French Quarter Fright Night

Halloween is on the horizon, and New Orleans is gearing up like crazy, as it does for all holidays. In Ellen Byron's third Vintage Cookbook Mystery, French Quarter Fright Night, Ricki James-Diaz, proprietor of the vintage cookbook and housewares shop in the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, is looking forward to participating in the festivities, along with her friends and coworkers. But trouble looms when popular movie star Blaine Taggart moves into the mansion next door, and one of his staff is soon found dead in a haunted house tomb that is part of the upcoming Festival of Fear. Ricki immediately feels involved because she blames Blaine in part for the death of her ex-husband. And she learns that the murder victim, who was a stranger to her. used her as a reference to get the job with Blaine.

What ensues is a typical cozy mystery plot, written by a seasoned writer: a fun and fascinating plethora of characters--some of whom are murder suspects--,a delightfully entertaining Big Easy setting heightened by Halloween season merrymaking; the reappearance of Ricki's errant boyfriend, and Ricki's quest to find family members she has never met. I appreciated the opportunity to spend time with familiar characters and meet new ones, and although the reveal of the murderer could have been better grounded, I found this book easy to read and ultimately satisfying.

My thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Halloween is my favorite season, and when I learned the third book in Ellen Byron's Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, French Quarter Fright Night, would focus on a murder taking place during a Halloween event, I was super psyched. And wow, did it deliver! The cast is well developed, brimming with over-the-top personalities, a macabre sense of humor, an elegant matriarch whom Ricki recently discovers is an unknown family relation, and a lovely tour of the Garden District in New Orleans. In this installment, Ricki's deceased husband's best friend, a famous actor, appears in town, and his assistant wrecks havoc on the neighborhood. It prompts a mini-war between the museum and its new neighbor, and someone is found murdered during the Halloween shenanigans. Lots of hidden truths swim to the surface, including new DNA connections for Ricki herself. How does it all fit together?

What a gorgeous setting and clever set of characters where numerous side stories seamlessly weave their way through the plot without being distractions. Ricki's quest to discover how she's related to the museum's owner creates small ripples that eventually flood the dramatic climax of the story, leaving us closer to the truth but not in its entirety. On another level, the discovery of the murderer's identity and conclusion of the mystery offers Ricki some closure on her own husband's death, prompting her to accept the path for moving forward. And on top of it all... we get an intoxicating tour of New Orleans with delicious scents, sounds, and visuals. Who wouldn't love diving into this series? Highly recommended!

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of FRENCH QUARTER FRIGHT NIGHT (Book 3 of the Vintage Cookbook Mystery series) by Ellen Byron in exchange for an honest review. Ricki James Diaz and the staff of the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum are always looking for ways to finance the museum. Inspired by Halloween, Ricki suggests hosting an old fashioned haunted house complete with scary vignettes, peeled grapes, and cold spaghetti noodles. Everyone agrees and gets excited for staging and promoting the Bon Veeevil Festival of Fear. During the dress rehearsal, the staff gets a fright of their own. A new neighbor, who had been making trouble for everyone in the neighborhood, makes a surprise appearance in one of their sets---as a very real corpse. Once again, the Bon Vee staff become suspects and persons of interest in a suspicious death. Now the Bon Vee staff must work together to clear their collective names, and things are made more difficult by the persistent appearances by action movie star Blaine Taggart, who was the best friend and enabler for Ricki’s now-deceased husband.

I enjoyed this book and the prior two in the series. I recommend this book to fans of cozy murder mysteries set in cities with their own personalities, searches for roots, homecomings, and finding family.

#FrenchQuarterFrightNight #NetGalley

Here we go again, another murder, this one hitting a bit close to home when an old acquaintance moves next door to Ricki and his personal assistant is murdered, another surprise when her familial ancestry is discovered. Of course, some of the Bon Vee staff become suspects, but there’s more with the introduction of an eclectic cast of secondary characters who supply us with better motives and a chance to watch Ricki and her friends seek out clues to unearth the killer.

As a gifted writer, the author knows who to verbalize scenes with visually descriptive narrative and engaging dialogue that keeps you enthralled in all aspects in the telling of this tale. I love how the team worked together to uncover clues that the author has sprinkled throughout this wickedly solid mystery. There were a few surprises along the way that enhanced my reading pleasure. This was a fun book to read, and I enjoyed all the cleverly written scenes where pivotal characters shined and had a role in the killer’s identity. The side story of Ricki searching for family members is a bonus. Again, a wonderful read in this delightfully entertaining series.

This is the 3rd book in the Vintage Cookbook Mystery series by Ellen Byron. Ms. Byron, once again, captures New Orleans with both her setting and her characters. Ricki James Diaz operates the Vintage Cookbook Shop inside the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, located in one of the grand old houses of New Orleans’ Garden District. When the mysterious new next door neighbors start a legal harassment campaign of the museum, everyone’s concerned about what will happen next. With Halloween rapidly approaching, the Bon Vee’s Haunted House fundraiser weekends are anticipated to be a big moneymaker. But the discovery of a dead body during the preview night isn’t part of the plans. The story also delves into Ricki’s search for her past and occupies a good bit of the story. This was the first I’d read in this series and, while it can be read as a stand-alone, I think reading the first two books would make it easier to understand Ricki’s backstory and family history.

French Quarter Fright Night was the perfect spooky season cozy mystery! I have not read the previous books in the series but that didn’t stop me from loving this one!

This is the third installment of The Vintage Cookbook Mysteries.

All of the characters are so well done and they are all hilarious, in their own ways.

It's Halloween in New Orleans and the Bon Vee Culinary Museum is in full spooky mood. Having received permission to hold a haunted house, they are gearing up for a huge crowd. Until the new neighbors next door start a campaign to shut them down.
3, 2024
Full of good stuff, I adore this series.

NetGalley/ Severn September 03, 2024

It’s almost Halloween in New Orleans and the Bon Vee is decked out and ready for fun. However, their nasty new neighbors are trying to put a damper on things. Who are they and why do they have an ax to grind? Of course, the discovery of a corpse on the grounds is no laugh riot either. This is a solid entry in the series hallmarked with Byron’s trademark humor and twisty plot elements. Delving more into the secondary mystery….who are Ricki’s birth parents….proves enlightening. A highly recommended read.

Having lived in New Orleans for 3 years, this was such a fun read!
Ricki James-Diaz is working at a beautiful garden district historical home-turned-museum, The Bon Vee Culinary House Museum. Ricki and her co-workers are anxiously preparing for spooky season as Halloween soon approaches. They have so many fun tours planned for their patrons. All is going smoothly until new neighbors move into the home next door and file complaints for noise and various other things. Much to Ricki's dismay, this new neighbor is none other than movie star Blaine Taggart and his staff. Ricki has a bitter past with Blaine after he filmed the incident that led to her husband's death. But Ricki's dislike of Blaine is the least of Bon Vee's concerns when a body is found amidst their haunted house decor.
This cozy mystery brought the New Orleans spirit to life! This was the 3rd in a series but I had not read the first 2 and it did not take away from the plot. I do want to go back and read the others as I would love more back story on the characters. Ricki is fun, youthful, and intelligent. The story was light, easy to follow, and enjoyable. Overall 4.5 stars! A little "lull" period in the beginning, it was off to a slower start. I did not mind it as the New Orleans details were fun for me but these details may be a bit of a slow-burn for other readers.
Thanks to NetGalley, Severn House, and Ellen Byron for an ARC and the chance to give my honest feedback!

FRENCH QUARTER FRIGHT NIGHT is the third book in the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries by Ellen Byron. Halloween in New Orleans is as over-the-top decadent as you can imagine and with a murder thrown into the mix, protagonist Ricki James-Diaz’s investigation is frightfully fun! Ms. Byron’s trademark humor and Halloween puns are out in full force, providing lots of chuckles, while her memorable characters make the story come alive on the pages. And, of course, the tempting descriptions of New Orleans and Halloween celebrations are enough to make anyone pack their bags and head south for a visit. This third book turned out to be my favorite so far… things are coming together for Ricki and she’s finding answers about herself and moving forward after the death of her husband. I enjoyed the addition of the blast from Ricki’s past, which provided the catalyst for the discoveries and added to the mystery.

The author theatrically sets the stage for murder and while I was pretty certain I knew who would get bumped off, the spooky scene was fitting for Halloween. With a fast-paced plot and lots of action going on with Halloween shenanigans, it was nearly impossible to put the book down. I liked Ricki doesn’t try to solve the crime all on her own but instead, relies on her friends and co-workers to hunt down clues and keep each other safe. There were suspects aplenty and some red herrings to throw the reader as the clues fell into place. But truthfully, this is such a fun book I couldn’t help but sit back and enjoy the tricks and treats!

I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"French Quarter Fright Night” the 3rd instalment in A Vintage Cookbook Mystery series by Ellen Byron. I love this series! Welcome to the Bon Veeevil Festival of Fear! Prepare for the spookiest night of your life . . .

I absolutely loved this story, full of more family secrets, Halloween and a new fluff ball named Red!

I really like Ricki, Zellah, Lyla, Eugenia and Victoria. Once again I enjoyed the interaction between Ricki and Detective Rodriguez. The author is great at building a community you become invested in and you want to be apart of it.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and had plenty of twists to keep engaged right to the very end.The story moves at a steady pace, and I had a hard time putting it down. I also liked how the author left the ending making us wait in anticipation for book 4.

I highly recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends. I can’t wait for book three!

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Severn House and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

new orleans on halloween, count me in! i have read the other 2 books in this series and have thoroughly enjoyed them. i would recommend reading the others as you get a little more information about ricki, but its not totally necessary.
this is just your typical cozy mystery:)

A cozy mystery set during Halloween in New Orleans.

I've not read the first books in this series, so I was a little worried about getting to know the characters. It turns out that the author does an excellent job at filling in the gaps, so jumping in on the third book didn't negatively impact my experience at all!

I liked the diverse cast of characters and the theming for Halloween was great! This was a fun read and I'll definitely be checking out other installments in the Vintage Cookbook Mystery series!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Such a terrific spooky story for the Halloween season. This book 3 in a series will make you dash back and read the previous two. Recommended!

Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop owner, Ricki James-Diaz is still searching for her relatives in this third installment of A Vintage Cookbook cozy series by Ellen Byron. The Bon Vee mansion is preparing for a huge haunted house celebration and unfortunately, one of Ricki’s long-lost relatives is found murdered in a ‘tomb’ Mordant set up for Halloween. Curiously, the victim's employer is a man Ricki blames for her husband’s death years before. This man, Blaine Taggert, just showed up out-of-the blue and purchased the mansion next door to Bon Vee!

Aided by the wonderful, eclectic cast of supporting characters from the previous two stories, protagonist, Ricki follows the spooky path of twists and turns the author has skillfully prepared for reader’s enjoyment. The pacing is swift with lots of action and some humor. The ending offers a satisfying conclusion to several threads of the storyline. Recipes included!

I honestly read and reviewed an unedited arc provided by NetGalley and Severn House Publishing. All opinions are my own.

Halloween is celebration time in New Orleans and the staff at Bon Vee Culinary House Museum get in the spirit by setting up an over-the-top haunted house tour. Ricki looks forward to increased vintage cookbook shop traffic and isn't happy having to deal with new neighbor in the mansion next door who complains about multiple issues. When Rciki decides to confront the owner she finds she's dealing with Miranda Fine, Personal assitant to Blaine Taggart. Taggart was the last person Ricki expected to see. He and her deceased husband worked together in LA and Ricki holds Taggart responsible for her husband's death. When Miranda's body is found in Bon Vee's Halloween tomb Ricki can't resist putting her amateur detective hat on under her witches hat. Who would want to kill Miranda? It seems the suspects are many and it's up to Ricki to sort through motives to find the killer, especially since Bon Vee staff are among them.
This is # 3 in in the Vintage Cookbook mystery series. Once again Byron captures the ambiance of New Orleans with setting, food and interesting characters. Thanks to Netgalley and Severn House for the ARC.

The author has two mystery series as well as a novel in print. This book is the third installment of the Vintage Cookbook mysteries. Set in New Orleans at halloween.
The Bon Vee culinary house museum consists of Ricki Fleur De Lis James- Diaz who is the proprietor of the Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware shop. She is looking for her birth parents. Zeliah Batiste is an artist and cafe manager. Eugenia Charbonnet Felice is President of the Bon Vee Foundation. Olivia Felice is Eugenia's grandaughter and is is also Ricki's intern. Theo is Eugenia's nephew. Cookie Yanover works at Bon Vee and Virgil Morel is the ex lover of Ricki and is an accomplished chef and owner of the Bayou Backyard.
Ricki has had previous dealings with Detectives Nina Rodriguez and Sam Girard.
When movie star Blaine Taggart buys the house next door to Eugenia's house in the Garden district that problems start. Blaine is the reason that Ricki's husband Chris is deceased. When Ricki complains about annoying problems she is given no help from Miranda Fine who is Blaine's assistant.
When Miranda is found murdered and Ricki finds that she is related to the woman that Ricki's amateur detective senses are awoken again.
A new author to me but enjoyable. I love NOLA so any book based there is good. Also a few interesting recipes to try out! Very good. Recommended.

I enjoy all the books in the series. I would recommend this book as a good read. What not to love Halloween in New Orleans a haunted house and a dead body found in a fake tomb.








.

The staff at Bon Vee Culinary House Museum is planning on celebrating Halloween by running a haunted house tour for their visitors. But the new owner of the adjoining house is filing a bunch of frivolous complaints. Much to her dismay, Ricki James-Diaz learns that movie star Blaine Taggart is the absentee owner. Ricki has a bitter past with Blaine: she blames him for encouraging & filming the stunt that led to the death of her husband Chris. Ricki also has an unpleasant first encounter with Miranda, Blaine's nasty personal assistant.

But no one expects the haunted house tour to end on a deadly note when a real body is found at Bon Vee's prop tomb. Who wanted Miranda dead? The Bon Vee staff must work together to clear their names.

This was another enjoyable book in the Vintage Cookbook mystery series.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Severn House. All opinions are my own.

Vintage cookbooks, Halloween, a murder, and all happening in NOLA. I just knew from the title and description that I needed to read this book. I love the New Orleans vibe of this book and a murder is perfect for the backdrop of this third edition to the series. I am coming in blind as I haven’t read he first two but I really didn’t need to there was enough backstory for most of the characters that I learned all I needed to to enjoy the story.

Ricki and her Bon Vee friends and coworkers are just so great and fit right into that cozy mystery vibe. I wanted to travel to the culinary gift shop and stay there indefinitely. The mystery wasn’t too predictable with enough twists and reveals to keep the pages turning. I loved getting an insight into how those old mansions in NOLA run, at least somewhat. The characters were well developed and very thought out in my opinion. I can’t wait for more of these stories to come and will be going back and reading the first two in this series. Bonus to this great mystery were the recipes that I will be trying out this coming fall.

French Quarter Fright Night is the third book in Ellen Byron's Vintage Cookbook Mystery series.

This installment marks the series' transition from Berkley to Severn House and is set during the Halloween season. The main cast remains delightfully over the top, and Ricki continues her quest to uncover the identities of her grandparents and parents—a family mystery that intrigues me just as much as the murder mystery. The murder itself is compelling, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the big reveal. We also meet Blaine, the Hollywood actor Ricki holds responsible for her husband’s death. Additionally, there are at least two new characters likely to join the recurring cast, as well as a kitten Ricki adopts.

I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am such a fan of Ellen Byron's cozy mysteries. They are well-written, humorous, puzzling whodunnits populated by wonderful characters. They have unique settings, and this one is a New Orleans Culinary Museum inside a historic home. Her books are always enjoyable and entertaining. And this one, with all the Fall/Halloween vibes and New Orleans charm, was atmospheric and so much fun to read!

The story revolves around Ricki James-Diaz and her crew at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, who are setting up a haunted house on-site. However, a suspicious death staged for dramatic effect disrupts the Halloween festivities. The well-paced mystery, with its good-sized suspect pool, twists, and red herrings, kept me engaged and guessing.

Ricki finds out she has a surprising connection with the victim, which sets off both an investigation and a personal discovery for Ricki. So, we get a bit more of Ricki's backstory in this one. Ricki is likable, intelligent, and surrounded by supporting characters who are as well-developed and witty as she is. There is a warm, found family dynamic between everyone. While the characters feel like old friends, these books also work as stand-alones, so anyone can jump in here and not feel lost. Bryon rounds out the book with recipes from vintage cookbooks, which are interesting to read, too. Cozy mystery lovers and anyone looking for a Halloween-themed book that is pure fun with a dash of deadly shenanigans will want to pick this up!

Thank you to Severn House Publishing and Netgalley for the gifted ARC

To celebrate Halloween, the staff at the Bon Vee Museum is setting up a haunted tour for their visitors, but are soon out-staged by their new next-door neighbor, a movie star who used to be one of Ricki’s friends. When a body found in Bon Vee’s stage crypt turns out to be a real dead body and not a prop and the police are overwhelmed with the mischief and mayhem that occurs at Halloween in New Orleans, it’s up to Ricki and the Bon Vee staff to find a killer.

I really like this series and was happy to learn that it would continue with this book. I’ve never visited New Orleans, but it’s on my bucket list, and reading books like this make me want to move the visit up higher on the priority list :) I like Ricki, the MC, and most of her friends and family.

The murder victim here was not a pleasant person, and there were several suspects beyond the Bon Vee staff who topped the police’s list. The motive for each suspect was nearly the same, so that didn’t help cross names off the list. A few characters were consistently at the top of my mental list, and although I wasn’t able to narrow it down to just one person, that culprit was on my short list, and the motive was what I suspected it would be.

I hope this series continues, as I want to read more about what Ricki and her friends get up to next.

This book really hooked me in:
New Orleans setting—check!
Cute, vintage, shop—check!
Endearing and fully formed side characters—check!

I could go on and on. Some cozy mystery main characters can really annoy me with their inner thoughts and poor sleuthing choices, but not Ricki. I had so much fun getting to know her, her friends and co-workers of Bon Vee. As far as I’m concerned it’s already the start of spooky season (it’s barely mid-August lol) and so I really appreciated the folks at Bon Vee creating their haunted house tours—it really set the mood.

I felt like the mystery was well-paced and not super predictable and I enjoyed following the path of clues with Ricki. This book had the classic cozy mystery charm and the mystery was fun to figure out. I feel like some cozy mysteries can leave me feeling like the mystery is barely half-baked but that’s not how I felt with this one.

One thing that bugged me and I see this so much in the cozy mystery genre is the fat phobia or comments regarding dieting/food restricting. It bums me out and I don’t feel like it’s ever necessary to move the plot or character development forward. Otherwise, I really did enjoy this book!

I hope to read more from this series!

It’s Halloween in New Orleans, and Ricky gets the biggest fright when she finds that her husband’s best friend, whom she holds partly responsible for his death, has come to town. Not only has he come to town, he’s brought the mansion next-door to Bon Vee.

While Blaine’s assistant has made life difficult for the folks at Bon Vee, it’s her murder that pushes them over the edge. As suspects, Ricky and the gang need to figure out who killed the young woman and why. Because all things keep making life more difficult for Ricky and the gang. Can they clear their names, or does a killer truly walk among them?

Ellen Byron seems to be the Ann Rice of cozy mysteries. She just dominates the New Orleans scene. I have enjoyed all of her series to date but I particularly enjoy the one set in Cajun country. Oooo eee this author knows her Crescent City!

Culinary & Literary Cozy Mystery about a Louisiana culinary museum gift shop proprietor turns sleuth after a movie star's assistant is found dead in their haunted house's faux tomb.

5/5 stars: This is Byron's third entry in the Vintage Cookbook Mystery series, which is a Culinary and Literary Cozy Mystery that takes place in Louisiana during Halloween and features the vintage cookbook gift shop proprietor at a Culinary House Museum housed in a historic New Orleans mansion. After a movie star's assistant's found dead in their haunted house's faux tomb, she'll exchange her witch's hat for a deer stalker to sleuth out the killer before they strike again. Byron has masterfully crafted a mystery that deftly balances the suspects, clues and red herrings and will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. There also an over-arching plot of Ricki's search for her birth family; there were some interesting reveals and I look forward to reading where it goes from here. Additionally, Byron's writing and character work are stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. It's a joy to catch up with Ricki, her friends and the quirky folks at Bon Vee Culinary House Museum. I also appreciate seeing Ricki and Virgil figuring out their relationship, they both have difficult pasts so seeing them working on it is great. And for those who love animals there's a veritable menagerie in this series: Ricki and Virgil's dogs Thor and Princess, the museum's new shop kitten, Red Beans and the museum grounds resident peacocks, Gumbo and Jambalaya. Oh and there are plenty of spooky, cozy autumnal Halloween vibes! I for one love all the vintage cookbooks, gadgets and decor mentioned and you'll so want to try the delicious recipes included. While you could read this as a stand-alone, you'll gain so much more by reading the series from the beginning; so be sure to pick up book one, Bayou Book Thief.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Severn House in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

The third in a series of the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, Halloween comes to New Orleans and the staff of Bon Vee are in for a frightful time. Gift shop proprietor Ricki James-Diaz has her ghostly past invade her quaint life in the form of Blaine Taggart, movie star and former best friend of her deceased ex husband Chris. Blaine wants something and Ricki isn’t sure what that is just yet, but when Blaine’s nasty assistant Miranda Fine winds up in the Bon Vee’s haunted house crypt it becomes a who done it in this Halloween romp gone wrong. This campy mystery brings together the wholesomeness of found family with the thrilling murder mystery’s of old.