PUBLIC ANCHOVY #1 (Book 3 in Deep Dish Mysteries) by Mindy Quigly

Fiction, Cozy Mystery, 320 pages

4****

Blurb: Public Anchovy #1 is the third book in Mindy Quigley’s delectable Deep Dish Mystery series, set in a Wisconsin pizzeria. While Geneva Bay’s upper crust gets ready to party down at a Prohibition-themed fundraiser, pizza chef Delilah O’Leary is focused on seeing her struggling restaurant through the winter slow season. The temperature outside is plummeting, but Delilah’s love life might finally be heating up, as hunky police detective Calvin Capone seems poised to (finally) make a move. But Delilah’s hopes of perfecting a new “free-from” pizza recipe for a charity bash are dashed when a dead body crashes the party. Soon, Capone, Delilah, and her entire staff are trapped in an isolated mansion and embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. To catch an increasingly-desperate killer, Delilah will have to top all of her previous crime-solving accomplishments, and a few pizzas, too.

Thoughts: Agatha Christie did the original people stranded with a killer and no way to get out story (“And Then There Were None”), and the plot has been done multiple times in books and movies since then. This book is one of those stories – but with a twist—a cat with “swipe at you from hiding places” tendencies. Butterball the cat is a vital part of this story. In this third book, Delilah and her crew are catering a high-end event. One of the attendees ends up dead and thus begins the problems. While most of the guests make it out of the mansion, several are trapped there by a bad storm that brings down trees and isolates them from outside help. Fortunately, police detective Calvin Capone is there—something Delilah is happy about. Maybe this time, she can break through the stoic cop’s stiff outside. 

Oh, and there are some amazing recipes—including a gluten free pizza one that I am looking forward to trying.

Recommendation: Yes! But I suggest you read the previous two books in the series first so you have a better grasp of the personalities and their relationships.

Disclaimer: Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising