Hello there, mes ami. Charlotte Bringier Crozat here, grand-mere to Maggie Crozat of Crozat Plantation Bed and Breakfast. And I have some tres big news. I’m getting remarried! Yes, at the ripe old age of eighty-three, I’ve decided to plight my troth once again. The lucky man is Lee Bertrand, proprietor of the sole service station in our little Louisiana village of Pelican—town motto, “Yes, We Peli-CAN!” I know there’s beaucoup gossip about the local mechanic “hooking up” (as the kids today put it) with the town’s grand dame/doyenne/dowager/diva (okay, the last one is what my mischievous granddaughter calls me). But I can assure you it’s a love match.
I assume you’re familiar with the term “bridezilla.” According to my amused and slightly annoyed family, I’m on the cusp of becoming one. And I don’t apologize for that one bit. I married my first husband on a train platform before he shipped out to fight in the Korean War. This time, I’m going all out. I’ve been sampling and swagging at bridal expos from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. I’ve burrowed through dozens of swatches in search of our wedding color scheme. Why, I might even wear one of these extremely poufy Disney princess wedding gowns. . . if I can find one that flatters a woman of a certain age, no easy feat so far.
However, some concerning events are cramping my bridezilla style. A very unpleasant website and app is turning local homes into short-term rentals, hurting business at our B&B and all the historic hostelries in town. Since Halloween is coming, Maggie came up with a wonderful idea — a “Pelican’s Spooky Past” package entitling guests to a stay at our B&B that includes Louisiana-themed Halloween events. Even better, several other lodgings have teamed up with us to offer this wonderful package, so guests staying at any location can take advantage of events at all the locations. There’s even a play being staged in an abandoned cemetery. Talk about spooky, n’est ce pas? We’re all saying prayers that this brilliant marketing idea puts the brakes on that annoying app. Another obstacle to success, though, is that some visitors have reported sightings of a rougarou – a legendary Cajun creature who’s sort of a combination werewolf/vampire – leading to them cancel their stays with us. It’s frustrating because I’m sure these sightings are merely the result of their eyes, and the spooky nature of the holiday, playing tricks on them.
Unfortunately, there’s one additional unpleasantness marring my bridezilla joy. Maggie hired a long-lost cousin as the masseuse for our brand-new Crozat Spa and Wellness Retreat. We were all so excited to welcome Suzannah Crozat MacDowell and her family to our home and looked forward to developing a close relationship with her. But to be blunt, the woman is a HORROR. A nightmare. Un cauchemar. Worse. . . she’s a threat to the very future of Crozat Plantation Bed & Breakfast.
I thought the term “obnoxious Canadian was an oxymoron.
Apparently, I was wrong.
Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win one (1) print copy of Murder in the Bayou Boneyard, limited to U.S. residents. Giveaway ends September 9, 2020. Good luck everyone!
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard is the sixth book in the “Cajun Country” cozy mystery series, coming September 8, 2020.
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.
Purchase Link
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About the author
Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won the Agatha award for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Her new 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. Visit Ellen’s website at ellenbyron.com. You can connect with Ellen on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, on BookBub, and on Goodreads.
All comments are welcomed.
What an awesome cover on this new book 📚 and I also love 💕 the title! This sounds like a really exciting cozy! I will have to get the rest of the series too! Thank you so much Dru and Ellen for the chance to win! 😊
I love this cover, too! Good luck, Beverly.
I also love the cover. Thanks for the chance
Very nice cover. I liked the synopsis. It sounds like a really interesting book. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m definitely in the mood for Halloween heebie-jeebies! Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
Sounds like a perfect Halloween read.
I hope so. I worked hard to capture the Halloween vibe.
Yay, me too! Good luck.
I thoroughly enjoy mysteries that incorporate the seasons of the year. Having read previous books in this series I am sure this will be a great book to devour. My fingers are crossed.
This looks like a fun book and a fun series. It is definitely going on my to read list.
I’m so glad to hear that.
I would love to read this book! History, Halloween and a cozy mystery series I already love. This book has it all.
Halloween and mysteries do go hand in hand, don’t they?
This quickly became a favorite series! Love the diversity of characters and their natural interactions. Also like the cultural aspects.
Deb, I am so happy to read this! What a great compliment to my series. thank you.
Sounds like a fun read
I think it is, but I’m biased. 😉
I am a fan of this series and would love to win this book!
Hi, Linda! Nice to e-see you! Thanks so much and good luck!
I really enjoyed A Day in Grand Mère Crozat’s life – she tells it like it is, doesn’t she? I can’t wait to read about all the Halloween festivities, the wedding and the not so kiss in’ Canadian cousin!
Celia, hi! Gran is truly one of my favorite characters to write. If I ever did a spin-off series, she would be the star!
This one sounds great. I love the spooky atmosphere.
And I loved writing it!
This sounds like a good series. Thanks for sharing.
Love this series, and the latest book sounds perfect for the upcoming Halloween season, or just about anytime! Looking forward yo reading it. Winning a copy would be terrific! Thanks for the chance.
It was a blast to write!
Love the Cajun Country Mystery series.
Awesome! Thank you so much!
Sounds like a good read. I love the cover.
So do I!
The book sounds great. I Love the dog on the cover. Thank you for this chance to win.
The dog on the cover is our late, lamented basset hound rescue, Lucy. xo
Charlotte sounds like a hoot–I can’t wait to see what kind of wedding dress she picks out
Charlotte has become one of my favorite characters to write!
I’m so glad to have found this series! It sounds like something I would really enjoy. Thanks for the chance to win a print copy of your book Murder in the Bayou Boneyard! The title and summary sound great 😊
I’m thrilled you found it!!
I read this series during ‘lock down’ and loved it! Can’t wait to read this one! Thanks for the chance to win!
Oh, I’m so thrilled to read this! Glad I helped entertain you during these tough times.
The perfect cover for Halloween.
Isn’t it?
This book appeals to me immensely! I love Halloween theme cozies.
me too!!
Me too!
I love the cover. I like Halloween themes -perfect timing.
This is one of my favorite series. I love it!! Such great characters! Thanks for the chance to win a copy of Murder in the Bayou Boneyard. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Thank you so much!! Good luck.
Such a good series! It’s a good thing you can’t gain weight reading about food. . . Will the big wedding (Maggie’s) be in the next book?
Pat, lol! As to the wedding, well… I can’t give anything away. But since I did already write a book that was entirely wedding-themed (BODY ON THE BAYOU), I have to tread carefully on that territory.
I really love this series! It makes me feel like I’m on the Great River Road in Louisiana. Can’t wait to read book #6.
sounds like a great read. love to win
Good luck!
You have created one of the coolest grandmothers on the planet!!
OMG, thank you, Emily! I do love her. And this means a lot to me because her personality was inspired by my own mom. (Who’s nothing like her in many ways, an Italian immigrant raised in NY, but she has her sense of humor)
Sadly, I haven’t read anything by this author yet. I would love to read this book.Maggie’s grandmother sounds like a fun person to hang out with.
I have to say, she is!
I have read all of the books in this series and have loved them. I often found it hard to come by whatever was the next book in the series so I have read them in various formats. I would love to win a copy of this latest book as I have had it on my list to find somewhere since I first saw when it would be available. Thanks for the opportunity.
I have read all of the books in this series since it was first started and loved them. I had often found is difficult to find them so have read them in various formats. I have had this book on my list to read ever since I discovered its publication date and I thank you for the opportunity to win a copy.
This sounds like a great “visit” to the bayou.
Honestly, it is. I work really hard at capturing the south Louisiana atmosphere.
I really love this series! Looking forward to reading book #6. Thanks for the chance.
I’m thrilled you love it! Thank you so much for the support.
It is fun this time of year in Louisiana, and my mother lives on the bayou and this sounds like a good mystery.
Karen, yes – October is a nice month in Louisiana. Which bayou does your mother live on? The real Gaynell Bourgeois who inspired the fictional one in my series lives on Black Bayou.
Sounds like a fun cozy, thank you for the chance to win a copy.
wfnren at aol dot com
Good luck!
Sounds great! And a fun cover.
I love my cover artist. He also does the covers for Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Newport series.
Although I only visited New Orleans and Cajun Country once, this series brings back fond memories. Glad Charlotte is getting married. Stay safe and well.
Sally, I’m so glad. You stay safe and well, too.
I am a fan of oxymoron com thanks for the chuckle! Also, I was reading thru your comments and interesting about your cover artist and Maxwell’s books too. Congrats on the new book, I have never been to New Orleans in real life!
Oh, I hope you get to go sometime. It’s such a great city.
New author and series for me, sounds good!
Hope you get to read it!
This was a fun post. I liked reading something from her point of view.
So glad you enjoyed it.
The cover is amazing, Thanks for your great generosity.
I’m so happy with it. Good luck!
You are a new to me author. That cover is so adorable! I love the look on the dog’s face and on the jack-o-lantern! Sounds like just the type of book/story I love to read! Thanks for the chance tp win!
I’m so glad you’ve found me! Good luck!
Wow! This book sounds like lots of fun! I love the dog on the cover, too.
It is fun! And that dog is our late basset furbaby, Lucy.
I’d love to read this—great series. Legallyblonde1961@yahoo.com
So glad you like the series!
I’m a huge Ellen fan and would “kill” to be the extremely lucky winner.
Great character! I love humor and quirky characters in a mystery. Thanks for the chance to win.
Sounds like a fun trick or treat read!
**** WINNER ****
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard is Nora-Adrienne Deret
Congratulations!