French Quarter Fright Night (Vintage Cookbook)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – the Garden District of New Orleans
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Severn House (September 3, 2024)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages

Synopsis

The third in the fabulous cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Ellen Byron.

Welcome to the Bon Veeevil Festival of Fear! Prepare for the spookiest night of your life . . .

It’s Halloween in New Orleans, and the staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum is setting up a fantastic haunted house tour for their visitors. But when flashy movie star Blaine Taggart and his entourage move into the mansion next door, gift shop proprietor Ricki James-Diaz gets a fright of her own.

While Ricki is excited about the potential business the tours will bring to her vintage cookbook shop, she’s less thrilled by former friend Blaine’s arrival in town. Then Bon Vee’s prop tomb becomes a real tomb for Blaine’s nasty assistant, and suddenly everyone at Bon Vee is a murder suspect. There isn’t a ghost of a chance one of them committed the crime, but with NOPD busy tackling the mischief and mayhem generated by the spooky holiday, it falls on Ricki and her friends to catch the killer.

As the Big Easy gears up for the Big Scary, it seems everyone has skeletons in their closets. Can Ricki reveal the shadowy killer before someone else becomes part of the Halloween horror show?

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Review

I enjoy this series because it brings back memories of Louisiana and my family. While they didn’t live in New Orleans, they did live in the southern part, and I could imagine the accents and people very easily. This cozy has a diverse set of characters, some crazy moments, and inspiration, too.

Several aspects of the book kept me entertained. Ricki is searching for her family, and with the advances in DNA testing, you can find more family than you might have ever wanted. There is the neighbor who is complaining about everything. We all have one of those on our street. However, when she ends up dead, it is up to the crew at Bon Vee to uncover the truth. Each character has their strengths in helping uncover clues to put the pieces together. Luckily, the local detective doesn’t mind them sleuthing on their own as long as they share any information with her. Now, this detective is smart to include them instead of them going off on their own and causing more problems.

I almost thought there would be a love triangle for Ricki, but luckily, the actor, Blaine, really wants something else. I won’t spoil what he wants; you will have to read the book to find out. It was interesting how often Blaine inserted himself into Ricki’s life. He has a motive, but is it a good one?

There is a new addition to the family, a kitten they call Red while searching for her owners. By the end of the book, the kitten has a new name: Red Beans. It is such a cute name and very appropriate for Louisiana.

The mystery is well crafted, and I did not suspect the killer until near the end. Even then, I wasn’t sure. There were too many red herrings pointing me in different directions.

I really enjoy this series, and I can’t wait to see what happens next for Ricki, her search for her family, and the cookbook store within Bon Vee.

We give this book 5 paws up.

About the Author

Ellen is a USA Today bestselling author, Anthony nominee, and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico). Her new series, The Golden Motel Mysteries, recently debuted. She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents, but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart.

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