Plantation Shudders

Today I want to share a new cozy mystery book.  Plantations Shudders by Ellen Byron is the first book in the Cajun Country Mystery series.  Magnolia “Maggie” Crozat works at a docent at Doucet Plantation (which used to belong to her mother’s family until they gifted it to the state) and help out at Crozat Bed and Breakfast (which is her father’s family’s plantation) in Pelican, Louisiana.  It is the last weekend in August and the B&B is fully booked.  The guests are all enjoying happy hour when the last couple arrives.  Hal and Beverly Clabber are on their honeymoon.  They are not what the Crozat’s expected.  They are an elderly couple who just got married.  Beverly is all smiles while her husband, Hal is very unpleasant (he has anal issues).

One night there is a storm and the lights go out.  Normally, the generator would come on immediately.  Of course, it does not.  The Crozat’s get out flashlights for everyone and they notice that Hal is turning purple.  He then collapses.  Beverly is distraught and asks for her pills.  Maggie hands her the pills and a few minutes later Beverly collapses on top of her husband.  Both Clabber’s are dead.  Pelican Chief of Police is Rufus “Ru” Durand.  He does not like the Crozat family because of a one hundred and fifty year old curse.  Ru goes out of his way to be unpleasant to Maggie.  He is thrilled that the death’s occurred on Crozat property and hopes it will ruin their B&B.  The Crozat family is hoping that the new detective will be more open minded.  The new detective is Bo Durand, Ru’s cousin.  He has just transferred from Shreveport.  Maggie knows the only way to clear her families name is to solve the case.  With the help of her Grandmere, Charlotte, she starts looking into the Clabber’s backgrounds as well as those of her guests.

Maggie finds two brochures (about castles in England and Scotland) and a ring hidden in the Clabber’s room.  Maggie makes copies of them and hides (and locks) them in her desk.  A few days later another guest is strangled.  She evidently overheard something or got in the way of the killer.  Then Maggie finds out that the brochures and ring have been stolen.  Maggie determined to find the culprit.  Luckily, Bo has turned out to be very different from his nasty cousin, Rufus.  Will Maggie find the killer in time to save herself as well as the Crozat Bed and Breakfast?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Plantation Shudders.  It had just the right amount of humor.  When Beverly leaned to whisper to Maggie about Hal’s issues, I just laughed.  It was such a funny sentence (you will have to read the book).  I give Plantation Shudders 5 out of 5 stars.  There is the main mystery as well as a couple of others (with the other guests), a little romance, humor, and, of course, the nasty sheriff (you have to have someone to dislike).  The murder mystery was simple to solve, but I had no idea what the Georgia boys were up to.   I hope there will be many more books in the Cajun Country Mystery series.  

I received a complimentary copy of Plantation Shudders from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  The review and opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my latest review.  I hope you have an enjoyable afternoon and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader