her previous crime-solving accomplishments, and a few pizzas, too.
Genre: Mystery - Cozy
Why I Picked This Book: I've heard great things about this series so I couldn't resist this one!
My Impression: This is a cute mystery with a fantastic locked room premise and a couple of cats for comic relief. Delilah is on her way to a catering job with her best friend and business partner Sonya when she gets a phone call that sends things off the rails. Before everything is over Delilah has had to come up with a deep dish pizza free from gluten, dairy, and tomatoes on the fly, a very annoyed, very large feline, and an evening that starts with a fatal fall and keeps getting worse.
The group of suspects is small on number but heavy on potential motives and most of them were rather awful. As the night goes on the stakes get higher and that makes for a fast paced read. I loved the restaurant crew and while the premise for Butterball's (which is a fantastic name for a cat!) presence is a bit ridiculous I couldn't help but love him. I enjoyed the writing style and the food references and now want some garlic knots and a deep dish pizza!
Delilah wasn't my favorite main character but I'm assuming the more books I read in the series the more I'll like her. The ending especially runs a bit towards the farce side side of things which isn't necessarily my favorite type of cozy. That said, this was a fun read and a series I'm looking forward to reading more from.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Yes! I'm looking forward to reading the first two books in the series and will look for the next book in the series.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy quirky cozies with a feline sidekick this is a fun series to try. This reads nicely as a standalone if you don't want to start with book 1.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy quirky cozies with a feline sidekick this is a fun series to try. This reads nicely as a standalone if you don't want to start with book 1.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
I love the cover and the book sounds good except for the anchovies. YUCK! :)
ReplyDeleteI love the look of this one! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI like the food part but I never can decide if it would be too (over the top) quirky for me with a cozy.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart
I have to try this series. It sounds good.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking reading the first two books will put you more in the picture especially with the main character.
ReplyDelete