As a student at Tulane University, I adored Mardi Gras parades. But watching a parade drunk from the sidelines as you yell, “Throw me something, mister!” is far different from belonging to one of the krewes that sponsor the parades and man the floats. When I decided that my Vintage Cookbooks Mystery protagonist, Ricki James-Diaz, would join a krewe in A Murderer’s Guide to Mardi Gras, I knew there was only one way to capture the authenticity of her experience: join a krewe myself.

Parades roll from January or even December through Fat Tuesday, the official day of Mardi Gras. In typical “me” fashion I went overboard, signing up for not one but three krewes: Krewe of Cork, Krewe of Freret, and Krewe of King Arthur. It’s an expensive venture. Not only is there the fee for signing up, there’s the cost of the beads and signature items you toss into the hands of eager paradegoers. Once you join a krewe you’re assigned to a float, which is helmed by a float captain. When I ran my initial “throw” purchase by my float captain, she bluntly wrote back, “You’ll burn through those in the first block of the parade.” Gulp!

Photo number one shows my initial purchase. The second is from someone I met at Mardi Gras Spot, a go-to warehouse of throws and more in New Orleans. See her cart? It was one of THREE she filled!

I kicked off “krewe-ing” with Krewe of Cork on the Friday two weekends before Mardi Gras. Cork has no floats; it’s a walking parade through the French Quarter, preceded by a morning bar and luncheon, and followed by a raucous afterparty. (This was something important I learned about belonging to a krewe: parading is often sandwiched between other events.) I sauntered through the streets with my friend Michael Rigg, author of the New Orleans-based Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mysteries and a veteran of many krewes.

The next day began with a pre-parade Krewe of Freret breakfast, after which we boarded our assigned floats and trundled off to the staging area to wait our turn to take off. (Parades ran from morn ‘til night that day.) Once we rolled, I practically threw out my arm hurling throws into the crowd. A concert followed the parade, but I headed back to St. Charles Avenue to catch the parades following ours.

Sunday dawned with a storm that postponed Krewe of King Arthur, my third parade. Its postponement meant I missed parading, but I did attend the breakfast they held despite the change, where I got to meet the krewe king and queen.

I could never have written A Murderer’s Guide to Mardi Gras without experiencing Krewe Life for myself. Would I do it again? In a very expensive heartbeat!

A MURDERER’S GUIDE TO MARDI GRAS
Series: A Vintage Cookbook Mystery, Book 5
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: August 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org

It’s cozy. It’s culinary. It’s Mardi Gras madness! It’s the fifth book in this fabulous mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today-bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron.

Step 1: join a killer krewe
It’s carnival season in New Orleans, and Ricki James-Diaz and her friends from Bon Vee are dressing up for Mardi Gras. They’ve joined the notorious krewe of Chew to support Ricki’s chef boyfriend, Virgil, who is to be crowned this year’s king. It’s all fun, throws, and over-the-top outfits until the krewe’s captain is found strangled with his own medallion.

Step 2: survive the festivities
The prime suspect is Ricki’s friend, the deceased’s wife who discovered he was cheating on her. It seems a straightforward case, but Ricki isn’t so sure. The krewe’s leader had many enemies including his mistress, his krewe co-founder who he ousted, and his college friend whose girlfriend he stole. One thing’s clear, Ricki’s at the center of yet another murder investigation. And if she’s not careful, her first Mardi Gras could also be her last . . .

About the author
Ellen is a bestselling author, Anthony nominee, and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico), and Golden Motel Mysteries. She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents, but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. Visit her at www.ellenbyron.com.