Author: Ellen Byron
Series: Vintage Cookbook Series (Book 3)
Publication: Severn House; Main edition (September 3, 2024)
Description: 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 is setting 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?
My Thoughts: Ricki and the others at the Bon Vee Culinary Museum are busy getting ready for the Halloween festivities and planning a haunted house. However, the new owners of the mansion nest door are causing problems. Miranda Fine, who is the assistant to the mystery owner, is barraging them with complaints.
All of the residents have various acrimonious confrontations with Miranda. When it is learned that she is the assistant for Blaine Taggart, A-list movie star and best friend of Ricki's late husband, the situation gets even more complex for Ricki. And when Miranda's body is found as a centerpiece in one of Bon Vee's Halloween displays, it is up to Ricki to help the police solve the crime since she and her friends are in the suspects' pool.
Meanwhile, Ricki is also looking into her family tree. Adopted as an infant in New Orleans, she wants to find any possible remaining relatives. Having tracked down part of her family and finding that she's related to the founder of Bon Vee, she's been trying to find out about the male line. She is quite surprised to find that the murder Victim is a distant relative, but it does give her another thread to tug to find out about her history.
This was another fun episode in the Vintage Cookbook series. I liked that some recipes from vintage cookbooks were included.
Favorite Quote:
Favorite Quote:
Nina lifted a corner of her mouth in a half-smile. "We know what we say: In Louisiana, we only follow the rules we like."I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.
I do like the background setting.
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