Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Long Island Iced Tina (A Catering Hall Mystery) by Maria DiRico. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Mia Carina is back in the borough of Queens—in charge of the family catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor, and keeping her nonna company. But some events—like murder—are not the kind you can schedule . . .
Long Island Iced Tina (A Catering Hall Mystery)
by Maria DiRico
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Long Island Iced Tina (A Catering Hall Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Publisher: Kensington (February 23, 2021)
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
Mia’s newly pregnant friend Nicole plans to hold a shower at Belle View—but Nicole also has to attend one that her competitive (and mysteriously rich) stepmother, Tina, is throwing at the fanciest place in Queens. It’s a good chance for Mia to snoop on a competitor, especially since doing a search for “how to run a catering hall” can get you only so far.
Mia tags along at the lavish party, but the ambiance suffers at Nicole’s Belle View shower when a fight breaks out—and then, oddly, a long-missing and valuable stolen painting is unwrapped by the mom-to-be. Tina is clearly shocked to see it. But not as shocked as Mia is when, soon afterward, she spots the lifeless body of a party guest floating in the marina . . .
Italian recipes included!
Guest Post: I WASN’T DREAMING, I SWEAR
Years ago, sometime in the mid-1980s, I was visiting my nonna (that’s Italian for grandmother) with my mother. We were in Nonna’s living room and after exchanging a flood of Italian with each other, my mother told me that Nonna had said the late husband of a widowed friend of hers had appeared to the friend in a dream to tell her he’d been buried without shoes. So they sent a pair of shoes “up to him” in the casket of another Pisano (that’s Italian for countryman) who passed away. I’ve never forgotten this odd, kind of endearing story. Writer that I am, I filed it away for future use. That future use manifested itself as the subplot for Long Island Iced Tina, my new Catering Hall Mystery. I proudly shared this with my mother. Her reaction?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
That’s right. My mother has zero memory of telling me this tale, whereas I can vividly remember the moment, almost down to what she was wearing at the time. Which leads us to the question… who’s right? Did my mother forget telling me the story? Did I dream it? Sadly, Nonna is no longer with us, so she can’t solve the mystery.
I love this quirky anecdote beyond reason and refuse to believe I dreamt it. For one thing, I don’t think I’m that creative. For another, when I recall it, I see myself in such a specific and real location, it’s impossible for me to entertain any alternate theory. It’s not like I remember other weird details. I don’t see the man floating or flying above a strange woman, his widow, when I recall it. There are no dreamlike hallucinations. It’s all very straightforward. Nonna tells my mother the story in Italian; Mom repeats it to me in English.
There’s another reason I want the story to be real. It’s so much better if it is. Real, it’s both sadly and hilariously bizarre. As a dream, it’s, well… a dream. And much less interesting.
Bottom line, I had a wonderful time writing the subplot for Elisabetta, the nonna of my series’ protagonist, Mia. I hope you enjoy reading it. And remember…
It. Really. Happened!
Thanks for sharing this not-dream! That is so wild…either way!
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 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.
Website – https://www.ellenbyron.com/catering-hall-mysteries
Chicks on the Case – http://chicksonthecase.net/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CateringHallMysteries/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/ellenbyronla
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Play – IndieBound
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Long Island Iced Tina Tour Participants
March 1
Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW
FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
Novel Alive – SPOTLIGHT
March 2
Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
Brianne’s Book Reviews – REVIEW
March 3
My Reading Journeys – REVIEW, EXCERPT
This Is My Truth Now – REVIEW, RECIPE
Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
March 4
I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
ebook addicts – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
March 5
Christy’s Cozy Corners – GUEST POST
Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
Cassidy’s Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT
March 6
Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
March 7
Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW
StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE
I Read What You Write – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
March 8
Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST
March 9
Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
Novels Alive – REVIEW
Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
March 10
Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW
Author Elena Taylor’s Blog – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
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Thanks for letting me share this story!
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping!
I enjoyed the guest post. I love the colors of the book cover.
It looks like a good read.