Cozy Mystery Review: Public Anchovy #1 | Mindy Quigley | Deep Dish Mystery #3

This time of year I always split my time for holiday gatherings between Chicago and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, so reading the newest Deep Dish Pizza Mystery by Mindy Quigley is basically the perfect way to celebrate the wonderful things about these two places in one book. The series centers around Delilah O’Leary, who worked as a chef in Chicago for years before moving up to Geneva Bay, Wisconsin to open an upscale pizzeria (and help covertly care for her elderly Aunt Biz). Check out my reviews of the first two books, Six Feet Deep Dish and Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust!

Some cozy mystery series start off with a bang but struggle to keep the same magic as the series progresses. So far I think that Mindy Quigley’s Deep Dish Mysteries are the opposite—a solid launch and follow up, but the third book is the strongest yet! In Public Anchovy #1, Delilah is catering a prohibition-themed party with some unique requests, when a murder and a storm trap everyone at the mansion.

Where to Purchase Public Anchovy #1

Review | Public Anchovy #1

It would be easy to jump straight into the series on this book, though it is technically the third in a series. I found that characters to be the most settled into their roles and stories in this book, so a new reader will be able to join in without any issues. After the events of the last two books, Delilah is living in the lakeside mansion owned by her former fiancé who has put the estate in a trust owned by their cat, Butterball. This allows Delilah to keep the beloved home as her residence without taking something from her ex directly.

It also allows Delilah’s Aunt Biz to live lakefront, after she lost her longtime cottage in a foreclosure. The trio are joined by Melody, who works as a caregiver for Aunt Biz. As the story kicks off, Biz is in a feud with Kennedy, the wealthy woman who purchased her beloved cottage. Meanwhile Delilah and her best friend and sous chef Sonya are busy catering a prohibition themed party called the Speakeasy Soiree, as part of a benefit to raise money to support the local library. The party is to be hosted at a beautiful, historic mansion and Delilah has everything planned down to the minute.

But when the organizer reaches out to her with a last minute request for a wealthy doner, Delilah’s plans are thrown into a tizzy. The donor is allergic to wheat, dairy, and nightshades (a family which happens to include tomatoes) and is requesting a custom “free from” pizza—essentially a pizza that can’t include a traditional crust, cheese, or tomato sauce, but is still expected to be a pizza somehow. While Delilah jumps to tackle this challenge with barely any prep time, Sonya is running the show prepping the other food.

Meanwhile the event is beginning, with or without the “free from” pizza. The head librarian, Isabel Barney, is hoping to raise enough money to keep the historic, architectural, lakefront library afloat, and wants to impress the wealthy donors. The party is being held at an historic mansion owned by Pam Philips’ out on Bluff Point. Delilah is taken by boat to she can bring the extra supplied to make the “free from” pizza, but the mixer doesn’t make it onto the boat.

Famed jazz singer (and mother of local detective and Delilah’s crush, Calvin Capone) Lola Capone will be performing. This will be Delilah’s first time meeting her crush’s mother, let alone cooking for her. No pressure! Meanwhile eccentric Library Board Chair Edgar Clemmons hands Delilah two old books to pass to Sonya with a cryptic message. He seems more paranoid than usual, but Delilah can’t worry herself with that.

The food is about ready, and the speeches are kicking off, when a body tumbles down the stairs. Edgar Clemmons has fallen to his death, and soon they deduce he was murdered. While many of the guests make it out of the mansion as the party is cut short, a storm blows in off the lake and traps the remaining staff and guests in the mansion. Thankfully Detective Capone in on site to begin investigating the murder, and Delilah and her team are there to serve food.

Delilah remembers Clemmons cryptic words and passes the books along to Sonya and Capone, while the group discusses what he may have meant. They are all settling in to stay overnight, when it becomes clear some members of the group were drugged. Even worse, another dead body is discovered. Now trapped in the mansion with a killer, Delilah and Capone must solve the case before someone else dies!

This is the first book from the series that really stands above the crowded market of fun but not necessarily memorable cozy mystery series. I think Quigley has found the magic formula with this book, and I noticed a few things that helps. First, the characters are in a good place in terms of the balance of development and tension. Delilah’s business is open, she’s hired her team, and they’ve gotten a chance to breathe a bit. The story was able to focus more on the mystery than the character progression.

Second, the mystery was strong and intricate. It seemed to be a case of figuring who would have motive, means, and opportunity to commit the murders within the locked room format. Additionally, as more people are targeted, it was particularly confusing to figure out what linked them. In addition, the death of Clemmons seemed to be predicted by the victim, and his message through Delilah to Sonya and the two books were a puzzle that was fun to try and piece together.

Finally, the story between Capone and Delilah’s romance has developed organically and at a slower pace. Capone is a more interesting love interest than is typical in cozy mystery series and he won’t jump straight in which is refreshing. Often these series rely too heavily on the romance between the lead and her paramour, and after awhile the relationship becomes boring and drags the plot down. I don’t think that is as likely in this series because Capone is going to be slow to enter a relationship.

The supporting characters continue to add a nice balance. Some are quite mysterious and others are moody which make them add texture to the story, even though minor sub plots. The setting was perfect—an old mansion out on a bluff with nooks and crannies was a perfect place for a murder mystery to occur! The recipes all sound amazing and I loved getting a gluten free recipe this time, even if Delilah bemoaned having to create the strange pizza. I will try it but I think I will still use cheese and tomato sauce in mine.

The best yet from this series and the perfect book to join in with!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author | Mindy Quigley

Mindy Quigley is the author of two cozy mystery series: the Deep Dish Mysteries and the Mount Moriah Mysteries. 

Her short stories have won awards, including the 2018 Artemis Journal/Lightbringer Prize. Her non-writing career has been stranger than fiction, taking her from the US to the UK, where she worked as the personal assistant to the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep, and as project manager for a research clinic founded by the author J.K. Rowling.

She lives in Virginia with her Civil War history professor husband and their children.

About the Book | Public Anchovy #1

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. (Synopsis from Goodreads)