[review] Six Feet Deep Dish by Mindy Quigley

Six Feet Deep Dish is the first book in the new Deep Dish Mystery series by Mindy Quigley, featuring Delilah O’Leary and her new gourmet deep-dish pizzeria in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin

Title: Six Feet Deep Dish
Author: Mindy Quigley
Series: Deep Dish Mysteries #1
First Published: August 23, 2022
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genres: Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher via Netgalley

*** Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***

Delilah O’Leary can’t wait to open her new gourmet deep-dish pizzeria in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin—a charming resort town with a long history as a mobsters’ hideaway, millionaires’ playground, and vacation mecca. Engaged to a hunk with a hefty trust fund, Delilah is poised to begin a life that’s just about as delicious as one of her cheesy creations.

Just before opening night, though, Delilah’s plans for pizza perfection hit the skids when her fiancé dumps her and leaves her with a very large memento from their relationship—Butterball, their spoiled, plus-sized tabby cat.

Delilah’s trouble deepens when she discovers a dead body and finds her elderly aunt holding the murder weapon. Handsome local police detective Calvin Capone, great grandson of the legendary gangster, opens an investigation, threatening to sink Delilah’s pie-in-the-sky ambitions before they can even get off the ground. To save her aunt and get her pizza place generating some dough, Delilah must deliver the real killer.

A quirky start to a promising cozy mystery series

The set-up and introduction to this new cosy mystery series is an emotional roller coaster. Our main character, Delilah, is prepping for the opening of her new restaurant. With her super-rich, but unambitious fiance, Sam, as her financial backer, and her best friend, Sonya, as her sous-chef, everything is heading in the right direction. Until it’s not.

First, the restaurant sign (that Sam was in charge of) shows up with a major error causing Delilah and Sam have a huge fight. Sam breaks off the engagement and takes off, leaving the restaurant without any cashflow. On top of all that, Delilah stumbles across a dead body, PLUS her elderly aunt is sitting a few feet away from the corpse, with a gun in her lap. Could things get any worse?

There was SO much happening in the first few chapters of the book that I was sucked in and couldn’t stop reading. And it continues on at this pace for almost the entire book. There’s always something happening that it’s really hard to put the book down and walk away from it. I really enjoyed the murder mystery aspect of the story and there were lots of interesting twists and turns to keep me guessing until nearly the end.

And I haven’t even gotten started on the fact that this is a PIZZA restaurant. Do not, I repeat, do not even think of reading this on an empty stomach! I LOVE pizza and the deep dish pizza descriptions are drool-inducing (even the cover of this book is one of my favourites).

An interesting cast of characters

The characters are… eclectic? I’m not sure how to put it. They are such a varied bunch and I think it’s still too soon to get a real feel for them. I like the way they came together to make sure the restaurant succeeded, but I don’t have a particular favourite (yet).

I think the best word is … I’m intrigued. I definitely want to learn more about them and see how I feel towards them as we get to know them. I’m not really a fan of Sam – his character seems unreliable and a bit flaky but it will be interesting to see if he changes and steps up in the future. And Det. Capone (his last name and backstory were a bit distracting) is a fun potential love interest.

The one character that I really liked was Delilah. And I think it’s because…. well, her characteristics, reactions, instincts…. they’re ME. LOL. She hits a little close to home and it’s both unsettling and yet, oddly thrilling. It’s rare that I come across any character that I could identify with so much (not our backgrounds, but the way we react to situations) that I had to stop several times to just shake my head at her.

All in all, this is a fantastic start to a series. It’s quirky, fun, and has some really memorable characters. I even had a great time reading the recipes at the back because done as if the characters from the book wrote them so comes complete with commentary and I loved that little detail to the recipes!

Quote from Six Feet Deep Dish

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