Mardi Gras Murder by Ellen Byron is the fourth book in the “Cajun Country” mystery series. Publisher: Crooked Lane Books, coming October 9, 2018.

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.

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There is a lot going on with Maggie in Pelican, Louisiana. First, she’s judging a contest for her ailing grandmother, she’s refereeing her parents over her dad’s enthusiasm for making gumbo, she’s working on a new project at her job, she’s experiencing a little bump in her relationship with Bo and of course, investigating an unknown body as well as the recent murder victim who lands in her lap. Are they connected? You’ll have to read this tantalizing book that radiates southern charm to find out.

I love books that immediately grab my attention and this one succeeded, quickly becoming a page-turner. I was completely  immersed in all aspects of this well-written drama. The descriptive narrative from Maggie’s first appearance to the discovery of the body to the murder to her interaction with family and friends and to all the hoopla around Mardi Gras kept me involved as the author intended. It was fun watching everything play out with the suspect pool and the snippets of clues that were sprinkled throughout. An appearance by Xander always brighten up the story for me and the author does a great job in his portrayal. A nicely done tale with a quirky cast of characters, engagingly fetching dialogue and a perfect backdrop of the Crozak’s home and town. When all was said and done, I enjoyed this latest adventure with Maggie and her friends.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.