Murder in the Bayou Boneyard
A Cajun Country Mystery
by Ellen Byron
About Murder in the Bayou Boneyard
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (September 8, 2020)
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1643854607
ISBN-13: 978-1643854601
Digital ASIN: B082H3BT6F
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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| A Rougarou |
About Ellen Byron
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. Sign up for her newsletter at https://www.ellenbyron.com/
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| St. Joseph Plantation |
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My Thoughts
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard by Ellen Byron is the 6th A Cajun Country Mystery. Maggie Crozat came up with “Pelican’s Spooky
Past” to help draw customers to the local bed-and-breakfasts. It runs the month of October with various
activities including a play in the Dupois cemetery. The Crozat family are also getting to meet a distant
cousin and her family who will be arriving from Canada. One night they hear a guest screaming
outside. She claims to have seen the
legendary Rougarou. Maggie writes it off
as a prank until guests from other bed-and-breakfasts have similar sightings. Maggie is watching the “Resurrection of a Spirit”
in the cemetery when a Rougarou stumbles onto the stage and collapses. When the mask is removed, it turns out to be
Maggie’s new cousin, Susannah MacDowell who is now dead. Maggie and her family come under suspicion
because of a recent altercation with the victim. When a second death occurs,
Maggie knows she needs to solve this case quickly before Pelican turns into a
ghost town.
I thought Murder in the Bayou Boneyard
was well-written with developed characters.
I always enjoy visiting Pelican, Louisiana. There is nothing better than to be there at
Halloween. I enjoyed the spooky
happening and learning about the Rougarou.
I just loved that this was a double mystery. There are spooky sightings, a pesky police
detective, a chatty parrot, and various suspects. This was a fun mystery to solve. Murder in
the Bayou Boneyard had plenty going on in it which made the story zip by so
quickly. There were some quirky
characters including bird who lands Maggie in hot water. Maggie and Gran are both engaged. They are going to have a double wedding. Gran has taken over the wedding planning for
the extravaganza. She is particularly
enjoying the cake tastings. I just loved
the screaming doorbell at the Crozat Bed and Breakfast (I want one for my
house). Murder in the Bayou Boneyard can
be read as a standalone. I recommend reading this entertaining series in
order. It will allow you to know the
characters, their relationships, and the town.
The ending was delightful. There
is a bounty of food in this story (had my stomach growling). There are recipes at the end for some of the
items featured in the book including Ninette’s Holy Trinity Chicken and Cajun Pecan
Cookie Fingers. Murder in the Bayou Boneyard
is an entertaining cozy mystery with a creepy cemetery, a wrathful Rougarou, a
determined detective, a prolix parrot, multiple murders, a bold bridezilla, and
problematic property line polemic.
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| Le Petite Versailles built by Francoise-Gabriel Aime |
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard is available from Amazon*, Penguin Random House, B&N, Kobo, and IndieBound. You can find the other novels in A Cajun Country Mystery series here. A Catering Hall Mystery series can be located here. Ellen Byron's next release is Long Island Iced Tina which is the 2nd novel in A Catering Hall Mystery series. It will publish on February 23, 2021. As part of the tour, Ellen Byron is giving away one print copy (sorry, but US only) of Murder in the Bayou Boneyard. You can click here to enter or use the Rafflecopter form below. Do not forget to leave a comment for an extra entry. Good Luck! Thank you for visiting today. I am reviewing Before the Crown by Flora Harding tomorrow. I hope that you have a joyful day. Take care, be kind, and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
Tour Participants
September 14 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
September 15 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST
September 15 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT
September 15 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
September 16 – Island Confidential – REVIEW
September 16 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 17 – Author Elena Taylor's Blog – REVIEW
September 17 – eBook Addicts – SPOTLIGHT
September 18 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
September 18 – Angel's Guilty Pleasures – SPOTLIGHT
September 19 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
September 19 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
September 20 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 20 – I Read What You Write – SPOTLIGHT
September 21 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 21 – Christy's Cozy Corners – REVIEW, RECIPE
September 22 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 22 – Cozy Up With Kathy - CHARACTER GUEST POST
September 23 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
September 23 – Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST
September 24 – Sneaky the Library Cat's Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
September 24 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
September 25 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
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September 26 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
September 26 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
September 26 – Baroness' Book Trove – REVIEW
September 27 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
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I’d love to read this!
ReplyDeleteBelated thanks for a great post and review!
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