Body on the Bayou
A Cajun Country Mystery
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- $25.99
Publisher Description
Murder strikes again in small-town Louisiana in the second Cajun Country cozy mystery full of Southern charm, spicy characters, and yummy food.
B&B owner and sometimes-sleuth Maggie Crozat must use her artist’s eye to spot clues and solve a local murder mystery . . .
The Crozats feared that past murders at Crozat Plantation B&B might spell the death of their beloved estate, but they’ve managed to survive the scandal. Now there's a trés bigger story in Pelican, Louisiana: the upcoming nuptials between Maggie Crozat’s nemesis: Police Chief Rufus Durand, and her co-worker, Vanessa Fleer.
When everyone else refuses the job of being Vanessa’s Maid of Honor, Maggie reluctantly takes up the title and finds herself tasked with a long list of duties—the most important of which is entertaining Vanessa’s cousin, Ginger Fleer-Starke. But just days before the wedding, Ginger’s lifeless body is found on the bayou and the Pelican PD, as well as the Crozats, have another murder mystery on their hands.
There’s a gumbo-potful of suspects, including an ex-Marine with PTSD, an annoying local newspaper reporter, and Vanessa’s own sparkplug of a mother. But when it looks like the investigation is zeroing in on Vanessa as the prime suspect, Maggie reluctantly adds keeping the bride-to-be out of jail to her list of Maid of Honor responsibilities in Body on the Bayou—Ellen Byron’s funny and engaging follow up to her critically acclaimed novel, Plantation Shudders.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Byron's charming second Cajun Country mystery (after 2015's Plantation Shudders), Magnolia Marie "Maggie" Crozat, artist and tour guide on the historic Louisiana plantation once owned by her ancestors, has agreed to act as maid of honor for pregnant bride-to-be Vanessa Fleer. When Vanessa's manipulative, deceitful cousin, Ginger Fleer-Starke, is found dead in the bayou behind Maggie's parents' bed-and-breakfast, Maggie's most important duty as maid of honor becomes helping find Ginger's killer before Vanessa is arrested for murder. Maggie's task is complicated by her tentative attraction to Det. Bo Durand, her grandmother's love life, a double litter of stray puppies and kittens, and the unreasonable, never-ending demands of the ultimate bridezilla. A tight plot, an appealing setting, and a smart, good-hearted protagonist with a caring, supportive family and lots of friends give this story everything cozy mystery readers could want.