Cajun Kiss of Death: A Cajun Country Mystery by Ellen Byron
About Cajun Kiss of Death
Cajun Kiss of Death: A Cajun Country Mystery
The next shot from Cupid's bow may be fatal in USA Today bestselling, Agatha Award-winning author Ellen Byron's hearty and delightful seventh Cajun Country mystery.
In Pelican, Louisiana, Valentine's Day has a way of warming the heart, despite the February chill. But the air at Crozat Plantation B&B turns decidedly frigid when celebrity chef Phillippe Chanson checks in. And when the arrogant Phillippe--in town to open his newest Cajun-themed restaurant--perishes in a fiery boat crash, Maggie Crozat's dear friend JJ lands in very cold water.
Did JJ, proprietor of Junie's Oyster Bar and Dance Hall, murder Phillippe because he feared the competition? Might Maggie's mother, Ninette, have bumped off the chef for stealing one of her cherished recipes? Or was the culprit a local seafood vendor, miffed because Phillippe was somehow able to sell oysters for a remarkably reasonable price, despite an oyster shortage?
Maggie had planned to devote her February to art lessons in New Orleans, a present from her sweetheart, Bo. But now she has to focus on helping her friend and her mother cross a murder charge off the menu. Meanwhile, Maggie receives a series of anonymous gifts that begin as charming but grow increasingly disturbing. Does Maggie have an admirer--or a stalker? And are these mysterious gifts somehow related to Phillippe's murder?
Blood may be thicker than water, but this case is thicker than gumbo. And solving it will determine whether Maggie gets hearts and roses--or hearse and lilies--this Valentine's Day.
I’m Ninette Crozat, wife to Tug, mother to Maggie. We run Crozat Plantation Bed and Breakfast, the Crozat’s ancestral home in Pelican, Louisiana – town motto, “Yes, We Peli-CAN!” I do the B&B’s cooking for our guests, providing meals that focus on local Cajun dishes. Many of the recipes have been handed down in myfamily through decades – even centuries. Which is why I have to restrain myself from doing bodily harm to a certain “star” chef, Phillipe Chanson.
I’m considered by many to be an excellent cook. I give all the credit to my heirloom recipes, which I tightly guard. But along comes this “celebrity chef“ who flat-out charmed me into making him my famous calas rice balls. Why, that man went and figured out the secret ingredient in my recipe so he could serve my calas in his fancy new Pelican restaurant, Chanson’s Cajun Kitchen! I swear, I could kick myself for falling for his act. But who on earth steals a recipe from a fellow chef? A lot of big-time chefs, I’ve learned, because most recipes aren’t legally protected from theft, don’t ask me why.
All I ever needed in life was a loving husband and daughter, a respectable home and business… and my recipes.There’s an old saying – I’m so mad I could chew nails and spit spikes. That’s how I feel about the lack of respect that Mister Big Shot Chef Phillipe Chanson has showed me and my family. That man better watch his back! I know how to work a knife.
Oh, dear. I better calm down before I get myself into trouble.
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. She writes the Catering Hall Mystery series, which are inspired by her real-life, 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.
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This author is one of my favorites!!
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