Review - Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust

This is a new to me series, starting with the second book.  I had no problems jumping in with the second book.  I liked the idea of a Pizzeria themed series, so I took a chance on it.  Check out what I thought of this new series.

Author: Mindy Quigley

Copyright: April 2023 (St. Martin's Paperbacks) 320 pgs

Series: 2nd in Deep Dish Mysteries

Sensuality: n/a

Mystery Sub-genre: Cozy mystery

Main Characters: Delilah O’Leary, co-owner of Delilah & Son[ya]

Setting: Modern day, resort town of Geneva Bay, Wisconsin

Obtained Through: Publisher for honest review

Book Blurb:  "Newly single pizzeria owner Delilah O’Leary is determined to keep her restaurant afloat in the picturesque resort town of Geneva Bay, Wisconsin. To boost her bottom line, she sets her sights on winning the hefty cash prize in the town’s annual “Taste of Wisconsin” culinary contest. In her corner, she’s got her strong-willed, “big-boned” cat Butterball, her wisecracking BFF, her cantankerous great-aunt, and a nearly-flawless recipe for Pretzel Crust Deep-Dish Bratwurst Pizza. But while Delilah and her team have been focused on pumping out perfect pizza pies, her ex-fiancé has cozied up to a new squeeze, juice bar owner Jordan Watts—Delilah’s contest rival.

When one of Jordan’s juice bar customers is poisoned by a tainted smoothie, Delilah lands deep in the sauce. Accusations fly, suspects abound, and a menacing stranger turns up with a beef over some missing dough. Between kale-juicing hipsters and grudge-bearing celebrity chefs, Delilah must act quickly before another one bites the crust." 

My Thoughts:  Delilah O’Leary is the heroine and it took me awhile to like her. At first her perfectionism was more annoying than interesting, fortunately that wasn't prevalent.  Her business partner, Sonya Perlman-Dokter, is the "Son" in the restaurant's  name and she likes puns making her more appealing than Delilah at times.  Sam Van Meter, ex-fiance who financed the restaurant has a charmed life as a wealthy software developer.  Delilah's romantic interest is the handsome police detective Calvin Capone which brings the trope of the cop mad over main character sleuthing. I did like this detective.  Great-aunt Elizabeth O'Leary is cranky and brings some tension to the story as well.  The Delilah & Son staff consists of Melody, Jarka, Robert "Rabbit" and Daniel which are each enjoyable. Of course Butterball the cat is a star-long live Butterball.  

There was enough going on and a few twists to keep my interest and I liked the tense moments for the climax. Nicely done. The wrapup made me miss the characters when the story ended.  This was an enjoyable mystery with a little bit of a rough start, but worth sticking with it. I liked that the police detective was a descendant of the legendary gangster, Al Capone.  The twists involved were well done and the tense reveals were good suspense.  One down side, the pizza flavors mentioned in the book didn't appeal to me at all-glad it's fictional.

Rating:  Good fun read with nicely done twists-enjoyable