Here Comes the Body, the first installment in Maria DiRico's (aka Ellen Byron, author of the Cajun Country mysteries) Catering Hall mystery series is a delight. It's set in the Astoria section of Queens (with the odd side excursion to Manhattan) and makes rich use of it's environment.I found myself alternating between laughing out loud and crying.The main character, Mia Carina has returned to Queens from Florida (following the disappearance of her philandering husband under mysterious circumstances) to help her father manage their catering hall complex, Belle View.Her father, formerly a significant player in The Family, now going straight (or so Mia fervently hopes), her beloved grandmother (known behind her back to other family members as Little Mussolini), her incarcerated brother, and the other characters are richly drawn and very believable.Mia's efforts to make Belle View profitable are complicated by the appearance of multiple bodies, all of which point to her father as the murder suspect. Mia's life is complicated by a police detective whose attitude seems to be "once a mobster, always a mobster" and an investigative reporter with much the same attitude.The book and characters are very entertaining, and the mystery compelling. I think this is a terrific start to a wonderful new mystery series!