Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Bayou Book Thief (A Vintage Cookbook Mystery) by Ellen Byron. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
A fantastic new cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron.
Bayou Book Thief (A Vintage Cookbook Mystery)
by Ellen Byron
Bayou Book Thief (A Vintage Cookbook Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – New Orleans Louisiana
Publisher : Berkley (June 7, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback : 304 pages
Twenty-eight-year-old widow Ricki James leaves Los Angeles to start a new life in New Orleans after her showboating actor husband perishes doing a stupid internet stunt. The Big Easy is where she was born and adopted by the NICU nurse who cared for her after Ricki’s teen mother disappeared from the hospital.
Ricki’s dream comes true when she joins the quirky staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the spectacular former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve “Vee” Charbonnet, the city’s legendary restauranteur. Ricki is excited about turning her avocation – collecting vintage cookbooks – into a vocation by launching the museum’s gift shop, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware. Then she discovers that a box of donated vintage cookbooks contains the body of a cantankerous Bon Vee employee who was fired after being exposed as a book thief.
The skills Ricki has developed ferreting out hidden vintage treasures come in handy for investigations. But both her business and Bon Vee could wind up as deadstock when Ricki’s past as curator of a billionaire’s first edition collection comes back to haunt her.
Will Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware be a success … or a recipe for disaster?
Book Review
Since I read and adored the last three books in Byron’s Cajun Country Mystery series, I had great expectations for Bayou Book Thief, and I was definitely not disappointed! I absolutely loved it! If you’re anything like I am, you won’t be able to put this engaging cozy mystery down.
When Rikki is widowed at a young age, and her boss turns out to be a crook, she heads to New Orleans to start a brand new chapter in her life. And, she hopes this one comes with a lot less drama and disappointment. Of course, we can’t have a cozy mystery without some drama…namely murder. So, there’s definitely drama!
I love the theme of this new series…a vintage cookbook and kitchen item gift shop in a beautiful museum. The author paints wonderfully detailed descriptions of not only the setting, but also the vintage food and kitchen items. And because of this, you’ll find yourself totally immersed in Bayou Book Thief. As I read, I felt as if I were right there with Rikki everywhere she went.
Those detailed descriptions also apply to the characters’ personalities. The wide array of characters made the book very enjoyable. I can’t say that for all cozies I read, but Byron doesn’t throw in random characters just to fill space. I feel like I really have a good grasp on the main characters that I’m sure will appear in subsequent books. And the side characters were just as well-developed as the “stars.”
Bayou Book Thief’s mystery is well plotted, and you will really enjoy trying to figure out whodunit. I am so excited to find out what’s next for Rikki and her new friends. This book gets 5 big stars from me!
About Ellen Byron
Ellen’s Cajun Country Mysteries have won the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and multiple Lefty Awards for Best Humorous Mystery. Bayou Book Thief will be the first book in her new Vintage Cookbook Mysteries. She also writes the Catering Hall Mystery series under the name Maria DiRico.
Ellen is an award-winning playwright, and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. An alum of New Orleans’ Tulane University, she blogs with Chicks on the Case, is a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America and will be the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster. Please visit her at https://www.ellenbyron.com/
Author Links
Newsletter: https://www.ellenbyron.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ellenbyronauthor/
https://www.facebook.com/CateringHallMysteries/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ellenbyronmariadirico/
Bookbub:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/ellen-byron
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/maria-dirico
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23234.Ellen_Byron
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19130966.Maria_DiRico
Purchase Links
Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Google Books – Alibris – IndieBound – PenguinRandomHouse
Enter the giveaway
Bayou Book Thief TOUR PARTICIPANTS
June 8 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
June 8 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 8 – Island Confidential – REVIEW
June 9 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW
June 9 – I Read What You Write – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 10 – Books to the Ceiling – SPOTLIGHT
June 10 – Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW
June 11 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
June 11 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
June 12 – The Mystery of Writing – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 12 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
June 13 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
June 13 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT
June 14 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW
June 14 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
June 15 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW
June 15 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
June 16 – The Mystery Section – RECIPE
June 16 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
June 17 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
June 17 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW
June 18 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
June 19 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – GUEST POST
June 19 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
June 20 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW
June 20 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 21 – Novels Alive – REVIEW – SPOTLIGHT
June 21 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
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Bayou Book Thief (A Vintage Cookbook Mystery) by Ellen Byron sounds like a wonderful new cozy series that will be perfect for summer reading.
Wow, what a fabulously articulate review! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping today!