The Witless Protection Program is another outstanding entry in Maria DiRico’s Catering Hall mystery series. This fifth and (unfortunately) final installment is a wickedly madcap wrap-up that neatly and humorously brings the series to a close.

In what she considers a cruel bit of irony, Mia Carina is working a bridal expo on behalf of Belle View Banquet Manor but is bemoaning the fact that her boyfriend Shane has not yet proposed. While there, she catches a glimpse of a man across the room who looks like her presumed-dead husband, Adam Grosso. When she spots the same man again at a Mets game, she calls an emergency meeting of the Baldano (mob) “Family” to find him. Until she can obtain a divorce, marrying Shane is out of the question. Mia’s worst suspicions are confirmed when Adam makes a late-night appearance. Before he disappears again, he claims to have been in the witness protection program living under an assumed name all along and, more importantly, that he has no intention of giving her a divorce. It’s up to Mia, her family, and her ”Family” to find him once again and convince him to grant her a divorce.

This novel, in fact the entire series, is a whole lot of fun. This time, however, the mystery is personal. Mia’s future depends on locating (and divorcing) Adam so she can marry Shane. Mia once again proves herself strong, smart, and resourceful, while her family and the expanded crime family that runs Belle View as a legit business prove their loyalty in a most entertaining manner. Her father, Ravello, is a larger-than-life character whose antics in trying to have a healthier lifestyle provide humor and heart. Mia’s Nonna Elisabetta is her usual, quirky self, mystified no end by Ravello’s girlfriend Lin’s Vietnamese cooking. And her brother Posi – one of my favorite characters – has been granted early release from prison and is living at a halfway house. Mia’s story has come full circle, as it was revealed in the first book that Adam was presumed to have died in a boating accident. As his body was never found, I suspected that it wasn’t the last we heard about Adam Grosso. It took four additional books, but eventually here we are – and this story is fantastic.

I was lucky enough to both obtain an ARC of the book and listen to the audio recording. As is typical of this series, the narration was terrific, really drawing you into the story. As an added bonus, the book also contains a series of recipes at the end that sound yummy (especially the gnocchi).

If you’ve read the first four books in the story, you’re in for a treat in The Witless Protection Program. If you haven’t, why not? Hats off to Maria DiRico (Ellen Byron) for creating this bold, often over-the-top, but always humorous, series. It is one of my favorites.

Note: I received an ARC of The Witless Protection Program from NetGalley and Kensington Books. The above is my honest review.

While Mia Carina is proud of how she’s turned the Belle View Banquet Hall into Queens’ premier catering hall and party venue, her attention has been swayed of late by her intensifying relationship with her boyfriend Shane Gambrazzo. She’s convinced he’s going to ask her to marry him soon, which would be beyond thrilling for her. Far less thrilling is the sudden and extremely unexpected reappearance of the man Mia thought had left her a widow via a freak boating accident down in Miami several years prior.

At first, Mia isn’t even one hundred percent certain that the man she sees at a bridal expo where she’s tabling is her allegedly dead ex, Adam Grosso. When she sees him again at a Mets game, however, she has the crushing realization that she’s not the widow that she’s long thought she was. More importantly, she recognizes that her no-good, cheating criminal of an ex needs to give her a divorce so that she can marry the actual man of her dreams.

She isn’t the only person in Queens to be royally ticked off with Adam, though: both her birth family and her Italian Mafia Family are pretty mad at him for all he’s done. She thus has to make it very clear to her mob connections that she only wants their help in finding him and serving him with divorce papers, as opposed to making her an actual widow. But Adam is full of surprises, at least one of which threatens to ruin all of Mia’s hopes for matrimonial bliss for good…

The Catering Hall mysteries are one of my favorite culinary cozy mystery series, in large part due to the comedic hijinks of Mia, her family and friends. It’s nice to see the usually straitlaced Mia come slightly undone in the face of all the romantic setbacks that come her way in this novel. It’s even more satisfying, though, to see her focus not only her own talents but also the abilities of those around her in accomplishing their common goals. I was especially delighted by the change in her brother Posi’s fortunes, even if I wholly sympathized with Mia’s squeamishness at some of the steps that brought him there.

There were four recipes included here, all of dishes delectably described in the story. I decided to try out this one:

QUOTE
Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina

garlic cloves
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 28 oz. can cherry tomatoes in sauce (Pomodorini)
1 lb. gnocchi
½ lb. whole milk mozzarella, divided by half cut into cubes and half into slices
A handful of fresh basil, torn into smallish pieces
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
A pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mash the garlic with the back of a knife. In a large oven-safe skillet or pot (I use a cast-iron skillet), heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until it’s fragrant.

Add the can of tomatoes to the garlic, along with the salt. Simmer the sauce for ten minutes, using the back of a heavy spoon to stir and break open at least some of the tomatoes.

While the sauce simmers, cook the gnocchi in a large pot of water according to its instructions. The gnocchi will be done when it floats to the water’s surface.

Remove the gnocchi from the water with a slotted spoon and add it to the sauce. Add the basil and cubed mozzarella and stir gently to combine.

Place the mozzarella slices on top of the gnocchi-sauce mixture and sprinkle the Parmesan-Reggiano over the whole dish.

Bake for ten to fifteen minutes, or until the mozzarella is bubbly and golden.

Serves approximately 4-6.
END QUOTE

I genuinely do not know how such simple ingredients turn into something so eminently craveable! I’m a little obsessed with this dish now, which had such a perfect balance of flavors that I keep thinking about it even days later. I imagine the deliciousness starts with the base of garlic-infused olive oil. Pro tip: smash the garlic with the side of your knife, and make sure to use enough olive oil so that you can generously bathe the smashed garlic with it in the skillet.

While shopping for this dish, I could only find regular peeled tomatoes, which were so delicious that I can only imagine how much more spectacular this dish would be with actual pomodorini. That said, I wasn’t brave enough to try making this in cast iron, so merely combined all the ingredients in a regular saute pan before pouring it into a baking dish for the oven. I would say to add as much Parmesan-Reggiano as your heart desires: I just kept grating till I was moved to stop. I also found that this took much longer to bake in my oven than the recipe expects. I had to bake the gnocchi for about twenty-five minutes to get the mozzarella bubbly and golden, but it was totally worth the extra wait.

Next week, we head to the Midwest to bake up a sweet treat while our intrepid investigator races against time to prove a suspected murderer’s innocence. Do join me!

“The Witless Protection Program” by Maria DiRico, the fifth and final book in the series, promised a blend of humor and mystery; unfortunately, that was not delivered. The dead body of an ex-husband, wedding planning, and a strange recluse living across the street should have rounded out the book, but by the midway point, I could not care about anyone or the escapades they found themselves in.

Just as Mia Carina gets her life back in order and a shiny new engagement ring on her finger, her supposedly deceased ex-husband, Adam Grosso, makes a sudden reappearance. No one liked Adam and what he did to Mia, and since she has ties to the Family, she is considered a suspect when Adam’s corpse is found in the alley near her home.

This book reads as though Maria DiRico seems to have gotten bored and turned her characters into cardboard characters so she could get to the end. Not much has changed about them since the first book in the Catering Hall Mysteries. While the subplots promise some interest, they often lead to redundant dead ends. Since this is the last book in the series, DiRico went overboard in tying up all the characters in an overused style.

The premise of this series drew me in; the final book, “The Witless Protection Program,” started with an engaging plot that fizzled out quickly with an absurd ending. It’s a disappointment for those who have invested in this five-book series.

Princess Fuzzypants here: The Catering Hall mysteries have always delivered some good mysteries with lots of snark and humour. We have watched Mia take over the Belle View and turn it into a going concern. We have watched her relationship with Shane develop. And we have watched how her influence has permeated through the Family business as well as the family business. Mia and Shane are finally going to get married.

That is if her jerk of a husband, whom everyone has assumed is swimming with the fishes, doesn’t gum things up. His return coincides with the news that the house her grandmother bought for them might be very valuable. A grifter to the end, he has left a wake of broken hearts and broken bank accounts. So when he is murdered, the suspects would line up around the block. Naturally Mia and her family and friends rate high on the list but there are too many others who want a piece of him. A second murder puts a new spin on things. How do the two murders connect and did the same person commit them both.

Plus Mia has someone with a major grudge against her who is doing some serious destruction of property including some that might derail the wedding. Never fear, there are people who jump in to save the day although things do not run according to plan for the nuptials. The book has got one of the wildest weddings ever. All good fun and a good read. Five purrs and two paws up.

The Witless Protection Program is the 5th book in the Catering Hall Mystery series, and possibly the final one. Mia has been waiting for Shane to propose and he finally does but things don't work out the way she planned. It seems that Adam, her first husband, who everyone thought was dead, is alive and back. Now she can't marry Shane until her and Adam get a divorce. Meanwhile plans have gone ahead and her grandmother bought a house for her and Shane. It seems the house was owned by a famous cartoonist, and now his fans are hanging around the house trying to get in. They are sure there is memorabilia that can be sold. Adam wants Mia back and tries his best to convince her to give him another chance. Her family are not happy and think someone can probably "off him" but Mia convinces them that he needs to be kept alive, so she can divorce him. Shortly after this meeting, Adam is found dead in the alley in Mia's neighbourhood and Shane is the main suspect. Can Mia and her family and friends clear his name, so they can get married?

I enjoyed this story as many of the continuing storylines are tied up. I love Mia's character. She has worked hard to keep her family and The Belleview Banquet Hall on the straight and narrow. She and Shane have finally sorted out all their issues and this wedding needs to go forward, but there is more than one problem. There is a funny story dealing with Mia's wedding dress, concerns with her attendants and someone is stalking her and causing major issues. As all this is going on, she is trying to solve the crime of Adam's death. There is a lot of humour, some twists, well developed characters and some great conclusions to the various storylines. I am sorry to say goodbye to these characters. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a humorous cozy mystery series.

Mia Carina has worked to make Belle View Banquet Manor a premier venue for weddings and events. Sadly, though, so far she's had no cause to plan her own wedding. So when her boyfriend Shane finally pops the question, her answer is an enthusiastic "yes!" And let the party planning commence! But her former husband, Adam Grosso, is back from the presumed dead, back in town, and talking about winning her back. That simply will not do.

Mia tells her family (and the Family) that she needs to be a divorcée posthaste, and she needs their help tracking Adam down so she can once and for all secure that divorce. But when Adam turns up dead and Mia and Shane are among the (many) suspects, the wedding may be put on hold indefinitely.

Y'all, this book is a riot! I can imagine the challenges in trying to run a business that has any connection at all to the Family and keeping it strictly on the up and up. But Mia walks that line and does it with style. She keeps her nose clean, even if some of the people in her life just can't.

DiRico populates her book with marvelous characters. Mia is a delight - smart and savvy, and she's a cat person (that gets her bonus points in my book). Her grandmother, Elisabetta, oh my goodness, everybody needs a Nonna like Elisabetta! She tackles issues head-on, whether by offering up her wedding dress for Mia or baking cookies to sell to a horde of fans descending on the house she bought for Mia and Shane next door to hers that just happened to belong to a famous cartoonist. She dispenses love, advice, and sarcasm, and I think she may be my favorite. Mia's best friend Cammie is a treat, too, with the way she's determined to keep spending her ex-husband's money in order to get him to marry her again (cheaper to keep her, you know) and with her over-the-top wedding plans that Mia has to constantly rein in.

As it happens, Cammie's ex is Pete Dianopoulis, NYPD detective (and author of the Steve Stianopoulis books, which draw heavily on real life). He's charged with investigating Adam's death, and with all the mob connections in Mia's life, he's got PLENTY to investigate. But he doesn't focus just on the Family. There's also Adam's new sweetie, Annarita; Mia's former friends Ruth and Rose, who were more than just friendly with Adam; and a host of people Adam ripped off and scammed along the way. DiRico tempts us to follow red herrings and then yanks them away gleefully, taking us right back to square one. The only thing we're sure of is that Mia didn't kill him! I especially love how Pete doesn't actively discourage Mia's own inquiries into Adam's death. As the story says, "the detective and the mobster-adjacent event planner had developed a mutual respect for each other," and it works.

The mystery is engaging. The characters are ones you can cheer for or jeer at, as you wish. There are several story threads in play, and DiRico ties them all together in a neat bow to bring the story to an incredibly satisfying conclusion. And bonus, bonus, bonus, there are recipes, too! I see Nonna's ricotta sugar cookies in my future. This was a five-star read for me, and I highly recommend it!

Another great adventure where it turns out that Mia's life is not really as she thinks. Someone unexpected comes up in her life that throws a kink in her upcoming plans. Soon she and the rest of the family have their hands full as that person gets murdered and they have to find out who and why so that her next set of plans can take place. Really eventful and I hope there is another one.

The Witless Protection Program starts strong with an excellent title. This is the fifth in the Catering Hall Mystery series by Maria DiRico. I definitely think you should have read at least a couple of the previous entries in this series before reading this one. Will Shane pop the question? What is Mia to do when she sees her DEAD husband still alive? This series is set in Queens with an over the top Italian American family at the center. Maria DiRico is the pen name for Ellen Byron. She has several credits to her name as a screenwriter. At times her plot points are reminiscent of TV shows, but this is all for the best. She makes me laugh while still wondering whodunnit.

There is a lot to enjoy here with Mia’s family, problems happening in the neighborhood, and wedding planning problems. I wish sometimes that we had illustrations because I would have loved to see the various wedding dresses described here!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the free Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review. I gave this book 4.5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Throughout this series Mia’s missing, presumed dead, husband has lurked in the background. Is he really dead? Mia’s failed marriage has also played a role in her ability to move on and find happiness in a new relationship. Just when she’s hoping for a proposal from Shane, her cheating, missing husband rises from the dead to complicate her life! We continue to have the family, friends and Family shenanigans, drama and hilarity that has been a hallmark of previous books as Mia and Shane seek their happily ever after. This book provides a thoroughly enjoyable fitting end to this entertaining series!

Event planner Mia Carina isn’t prone to imagining things so she is more than a bit concerned when her “dead” husband pops up in New York at the worst possible time – when she is planning to marry Shane. When Mia enlists her closeknit family and the Family (she is Italian after all) to find her ex, things get complicated, and it is up to Mia to solve the mystery surrounding his appearance and death, for real this time. An endearing cast of characters, humorous situations, and plot twists abound as she pursues the truth making for a very enjoyable read.

Pro
* Sitcom-esque characters and storyline
* Familiar setting and characters that are fun to see again

Con
* I miss Jamie in a more focal role
* Trope main storyline
* The two parts of the murder storyline are kind of a stretch to put together
* Final plot element goes too far over the top in places

Thank you to Mario diRico, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dollycas's Thoughts

The Belle View Banquet Manor has become the top party place in Astoria, Queens, thanks to Mia Carina. Nothing would make Mia happier than to have her own wedding there, that is if her boyfriend Shane would propose. After the trainwreck of her first marriage, she never thought she would want to get married again but Shane is definitely the man for her.

Then while promoting Belle View at a wedding expo in Manhattan Mia sees someone she thought she would never see again. A man that everyone had presumed dead. A man who almost ruined her life. Her husband, Adam who was supposed to have died in a boating accident. He disappeared before she could get close to him. Then the next day she saw him again at the Dodger game at Citi Field. This is not good. This can't be happening. If Adam is still alive that means she is still married!

Mia calls a meeting with her family and "The Family". She needs to find Adam now and get a divorce as quickly as possible. Everyone else wants Adam dead. Now that she isn't a widow all she wants is to be a divorcée so she can marry Shane.

Sadly someone didn't get the message. Adam is dead and Mia and Shane top the suspect list. Will they ever get married? or will one of them go down for murder?

_____

I hate to write this, but The Witless Protection Program, is the 5th and final Catering Hall Mystery. It hurts because I am invested in these characters. Mia is a strong determined woman who took on the big job of making the Belle View Banquet Manor legit and she has done an amazing job. She has fallen hard for Shane and he for her. They make a wonderful couple. Elisabetta gives Mia and Shane a very interesting gift and she and Mia's mom Gia have another plan in the works for Mia too. Cammie is acting super responsible which is downright scary but she is still spending Pete's money faster than he can make it. These are just a few of the extraordinary characters Ms. DiRico has created and developed in this series. It will be hard to let them go.

But, she has written a heck of a finale for them. The mystery of Adam's death takes Shane and Mia on a cross-country journey to find out how many enemies he raked up while he was supposed to be dead. There ended up being several suspects and Mia kept working the case, putting forth theories, following the clues, until one detail helped put everything in perspective. I enjoyed that Mia went to Pete with her final theory and her idea to flush out the killer. There was a sensational showdown and our girl Mia, WOW.

The excitement didn't stop there. I highlighted the entire last chapter on my Kindle. It was fantastic! I laughed, then I laughed some more and ended up with a huge smile on my face. No spoilers. Just know, that this is now my favorite book in the series. Ms. DiRico topped herself and ended this series better than anyone could have imagined.

The Witless Protection Program was more than a Perfect Escape, it was A Trip to Paradise! A Best Read of 2024! Thank you, Maria DiRico for taking us on Mia's journey. It was a wonderful ride. I recommend reading this series from the start for maximum enjoyment.

A good end to a really great series that I have loved from book 1. I am really sorry to see all these characters go and will really miss this series as it was always one that I knew would make me smile and give me a really good read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Maria DiRico, and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Witless Protection Program by Maria DiRico sees Mia and Shane getting engaged and planning the wedding. The only problem is that Adam seems to still be alive.

Can Mia finally divorce Adam and marry the man of her dreams?

Mia has finally gotten engaged to Shane, and they are happy. Well, that is until she realizes, after the second sighting, that Adam is indeed still alive and not dead in the water like he led her to believe. Now, she and Shane need to convince him to divorce her so they can marry. I genuinely love Mia and Shane together, and I think that they are perfect for each other. Mia and Shane deserve a happily ever after together.

The Mystery
Mia Carina's biggest mystery is how to find Adam Grosso so she can get a divorce from him and move on with her life. Moving on means she wants to marry Shane by the date they both have already picked out. The biggest problem is, sadly, locating the guy so that this can happen. Things don't always go to plan for Mia, and she ends up finding a dead body. I figured out who did it, or at least a few people with a good motive, and I kept hemming and hawing over this one person. I was right about who did it! Sadly I didn't have to motive though.

Five Stars
I am giving five stars to The Witless Protection Program by Maria DiRico and recommend it to anyone who loves a good, cozy culinary mystery. Ms. DiRico has a great way of telling the story with these characters, and I feel like I'm right there with them, solving a mystery and eating some good Italian food. I have to say that I love this series, and I can't wait to see what else she does with these characters.

Oh, and don't forget to look at the recipes in the back of the book. The recipes are Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina, Ricotta Sugar Cookies and Glazed Icing, Breakfast Pasta, and Italian Wedding Cake.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Witless Protection Program by Maria DiRico.

Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out Baroness Book Trove.

Bit wacky at the start.

Mia Carina is rather desperately waiting for her boyfriend to propose. Despite one failed marriage under her belt she still believes in a happy ever after. That is until she spots her missing—presumed-dead husband in the crowd.

“Oh, no,” she reasons, “I can’t get married if he’s still alive.”

Well, she can’t get married either if he is only presumed dead, not any time soon anyway. Her missing husband would have to be legally dead for the marriage to end. Or Mia has to get a divorce.

But to get a divorce, she has to find her obviously rather illusive first husband. She enlist the Family to help find her husband so she can ask him for a divorce. I guess it would not be much of a story if she enlisted the family lawyer and petitioned for a divorce in absentia.

With the Family on the look out for, Mia starts planning her wedding. She has her heart set on a date five weeks away.

Uh, I’m no expert on divorce proceedings in New York, but even if the missing husband is found within an hour and immediately agrees to a divorce, I doubt it is possible to settle a divorce within that time.

At this point the story started to segue into slapstick with lots of people declaring they will kill the husband if he does not grant Mia a divorce.

Considering that her first husband is a conman and ripped off a lot of people, that leaves a plethora of suspects when he is found dead in the alley behind Mia’s house.

Not really for me. Too many over the top characters.

AbsoFreakinLutely the best to date!! I have read everything Ellen/Maria has published and this is by far the best of the best!!

I laughed out loud so many times during this book. Between the Italian families and Families, the Circus Freaks, and the side characters, it is a hot mess express!! If you combine The Sopranos and The Real Housewives with a dash of Hallmark Mysteries and Movies and make it a sitcom, this is what I think you would get. I highly recommend this series.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kensington Publishing, for an advanced digital copy of this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an ARC of this book. The Witless Protection Program is the fifth and final book in the Catering Hall Mystery series. In this book, Mia finds out that her husband is not dead after all, which makes things complicated. When he is killed, everything takes an unexpected turn. As with the previous books, the characters are funny and make the book very entertaining. The mystery keept me interested and I enjoyed both this book and the series until the end. I'm sad that it's over, but I had a good time while it lasted!

I love The Catering Hall Mystery series so much, and book five might just be my very favorite of all. (Side note to readers new to this series – I listened to books one through four and they are outstanding on audio! If you’re new to the series, I encourage you to start with book one even though you don’t have to–they are just so great, why would you want to miss out?!)

Mia’s most wished for wedding day to the handsome and caring Shane is fast approaching, but will it actually happen when Adam, her thought to be dead con-artist husband reappears in her life?! And then Adam disappears and can Mia’s crime-adjacent family find him alive?

What follows is a fast-paced, funny mystery with wonderful characters. I absolutely loved being with Mia and her devoted friends and family as they worked to solve the mystery and pull together Mia’s dream wedding in a short amount of time. Some scenes are so funny that I found myself laughing out loud as I read. Even when a few characters make some less than stellar choices, I couldn’t help but love them and their buffoonery.

Along with the characters, the neighborhood and other settings are so well written that I felt like I was right there with Mia, munching on cookies made by her Nonna. I’ve found this with the entire series–as soon as I start reading, I immediately fall into the story and setting and don’t want to leave. Actually, I’ve found this with all of Maria DiRico’s (pseudonym for Ellen Byron) writings. She is definitely a must-read author. Fans of cozy mysteries with laugh-out-loud mob moments will adore this series.

The Witless Protection Program is book #5 in the Catering Hall Mystery series by Maria DiRico.

I really enjoyed this series and hate to see it end. At first, I thought the characters were a bit over the top but now I work for a New York/New Jersey company and the characters are spot on. Mia’s engagement anticipation had me laughing out loud and the humor continued throughout the book. I’d love to see more of what the future holds for Mia. There are delicious looking recipes at the end of the book.

Thank you to the author, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I love 💕 love 💕 this series!! It was my great pleasure to get the opportunity to read this ARC.

Mia and her fiancée Shane are finally ready to walk down the aisle. They have overcome many challenges and finally are ready to make this commitment.

While at a huge wedding expo Mia is shocked at seeing her presumed deceased ‘husband’! This adds a huge complication to Mia’s upcoming nuptials.

Mia has to figure out how to get Adam to agree to a divorce which he is not wanting to do.

Before Mia can convince Adam to agree to a divorce someone takes things into their own hands and makes Mia a ‘widow’!

Mia has to figure out ‘who done it’ before her wedding to Shane is put on ice.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for letting me read this ARC. All options are my own.