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The Witless Protection Program (A Catering Hall Mystery)
by Maria DiRico
The Witless Protection Program (A Catering Hall Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – New York
Kensington Cozies (March 26, 2024)
Mass Market Paperback : 304 pages
ISBN-10 : 1496744624
ISBN-13 : 978-1496744623
Digital ASIN : B0C9W8W668
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Mia Carina has steered her Italian-American family’s Astoria, Queens, catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor, into becoming the borough’s premiere party site, and nothing could make her happier—except her boyfriend proposing. There’s just one presumed-dead obstacle in the way . . .
A strong, independent woman and respected entrepreneur, Mia never imagined she’d pine for a marriage proposal. Yet lately, with her beloved Shane, she’s on tenterhooks. It’s especially surprising, considering Mia’s first husband, Adam, was a philandering grifter, assumed lost-at-sea after a boating disaster. But everyone knows what happens when you assume . . .
While working a huge wedding expo in Manhattan, Mia is shocked to spot the man who nearly destroyed her life. The one who’s supposed to be sleeping with the fishes. But she loses him in the crowd. And when it happens again the next day, it’s time for an emergency meeting with the family—and the Family. Because if Adam is alive, Mia is still married . . .
Everyone wants Adam dead. Everyone except Mia. She’s dealt with enough police for a lifetime. Mia needs to be a divorcée, not a widow. But someone out there disagrees, and if Mia doesn’t discover who, she may never be free to marry Shane—or anyone else . . .
Italian recipes included!
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Enjoy this peek inside:
The instant Mia and Shane deplaned at Miami International Airport, she was assailed by memories of her past in the city—none of them good.
Shane noticed the anxious expression on her face and placed a comforting arm around her. “You doing okay?”
Mia shrugged. “Been better. The last time I was here, Miami PD had barely released me as a suspect in Adam’s disappearance. Now, here I am, only it’s worse. I’m a suspect in his actual murder.”
“At least you’re not the only one this time,” Shane said, pointing to himself.
“Why doesn’t that make me feel better?” She asked this with a bemused expression.
The couple made their way to the MIA Mover, which took them to the airport’s Car Rental Center where upon Mia’s insistence, they rented separate cars. “No way am I staying overnight. You go your way, I’ll go mine, and we’ll meet up at the Departure gate to compare notes.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Shane gave a mock salute, then bent down and kissed her. “We’re gonna get through this. And get married. And live in the circus house. And have the best life any two people ever had.”
Mia fought back the urge to burst into tears. “I love you so, so much.” She grabbed Shane and planted a kiss on him that earned whistles from people waiting in line for their cars.
They picked up a couple of compact sedans and headed in separate directions. The exit alone from the airport reminded Mia that when it came to speeding and tailgating, Miami drivers gave New Yorkers a run for their money. Then again, half of them probably are New Yorkers.
The car’s GPS chirped directions she didn’t need to the Tutta Pasta that Adam managed before his mysterious disappearance. Slowed by the usual heavy traffic between the airport and North Bay Village, it took Mia twenty-five minutes to travel the eleven-mile route. She pulled into the half-empty parking lot and started at the restaurant’s logo of a giant, politically incorrect caricature of an Italian chef holding a smiling, anthropomorphic vat of steaming pasta. She exited the vehicle and was immediately assailed by a blast of Miami’s notorious humidity. The restaurant entrance was only a few yards away, but perspiration already dripped down her cheeks by the time she got to the front door. She steeled herself, then pulled it open.
Mia stepped inside the restaurant… and didn’t recognize the place. It had been completely remodeled, its original kitschy décor replaced by an attempt at a more upscale design in muted silvers and grays. Mia took in the changes. “It’s like when they clean up after a crime scene,” she muttered.
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About Maria DiRico
Maria DiRico is the pseudonym for Ellen Byron, author of the award-winning, USA Today bestselling Cajun Country Mysteries. Born in Queens, New York, she is a first-generation Italian-American on her mother’s side and the granddaughter of a low-level Jewish mobster on her father’s side. She grew up visiting the Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina catering halls, which were run by her Italian mother’s family in Queens and have become the inspiration for her Catering Hall Mystery Series. DiRico has been a writer-producer for hit television series like Wings and Just Shoot Me, and her first play, Graceland, appears in the Best Short Plays collection. She’s a freelance journalist, with over 200 articles published in national magazines, and previously worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. A native New Yorker who attended Tulane University, Ellen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and two rescue dogs.
Author Links – Website – Chicks on the Case – Facebook – Twitter
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo –Bookshop.org – Kensington
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