Cajun Kiss of Death

by Ellen Byron

Pelican, Louisiana, is home to some Creole/Cajun good food and party loving locals including the Crozat family who own the Crozat Plantation B&B. Cajun Kiss of Death opens with daughter Maggie’s New Year’s Eve wedding to Detective Bo Durand. The pair are saying their vows along with two other couples. Even the family basset Gopher gets some spotlight as he strolls down the aisle.

Maggie helps out at the B&B and works as a restorer and curator at a museum across the Mississippi River at Doucet Plantation. Things get tricky when the connecting bridge sustains structural damage, a celebrity chef tries to expand his restaurant empire to Pelican driving local restaurants out of business, a murder occurs, and Maggie has a stalker. There are even more threads to complicate this cozy mystery. Some focus on the close knit group of family and friends. Others are related to the murder investigation and the many employees of the dead chef who are staying at the B&B. For Maggie and Bo, it gets personal.

This cozy mystery is a page turner with new complications throughout. I particularly liked the emphasis on Maggie and her art. In this book, she has a major breakthrough as an artist, and her attention to detail plays a critical role in solving the crime. When all seems nicely tied up, there is yet another major twist which is well plotted and well written by author Ellen Byron. The Louisiana setting is replete with Cajun ambiance from the food and festivities to language unique to the area.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: 1. # 7 in the Cajun Country Mystery Series. Although this is the last book in the series, it could be read as a standalone.

2. There is a helpful list of the people in this book.
3. It ends with an Epilogue that summarizes the characters’ status 20 years later. It was a nice touch for the finale.
4. There are recipes at the end of the book. One recipe that was mentioned often that you won’t find there is “Sugar High Pie.” It was featured in another book in the series, but you can find Byron’s recipe on YouTube.
5. There are three animals in this book, but they really don’t have much of a role in the plot.

Publication: August 10, 2021—Crooked Lane Books

Memorable Lines:

She closed her eyes and scrunched her face to keep from bursting into tears. Gopher, as if sensing his human’s pain, released a sympathetic basset howl.

Vi picked up the bottle of bourbon. “Lets drink to that.” She handed Maggie a tumbler. “It’s not even noon,” Maggie said. “Honey, it’s New Orleans. We should be on our second drink by now.”

Pelican didn’t need a 5G network for news to travel fast.