Congratulations to the winners of the last contest. Susan B. from Hyannis, MA won The Tumbling Girl. Susan B. from Seattle, WA won Viviana Valentine Goes Up the River. (Good week to be named Susan B.) The books are going out in the mail today.

Ellen Byron makes no secret that she writes the Catering Hall mysteries as Maria DiRico. This week, Ellen’s giving away three copies of Four Parties and a Funeral, the latest in the series. Here’s the description.

Agatha Award-winning author Maria DiRico returns with the fourth book in the Catering Hall Mystery Series, starring Mia Carina who is coming to grips with being back in Astoria, Queens, and running her Italian-American family’s catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor but a TV casting call is about to put murder in the spotlight . . .

The June events schedule at Belle View is busting out all over—proms, graduations, and of course, weddings. There are unexpected bookings too, including a casting call for the pilot of Dons of Ditmars Boulevard. But soon, Mia’s fears about the cheesy reality show are confirmed . . .

Belle View quickly becomes the site of a sea of wanna-be goombahs and phony girlfriends, and some of Mia’s friends insist on getting in on the action. The production company owner and his executive producer ex-wife—who’s also very minor British royalty—have assembled a motley crew that does as much infighting and backstabbing as the on-screen “talent.” Even so, it’s a shock when a dead body is found in the pool house of a local mansion rented by the show . . .

Murder might boost the ratings. But Mia intends to make sure the killer gets jail time, not airtime . . 

Because I’m grateful that Ellen offered three books to winners, I’m also sharing her bio.

Maria DiRico is the pseudonym for Ellen Byron, author of the award winning, USA Today bestselling Cajun Country Mysteries. Born in Queens, New York, she is first-generation Italian-American on her mother’s side and the granddaughter of a low-level Jewish mobster on her father’s side. She grew up visiting the Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina catering halls, which were run by her Italian mother’s family in Queens and have become the inspiration for her Catering Hall Mystery Series. DiRico has been a writer-producer for hit television series like Wings and Just Shoot Me, and her first play, Graceland, appears in the Best Short Plays collection. She’s a freelance journalist, with over 200 articles published in national magazines, and previously worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. A native New Yorker who attended Tulane University, Ellen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and two rescue dogs. She can be found online at EllenByron.com and ChicksOnTheCase.com.

Here’s how to enter the giveaway. Email me at Lesa.Holstine@gmail.com. Your subject line should read “Win Four Parties and a Funeral.” You must include your name and mailing address. The giveaway will end Thursday, June 29 at 5 PM CT, and I’ll send Ellen the names and address of the three winners. Entries from the U.S. only, please.

Good luck!