Mardi Gras Murder
It’s Mardi Gras season on the bayou, which means parades, pageantry, and gumbo galore. When a flood upends life in the tiny town of Pelican, Louisiana, and deposits a body of a stranger behind the Crozat Plantation B&B, the celebration takes a decidedly dark turn.
The post-flood recovery has delayed the opening of a controversial exhibit about the little-known Louisiana Orphan Train. And when a judge for the Miss Pelican Mardi Gras Gumbo Queen pageant is shot, Maggie’s convinced the murder is connected to the body on the bayou. Does someone covet the pageant queen crown enough to kill for it? Could the deaths be related to the Orphan Train which delivered its last charges to Louisiana in 1929? The leads are thin on this Fat Tuesday, and until the killer is unmasked, no one in Pelican is safe.
Series: A Cajun Country Mystery – Book #4
Author: Ellen Byron
Genre: Cozy Mystery/B&B
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Rating:
Ellen Byron is a fantastic writer, with the Cajun Country Mystery series a favorite of readers everywhere. The fourth book in the series, Mardi Gras Murder is a wonderful addition and will add more fans for an author that already has a large following. The characters are well rounded and quirky. The Louisiana celebration of Mardi Gras is world-famous and is written about with the flavor of the holiday in mind. Readers can sense the author’s love for her characters and setting within the pages of this series.
Maggie Crozat always seems to find herself bogged down in a murder investigation. She is hoping that the death of a stranger who washed up onto their property during a flood died from something other than murder. Unfortunately, she knows almost instantly that she is wrong and is once again faced with finding a killer.
The characters in this series are warm, inviting, loving, and family-oriented. Maggie’s grandmother is a fan favorite, and she should be, she is feisty, intelligent, and kind. Maggie’s parents are everything we would want our parents to be. They have a great sense of humor, argue about silly stuff, and yell occasionally. In the end, they love each other and their family, and it shows throughout this book as well as the others in the series.
Maggie’s boyfriend, Bo, warms the reader’s heart once again. However, there is a chance that things will not work out between Maggie and Bo. The reader will wait with nervous anticipation until they find out if the couple will remain together.
There are plenty of suspects and clues to make this book fast-paced and a page-turner. The killer is unmasked only after Maggie finds herself once again in danger of being killed. Readers can empathize with one or more of the characters and feel the excitement and at times raw emotion of Maggie. No one will be disappointed with the outcome of this book, or go away with more questions than answers.
Mardi Gras Murder can easily stand on its own. There is no need for a lengthy background on the characters or the town. Readers will relish this book and want to read the others in the series. I highly recommend this book and this series.
About the Author:
Ellen Byron was born in Queens, New York, and raised in Queens and Westchester County. She is a first-generation Italian-American on her mother’s side. On her father’s side, her grandfather was a low-level Jewish mobster who disappeared in 1933 under mysterious circumstances.
While growing up in Queens, Maria/Ellen’s cousin’s uncles ran the Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina catering halls. Ellen’s TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. She’s written over 200 national magazine articles, and her published plays include the award-winning Graceland. She also worked as a cater-waiter for the legendary 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 still misses her hometown – and still drives like a New York cabbie.
Represent by Doug Grad at the Doug Grad Literary Agency, Inc.
Contact Ellen: https://www.ellenbyron.com/contact
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