Four Parties and a Funeral, Maria DiRico
Four Parties and a Funeral, Maria DiRico
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Four Parties and a Funeral

Author: Maria DiRico

Narrator: Devon Sorvari

Unabridged: 8 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/28/2023


Synopsis

In this fresh and witty cozy mystery series set amid an extended Italian-American family in Astoria, Queens, catering hall owner and amateur sleuth Mia Carina must solve a murder on the set of a reality show.

The June events schedule at Belle View is busting out all over—proms, graduations, and of course, weddings. There are unexpected bookings too, including a casting call for the pilot of Dons of Ditmars Boulevard. But soon, Mia's fears about the cheesy reality show are confirmed . . .

Belle View quickly becomes the site of a sea of wanna-be goombahs and phony girlfriends, and some of Mia's friends insist on getting in on the action. The production company owner and his executive producer ex-wife—who's also very minor British royalty—have assembled a motley crew that does as much infighting and backstabbing as the on-screen "talent." Even so, it's a shock when a dead body is found in the pool house of a local mansion rented by the show . . .

Murder might boost the ratings. But Mia intends to make sure the killer gets jail time, not airtime . . .

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by James on March 21, 2025

Four Parties and a Funeral is the latest release in the Catering Hall Mysteries written by Maria DiRico, a pseudonym for Ellen Byron whose Cajun Country Mysteries are one of my favorites. This 2023 release focuses on a ~30ish woman in Queens, New York who runs a catering hall for her father, who rec......more

Goodreads review by Sue Em on April 02, 2023

A casting call for a reality show about the Dons of Ditmars Boulevard gets booked at the Bellw View Banquet Hall whicj Mia Carina and her father are running as a legitimate business, not a Family business. The cast of characters waiting to be cast is only outdone by those in the production company.......more

Goodreads review by Karen on March 18, 2023

"Four Parties and a Funeral” the 4th instalment in the A Catering Hall Mystery series by Maria DiRico. Mia Carina who is coming to grips with being back in Astoria, Queens, and running her Italian-American family’s catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor but a TV casting call is about to put murder......more