Review of "Murder in the Bayou Boneyard: A Cajun Country Mystery" by Ellen Byron

In this 6th book in the 'Cajun Country' cozy mystery series, amateur sleuth Maggie Crozat is suspected of murder. The book can be read as a standalone.



*****

Artist Maggie Crozat helps her parents, Ninette and Tug, run Crozat Plantation Bed and Breakfast in Pelican, Louisiana.



The Crozats are concerned because their inn - like other local hotels - has been losing business to a new app called 'Rent My Digs.' To increase business, Maggie and four other B&B owners create a package called 'Pelican's Spooky Past', to run every weekend in October. The inns are appropriately decorated for the month, which adds to the fun.



Each Pelican B&B offers a Halloween themed entertainment, such as serving meals that mourners ate in antebellum days;



holding a workshop that teaches guests to make cemetery decorations called immortelles;



staging a a play called Resurrection of a Spirit, performed in a spooky cemetery; and so on.



Guests at the Pelican B&B hotels rotate through the activities, providing more business for everyone.

To make Crozat Plantation B&B even more appealing, Maggie opens a spa on the property, which offers massages and facials. In the spirit of helping family members, Maggie invites a distant Canadian relative called Susannah Crozat MacDowell to be the masseuse for October.



Susannah brings her husband and grown stepson and stepdaughter, all of whom stay in a renovated schoolhouse Maggie is fixing up as a combination art studio/apartment.....



......for herself and her fiancé, Crozat police detective Bo Durand.



Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished, and Susannah soon announces that she's taking over the property of her ancestral relatives, right beside the Crozat Plantation B&B. Moreover, Susannah says the schoolhouse is on her property, and she's keeping it.

To sour Maggie's mood even more, legendary werewolf-like creatures called rougarous start jumping out of the woods scaring weekend B&B guests - some of whom leave early.



Worse yet, a rougarou stumbles into the cemetery during a production of Resurrection of a Spirit and promptly drops dead. As it turns out the rougarou is a murder victim wearing a werewolf costume.

Detectives from the nearby Ville Blanc Police Department get the murder case, and promptly finger Maggie as the prime suspect.



More murders follow, and Maggie is in the crosshairs for those as well.

Being an accomplished amateur sleuth with excellent connections in the Pelican Police Department, Maggie sets out to uncover the killer herself.

The accusations against Maggie and the ingratitude of the Canadian relatives is hard on the whole Crozat family. So Maggies's mom Ninette - who cooks to calm her nerves - fills the B&B with Cajun savories and desserts. In fact, when the house is burgled, the Pelican cops vie for the chance to investigate....knowing they'll get tasty bowls of gumbo or some other treat. (Note: recipes are included at the end of the book.)



While all this is going on Maggie and her Grand-mère are preparing for their joint wedding on New Year's Eve. Gran is doing most of the planning, and she's having a fabulous time - collecting swag from bridal expos and doing cake tastings at every bakery in town.



The book has a large array of additional characters, including townspeople of Pelican and B&B guests. My favorite visitors are a woman called DruCilla and her talking parrot Lovie - a clever bird who repeats whatever he hears and belts out tunes on command.



The story's southern Louisiana ambiance is authentic and charming, as is the affectionate appellation 'cher' (dear), which Cajuns use all the time (right back at ya, cher; thanks, cher; you look exhausted, cher; it's not about that, cher; etc.)

I enjoyed this delightful cozy mystery, and recommend it to fans of the genre.

Recipes in the book include:


Crawtatoes


Cajun Pecan Cookie Fingers


Ghoulish Cajun Goulash


Sugar High Pie


Holy Trinity Chicken

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Ellen Byron) and the publisher (Crooked Lane Books) for a copy of the book.

Rating: 4 stars