Murder in the Bayou Boneyard: A Cajun Country Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (September 8, 2020)
Hardcover: 304 pages

Synopsis

Maggie Crozat has the Halloween heebie-jeebies in USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Ellen Byron’s howlingly funny sixth Cajun Country mystery.

 

Maggie Crozat, proprietor of a historic Cajun Country B&B, prefers to let the good times roll. But hard times rock her hostelry when a new cell phone app makes it easy for locals to rent their spare rooms to tourists. With October–and Halloween–approaching, she conjures up a witch-crafty marketing scheme to draw visitors to Pelican, Louisiana.

Five local plantation B&Bs host “Pelican’s Spooky Past” packages, featuring regional crafts, unique menus, and a pet costume parade. Topping it off, the derelict Dupois cemetery is the suitably sepulchral setting for the spine-chilling play Resurrection of a Spirit. But all the witchcraft has inevitably conjured something: her B&B guests are being terrified out of town by sightings of the legendary rougarou, a cross between a werewolf and vampire.

When, in the Dupois cemetery, someone costumed as a rougarou stumbles onstage during the play–and promptly gives up the ghost, the rougarou mask having been poisoned with strychnine, Maggie is on the case. But as more murders stack up, Maggie fears that Pelican’s spooky past has nothing on its bloodcurdling present.

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Review

Anytime I read one of the books in this series, I feel like I am visiting my family that lives in Cajun country. The vernacular is spot on and the food, well, let’s just say it is all delicious and I’m glad that the author provides recipes at the end of the book.

I enjoyed spending time with Maggie and her fiance’ Bo, and the rest of the Crorzat family. The whole family is a bit wacky but I love have they have each other’s back no matter what the situation. Actually, the whole town seems to support one another, at least most of the time. However, this time there is a new family relation in the picture and she is not what she seems. Her whole family is a bit off and that does not win them any friends.

I enjoyed learning some interesting tidbits about the superstitions that many believe in the south and how they especially love Halloween. I don’t think I had ever heard of a rougarou before this book so now I’m going to have to ask my Cajun family about that mythical creature.

The mystery is engaging and I have to admit, I wasn’t sure who the killer was or why. As I read further into the book and near the end, I had my suspicions, but I didn’t really know they why. It was interesting to uncover the truth in the situation. I’m going to be cryptic because the why is rather intricate and I don’t want to spoil anything for you.

There is a somewhat sad scene near the end that touched my heart and hopefully will touch yours. Another one that I won’t share details because you’ll need to read the book to find out!

I’m not sure what the next book will hold but I’m hoping it is Gran and Maggie’s double wedding!  We get a taste of Gran’s planning and her affinity for cake testing.  I can’t blame here, one of my favorite parts of planning a wedding. Laissez les bons temps rouler!!!

We give this book 5 paws up and if you have never read this series, start with the first book in the series, Plantation Shudders.

About the Author

Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won the Agatha award for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Her Catering Hall Mystery series, written as Maria DiRico, launched with Here Comes the Body and was inspired by her real life. She’s an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like WINGS, JUST SHOOT ME, and FAIRLY ODD PARENTS, but she considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. A native New Yorker who attended New Orleans’ Tulane University, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and rescue furbaby.

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