Murder in the Bayou Boneyard
by Ellen Byron
Although I do not usually favor Halloween themed mysteries, I had a good time with Murder in the Bayou Boneyard. Obviously set in Louisiana, Ellen Byron’s series takes the reader to the Crozat Plantation where the family works together to maintain their property by running a B & B.
A lot is going on in the little town of Pelican as the B & B’s in the area try to attract tourists with Pelican’s Spooky Past packages including a special mystery play, themed edible treats, crafts, and spa specials. Hopefully this will counteract the efforts of Gavin Grody who is buying up affordable housing and using them as tourist rentals.
There are so many plot threads! While all this is going on in the town, the Crozat’s distant cousins from Canada arrive bringing chaos and murder with them. Oil companies are making offers on the plantation land whose ownership may be in question. Don’t take any of the characters at face value; some are not who they seem to be, from the scary gardener to the amiable stage manager to the overacting thespian. There are multiple murders and other dangers along the way, but I promise that all the threads connect with a surprise ending.
My only disappointment was the minimal inclusion of Gopher, the Crozat family’s rescue basset hound in the story despite being featured prominently on the book’s cover. Byron makes up for neglecting Gopher by introducing Louie, a quite talkative parrot with a pivotal and humorous role.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. #6 in the Cajun Country Mystery Series, but could be read as a standalone. The author dumps you into the story with a prologue that may seem confusing, but will be made clear in the conclusion of the novel. Then she proceeds to provide some background even as the story begins.
2. The characters in the book are listed with relations and connections if the reader needs a reference.
3. The book includes 5 recipes with a Cajun twist.
Publication: September 8, 2020—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
“Sandy’s got me on this health kick. There should be a state law against making jambalaya with quinoa, whatever the heck that is.”
“He can be smug, overbearing, opinionated, lazy, a total slob—“ “And you’re with him why?” Sandy teared up. “Because he’s smart and funny and loves me more than anybody I’ve ever known.”
“Whoa, whoa,” Bo said, flummoxed. “That’s a whole lotta word salad, chère. You need to calm down. Take deep breaths.”
education pathways 
I have not read this book as I am behind in the series and want to read it in order. It is a good series.
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I understand about wanting to read them in order. It is good to see you in the blogging world again. I hope that means things are going better for you and Bob.
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Wonderful post Linda, great quotes as always. I read this one and loved it. I have the last one to read and am putting it off because I know it is the end of the series. I wish their dog played more of a role in the last few books as well.
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I managed to miss requesting the next one, but I have it on my TBR list. I didn’t know it was to be the last in the series.
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I didn’t either Linda, I found out from reading some early reviews. Everyone says she does a good job tying it all up, though.
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Sounds like a fun read!
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It is good and I enjoyed a lot of the dialogue.
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Wonderful share. I enjoyed this one too. Finished the series this summer.
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I think you do an amazing job of finishing up series. I think I got too many going when I first started reviewing–rather like a dog in a meat market.😉
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It’s so hard tho… too many good ones! 🙂
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I tend to be the opposite: if a Halloween installment of a series looks good enough, I’ll pick up the rest of the books in the series just to get around to it! Absolutely no idea why they’re fun to me, but I’m a total sucker for most holiday-themed cozies.
And this one sounds like a lot of fun. Funnily enough, I have the first two in the series waiting on my shelf … might have to make time for them soon. Excellent review, as always.
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Thanks, Christopher. You do have a different approach to the cozies. I think it is a good one. I hope to one day be caught up with my ARC commitments and thus feel freer to read whatever I want whenever I want. It is internal pressure, not external that affects my book scheduling. Yikes–even that last word reflects the pressure I put on myself!
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Completely understandable—and, unfortunately, something I personally understand! I had hoped this would be the year of tackling my backlog of ARCs, but … well, there’s always next year.
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Sounds like a good book for this season.
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Yes. Even though I like fall better than Halloween, I still enjoyed this book.
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