Hey there, it’s Gumbo. My brother Jambalaya and I are the two peacocks you see chasing certain employees and guests around Bon Vee Culinary House Museum in New Orleans’ Garden District.

People think that all we’re good for is fanning out our gorgeous feathers and occasionally shedding a couple of them for the benefit of the nice lady, Ricki James-Diaz, who runs Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop. They judge us because we chase and squawk a little. (Okay, fine, a lot when it comes to the squawking.) Well, the people who dismiss us as dumb but pretty birds are dead wrong. And I use the word “dead” on purpose, given the bodies that have dropped at Bon Vee. Believe me when I say that Jambie and I know things. We hear things. We see things.

We could have told the police who delivered the trunk with the body of Bon Vee tour guide Franklin Finbloch in Bayou Book Thief. We could have ID’d the killer of the annoying French guy in Wined and Died in New Orleans. Right now, it’s almost Halloween in New Orleans and that’s a pretty spooky time here. And since spooky can lead to murder-y, Jambie and I are keeping an eye on the sketchy new neighbors who bought the mansion next door. We’re convinced that if anything bad is gonna happen, it’s gonna happen there.

The new owner of Duncan-Sejour is a movie star named Blaine Taggart. He’s got what they call in Hollywood an “entourage.” (Sidebar: if you’re wondering how we know about stuff like movie stars and entourages, remember, we hear things. We’re even Swifties. We’ve shaken off quite a few tail feathers rocking out to the Queen of Pop.)

Anyway, to me and Jambalaya it looks like a lot of the Duncan-Sejour residents are hiding secrets. The movie star’s aunt did time in jail. Taggart’s brother Nat is in recovery but is trying not to fall off the wagon. And what’s the deal with the star’s assistant, Miranda Fine? She has her own secrets but worse, she’s collected other people’s and is using what she knows against them. Jambie and I have witnessed enough crime around Bon Vee to know this will not end well.

Okay, enough talking. Gotta go do some chasing and shedding.

And spying…

French Quarter Fright Night, A Vintage Cookbook Mystery Book 3
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: September 2024
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

The third in the fabulous cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Ellen Byron.

Welcome to the Bon Veeevil Festival of Fear! Prepare for the spookiest night of your life . . .

It’s Halloween in New Orleans, and the staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum has set up a fantastic haunted house tour for their visitors. But when flashy movie star Blaine Taggart and his entourage move into the mansion next door, gift shop proprietor Ricki James-Diaz gets a fright of her own.

While Ricki is excited about the potential business the tours will bring to her vintage cookbook shop, she’s less thrilled by former friend Blaine’s arrival in town. Then Bon Vee’s prop tomb becomes a real tomb for Blaine’s nasty assistant, and suddenly everyone at Bon Vee is a murder suspect. There isn’t a ghost of a chance one of them committed the crime, but with NOPD busy tackling the mischief and mayhem generated by the spooky holiday, it falls on Ricki and her friends to catch the killer.

As the Big Easy gears up for the Big Scary, it seems everyone has skeletons in their closets. Can Ricki reveal the shadowy killer before someone else becomes part of the Halloween horror show?

About the author
Ellen is a USA Today bestselling author, Anthony nominee, and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico). Her new series, The Golden Motel Mysteries, recently debuted. 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 Cozy Mysteries | Ellen Byron | Author.