Ellen is one of my favorite authors and I’m thrilled to host the cover reveal for the next book in her “Vintage Cookbook” mystery series, coming December 2022 and now up for preorder.
Book Synopsis
In the second Vintage Cookbook Mystery, Ricki has to help solve a murder, untangle family secrets, and grow her business, all while living under the threat of a hurricane that could wipe out everything from her home to Bon Vee.
It’s enough to make her break open a bottle of 1853 Madeira wine. If one of the Charbonnet lowlife relatives doesn’t get to it first.
It’s hurricane season in the Big Easy and vintage cookbook fan Ricki James-Diaz is trying to shelve her weather-related fears and focus on her business, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop, housed in the magnificent Bon Vee Culinary House Museum.
Repairs on the property unearth crates of valuable French wine over a century and a half old buried by the home’s builder, Jean-Louis Charbonnet. Ricki, who’s been struggling with upping her social media profile to attract more customers to Miss Vee’s, is thrilled when her post about the discovery of this long-buried liquid treasure goes viral. She’s less thrilled the post brings distant Charbonnet family members out of the woodwork, including a long-lost French relative, all clamoring for a cut of the proceeds from the wine’s sale.
When a dead body turns up in Bon Vee’s cheery fall outdoor decorations, the NOPD zeroes in on Eugenia Charbonnet Felice, as the prime suspect. The police figure that as board president and the head of the Charbonnet family, she has the most to gain from ridding Bon Vee of an interloper. Ricki is determined to uncover the real culprit, but she can’t help noticing that Eugenia is acting strangely. Ricki wonders what kind of secret her mentor has bottled up, and fears what might happen if she uncorks it.
Publication Date: December 6, 2022
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Format: Print, digital, and audio
Name of Series: Vintage Cookbook
Number in Series: #2
Genre: Culinary Cozy Mystery
Author Website: ellenbyron.com
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. Bayou Book Thief, the first book in her Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, launches in June 2022. She writes the Catering Hall Mystery series, under the name Maria DiRico.
Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. She blogs with Chicks on the Case, is a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America, serves on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and will be the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster.
All comments are welcomed.
What a great cover! Love the stained glass. Looks like a nice place to die. : ).
LOL, Diane! And thanks!
This sounds like a great new series by Ellen Byron. What secrets will be spilled? Love the cover!
Thanks, Carole. Love that line! I may have to borrow it for promo. 😉
Can’t wait to read Ellen’s newest series. Great cover reveal, Dru Ann.
Beth, thanks so much! Hope to see you at Malice.
What a fabulous cover. Of course, I adore the stained glass. I hope it survives the turmoil you have plotted. LOL
I thought of you when they sent it! Isn’t it gorgeous? And the stained glass… oh, to have that in my house. Thanks, Cheryl!
Gorgeous cover! Looking forward to this one!
Judy, I couldn’t agree more. So glad you’re looking forward to it. It was a ton of fun to write.
Beautiful Cover!
Thanks so much, Christine!
Beautiful cover! Looking forward to reading this!
Thank you! They did an amazing job with it.
Looking forward to this. What a gorgeous cover! So happy for you! Did you have any input with the artist?
Yes, via the editor. I actually put together a graphic with images that represented elements in the book. Email me if you’re interested and I’ll send it to you.
Thanks, Shari! I shared important story elements with the editor via a graphic I made with Canva. They sent a draft and we adjusted. I love that the artist put the peacock in the stained window!
Stunning cover! And I know the story will be just as great!
Awww… thanks, Marilyn!
I love the cover and already have the book on pre-order
Noradrienne!! Thank you!!
I love it! Can’t wait for the book!
Thanks, Lori. Yay!
What a fabulous cover! And it’s got “wine” in the title – yay, lol! Congrats on this new series, Ellen. I can’t wait to read the first one!
Alyssa, thank you!! And cheers.
Love the peacock in the stained glass!
Me too!!
The details are fabulous! Love the cover and can’t wait to read the book. 🙂
Thanks so much!!
Fabulous cover, El! Gotta love that continued peacock theme. Can’t wait for the next installment in this series!
Thanks so much!!! Excited about YOUR fab new series too!
Look forward to starting this series. Awesome cover
Lovely/ Look forward to reading the book/