Author: Maria DiRico
Published: March 26, 2024 by Kensington
Format: Kindle, Paperback 304 Pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Catering Hall Mystery #5
First Sentence: Tavern on the Green was as lush and elegant as Mia always dreamed it would be.
Blurb: 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
My Opinion: “The Witless Protection Program” by Maria DiRico, the fifth and final book in the series, promised a blend of humor and mystery; unfortunately, that was not delivered. The dead body of an ex-husband, wedding planning, and a strange recluse living across the street should have rounded out the book, but by the midway point, I could not care about anyone or the escapades they found themselves in.
Just as Mia Carina gets her life back in order and a shiny new engagement ring on her finger, her supposedly deceased ex-husband, Adam Grosso, makes a sudden reappearance. No one liked Adam and what he did to Mia, and since she has ties to the Family, she is considered a suspect when Adam’s corpse is found in the alley near her home.
This book reads as though Maria DiRico seems to have gotten bored and turned her characters into cardboard characters so she could get to the end. Not much has changed about them since the first book in the Catering Hall Mysteries. While the subplots promise some interest, they often lead to redundant dead ends. Since this is the last book in the series, DiRico went overboard in tying up all the characters in an overused style.
The premise of this series drew me in; the final book, “The Witless Protection Program,” started with an engaging plot that fizzled out quickly with an absurd ending. It’s a disappointment for those who have invested in this five-book series.
Blurb: 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
My Opinion: “The Witless Protection Program” by Maria DiRico, the fifth and final book in the series, promised a blend of humor and mystery; unfortunately, that was not delivered. The dead body of an ex-husband, wedding planning, and a strange recluse living across the street should have rounded out the book, but by the midway point, I could not care about anyone or the escapades they found themselves in.
Just as Mia Carina gets her life back in order and a shiny new engagement ring on her finger, her supposedly deceased ex-husband, Adam Grosso, makes a sudden reappearance. No one liked Adam and what he did to Mia, and since she has ties to the Family, she is considered a suspect when Adam’s corpse is found in the alley near her home.
This book reads as though Maria DiRico seems to have gotten bored and turned her characters into cardboard characters so she could get to the end. Not much has changed about them since the first book in the Catering Hall Mysteries. While the subplots promise some interest, they often lead to redundant dead ends. Since this is the last book in the series, DiRico went overboard in tying up all the characters in an overused style.
The premise of this series drew me in; the final book, “The Witless Protection Program,” started with an engaging plot that fizzled out quickly with an absurd ending. It’s a disappointment for those who have invested in this five-book series.
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