Maggie first appeared in Plantation Shudders and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Maggie.
What is your name?
Magnolia Marie Crozat, but everyone calls me Maggie.
How old are you?
I’m thirty-two.
What is your profession?
I’m an artist, but I help out at my family’s plantation-turned-B&B, and I also work as the Art Collection Specialist at Doucet Plantation, which my mother’s family used to own. I’m a busy gal!
Do you have a significant other?
Oh, yes – and he’s a hotty ;-). He’s the cousin of my former enemy, Police Chief Rufus Durand. The word “former” is making my relationship with Rufus’s cousin a lot less problematic.
What is his name and profession?
Bo Durand, and he’s a detective.
Any children?
Bo has a son, Xander, from his first marriage. Xander is 7 and has Asperger’s. He’s an incredibly talented young artist and I adore him. If and when Bo and I marry, I hope to give Xander a sibling.
Do you have any sibling(s)?
Nope, I’m “sibling-free,” as my parents called it. They thought it sounded less lonely than “only child.”
Cats, dogs or other pets?
We have our beloved basset hound, Gopher. We’re also fostering Jolie and Brooke, a cat and dog that belong to neighbors who are in Hawaii on sabbatical. They each had a litter, but we found homes for the little ones.
What town do you live in?
We live in Pelican, Louisiana. Town motto: “Yes, We Peli-CAN!”
House or building complex? Own or Rent?
My ancestors built Crozat Plantation in the mid-1800s and it’s been in the family ever since.
What is your favorite spot in your house?
The veranda, where I can sit on the porch swing and look out across the Great River Road to the levee beyond it.
Who is your best friend?
I have some super close friends. But I’d have to say my BFF is my grand-mere. She’s a character. Some would call her a Southern grand dame. I know she lays it on thick just for fun sometimes. She has a mischievous streak and a devilish wit.
Amateur sleuth or professional?
Amateur. I leave the pro stuff to my boyfriend.
Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
I work with Bo, and sometimes even Rufus, who grudgingly admits that my instincts come in handy. And the fact that my family’s been around for so long gives me a status that opens a lot of doors, even though I think it’s ridiculous that people are impressed just because your family’s parked its butt in a town for a couple of hundred years.
Favorite meal?
My mama’s jambalaya.
Favorite dessert?
My mama’s Bananas Foster Coffee Cake.
Favorite hobby?
Painting, drawing. . . anything with art. My dream is to make my avocation my vocation someday and earn a living by selling my artwork. I created a line of souvenirs featuring my sketches of local plantations, but I’d love to sell more of my paintings.
Favorite vacation spot?
I’m living in it! But I do love getting down to New Orleans now and then. And I really want to get back to New York someday. I can’t wait to take Bo there, show him all my favorite old haunts, and introduce him to real New York pizza. Oh, and number one on my travel bucket list is going to northern England and walking the moors the Brontes once walked. (Oh, wait – that’s number one on my author, Ellen Byron’s list, LOL.)
Favorite color?
Teal blue. Everyone assumes it’s purple, green or gold – Mardi Gras colors. But I love teal blue. It’s this unique combo of energetic and soothing.
Favorite author?
Ellen Byron. Kidding! Emily Bronte. Wuthering Heights has always been my favorite book. Although I recently re-read it and instead of seeming tortured and mysterious, Heathcliff just seems like a #metoo abuser!
Favorite sports team?
The Saints, of course. Pelicans for basketball. Louisiana doesn’t have a pro baseball team. A lot of people around here like the Astros, but my family has been St. Louis Cardinals fans since the dawn of time.
Movies or Broadway?
I miss Broadway so much. There’s nothing like live theatre.
Are you a morning or a night person?
In New York, I was a night person. But I’ve morphed into a morning person since I moved back to Pelican. I get up early to help my parents tend to the guests in the morning, then go to work at Doucet. But I turned the plantation’s old one-room schoolhouse into an art studio and some nights you’ll find me in there painting away until all hours — or doing a late-night plein air session down by the bayou. I love that slow-moving stream. As long as no gators crawl out of it.
In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
I get up, shake off sleep, and go help my mother get breakfast ready for our guests. Then I hop into the 1964 Falcon convertible I inherited from my grandpere and tootle over to Doucet. I either curate the plantation’s large collection, or spend the day restoring a damaged piece of artwork. After work, I go home and help out if my parents need me or meet up with Bo at our favorite local hangout, Junie’s Oyster Bar and Dance Hall. But I have to be honest — these days, a typical day often involves trying to figure out how some guest or local citizen wound up getting strangled, shot, or poisoned.
Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a print copy of Mardi Gras Murder. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends October 11, 2018. Good luck everyone!
You can read about Maggie in Mardi Gras Murder, the fourth book in the “Cajun Country” mystery series.
Southern charm meets the dark mystery of the bayou as a hundred-year flood, a malicious murder, and a most unusual Mardi Gras converge at the Crozat Plantation B&B.
It’s Mardi Gras season on the bayou, which means parades, pageantry, and gumbo galore. But when a flood upends life in the tiny town of Pelican, Louisiana—and deposits a body of a stranger behind the Crozat Plantation B&B—the celebration takes a decidedly dark turn. The citizens of Pelican are ready to Laissez les bon temps rouler—but there’s beaucoup bad blood on hand this Mardi Gras.
Maggie Crozat is determined to give the stranger a name and find out why he was murdered. The post-flood recovery has delayed the opening of a controversial exhibit about the little-known Louisiana Orphan Train. And when a judge for the Miss Pelican Mardi Gras Gumbo Queen pageant is shot, Maggie’s convinced the murder is connected to the body on the bayou. Does someone covet the pageant queen crown enough to kill for it? Could the deaths be related to the Orphan Train, which delivered its last charges to Louisiana in 1929? The leads are thin on this Fat Tuesday—and until the killer is unmasked, no one in Pelican is safe.
A simmering gumbo of a humorous whodunit, Mardi Gras Murder is the fourth piquant installment in USA Today bestselling author Ellen Byron’s award-winning Cajun Country mysteries.
Purchase Link
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About the author
Ellen Byron authors the Cajun Country Mystery series. A Cajun Christmas Killing and Body on the Bayou both won the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery and were nominated for Agatha awards. Plantation Shudders was nominated for Agatha, Lefty, and Daphne awards. Mardi Gras Murder launches October 9th. Ellen’s TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. She’s written over 200 national magazine articles, and her published plays include the award-winning Graceland. She also worked as a cater-waiter for the legendary Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing.
Connect with Ellen at ellenbyron.com, on Facebook, on Twitter and on Instagram.
All comments are welcomed.
This sounds like a great book! Can’t wait to read!
Thanks, Holly!
I really enjoy this series. Thanks.
Thank YOU! xoxo
what a great cover…….
thank you for the giveaway…
So glad you like the cover. 🙂
Sounds awesome!! Thanks for the opportunity to win!!
Good luck!
I absolutely love this series. I am so excited to read this 4th entry. Thank you for the chance to win.
Brian, thank you so much!
Sounds like a rich setting for a series. I read the book Orphan Train (which was nonfiction) a few years ago and was fascinated by that facet of our country’s history. Should make an interesting complication to add to a story.
It was fascinating to research and write about. Hope you enjoy how I worked it into the story.
I got to read this early on NetGalley. It was soooo good!
Pat, I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!
Love the cover and it sounds like a good series. Thanks for the contest.
Good luck!
This is a new to me series but I really enjoy the described setting. Sounds like a fun read.
I love Cajun Country and I’m so glad I get to write about it.
I’m in love with this series. I’ve read all the previous books but sadly do not own any of them. I hope I can correct that little problem by being the lucky winner. LOL
As always the cover art is just as pleasing as the story itself.
Please toss my name into your magic contest hat please Dru.
Nora, thank you so much! Good luck. xoxox
A great series which I enjoy. Thanks for this lovely giveaway.
Good luck, Pearl! Thanks for enjoying the series.
Happy release day, Maggie and Ellen!
Love ya!
This is a book I would enjoy 🙂
Good luck!
Ellen provides a wonderful cast of characters that the reader can find resemblance to someone they know. I enjoy this series and would love to continue the path with this book.
Robin, what a great review. Thank you!
Love this series!! Thanks for the chance to win a print copy of Mardi Gras Murder. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks so much for the support. Good luck!
Cute cover, thank you for the chance to win a copy of this book.
wfnren at aol dot com
Good luck!
I love this series. Thanks for the giveaway.
This was a fun book to read-in a good series!
I loved this series–and that bananas foster coffee cake sounds delicious.
It is!
A great cover for a great series. I’m anxious to read “Mardi Gras Murder”.
I love the town’s motto: “Yes, We Peli-CAN!” Great one! I love reading Mardi Gras stories, and this one looks good.
I have to say, I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with that. *Pats self on back*. 🙂
Sounds like such a fun read. New series to me. How can you miss with ‘a simmering gumbo of a whodunnit’. And the author has great literary creds. Looking forward to reading a first class, funny and interesting read.
Thank you all so much for the comments and thank you, Dru!!
Sounds like a winner.
This series is so fun. I’m looking forward to reading the newest release!
I really love this series! I’m really looking forward to reading the latest book in the series.
Thank you so much! Good luck.
Congrats on the new book. It sounds great! Thanks for the chance to win.
This series is great and has the best covers! I bet Maggie is excited about Drew Brees’ NFL record ~
LOL, Celia, I think the entire state is doing a happy dance. If I knew anything about football, I’d write it into the series!
Teal blue is a great choice, although there seem to be a lot of different colors called that.
This is a new series & author to me. But now I feel like I know Maggie, & that I’d like to hang out with her.
These character interviews are a great concept.
Thanks for the giveaway.
What a great way to sum up my goal for the series. Thank you!
I’m looking forward to seeing how Maggie solves this new murder.
Ellen has the magic touch when it comes to Louisiana and I love Louisiana! Looking forward to reading this book. Thankyou for the opportunity!
Means a lot to me coming from you, Jill. Thanks!
Sounds like a great read – thanks for the chance!
I love this series. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of Mardi Gras Murder. I have my fingers crossed.
So glad you’re a fan, Vickie!
Would love to read this. Thank you for the opportunity to win!
Love your books and the Basset covers.
I’d really like to get to know “Magnolia” better as this book sounds really interesting. Enjoyed getting to know the character. Thank you.
I really enjoy this series. Love the new cover. Thanks for a chance to win the new release. Congrats on the new book
I hope it isn’t too late to enter. I look forward to catching up with Maggie. Love this series’
I love everything New Orleans and Mardi Gras related. Recently went on vacation to NOLA and stocked up on Mardi Gras “stuff”……My friends and I are hosting our own MG party in Kentucky this coming year
**** WINNER ****
Mardi Gras Murder is Gram
Congratulations!