Body on the Bayou

July 4, 2016
In Byron’s charming second Cajun Country mystery (after 2015’s Plantation Shudders), Magnolia Marie “Maggie” Crozat, artist and tour guide on the historic Louisiana plantation once owned by her ancestors, has agreed to act as maid of honor for pregnant bride-to-be Vanessa Fleer. When Vanessa’s manipulative, deceitful cousin, Ginger Fleer-Starke, is found dead in the bayou behind Maggie’s parents’ bed-and-breakfast, Maggie’s most important duty as maid of honor becomes helping find Ginger’s killer before Vanessa is arrested for murder. Maggie’s task is complicated by her tentative attraction to Det. Bo Durand, her grandmother’s love life, a double litter of stray puppies and kittens, and the unreasonable, never-ending demands of the ultimate bridezilla. A tight plot, an appealing setting, and a smart, good-hearted protagonist with a caring, supportive family and lots of friends give this story everything cozy mystery readers could want. Agent: Doug Grad, Doug Grad Literary Agency.

July 1, 2016
Bridezilla and murder keep an unlucky maid of honor hopping.Artist Maggie Crozat returned home to help run her family's B&B at their lovely Crozet plantation in Pelican, Louisiana. Her very pregnant friend, Vanessa Fleer, has proved to be a demanding bride with long lists of outlandish, constantly changing demands. The bridegroom, Rufus Durand, is a suspended police officer whose family has a long-standing grudge against the Crozats. Luckily for Maggie, his cousin Bo, a detective whom Maggie's quietly dating, isn't interested in family feuds. Maggie wonders why Vanessa gets hysterical and Rufus laughs when she agrees to house Vanessa's cousin Ginger Fleer-Starke and her co-workers Trent and Bibi. The entrepreneurial Ginger has built up a business buying, staging, and decorating houses, with Bibi doing most of the work. Even a lawyer recently moved from Houston has heard all about Ginger, who's sued almost everyone she's ever met and done nothing but cause trouble and fight with people since she arrived in Pelican. So when Maggie finds Ginger's dead body in the bayou, there are all too many people who could have killed the manipulative troublemaker. Maggie and her family are lucky to have alibis, since they've already been involved in a murder (Plantation Shudders, 2016), and the current police chief has no love for any of them. Maggie feels she must do some sleuthing even though her every minute is taken up with Vanessa's demands. Maggie also worries about Bo's first wife, Whitney, who's staying nearby while her new husband is overseas. A beauty whose autistic son, Xander, continues to connect her to her husband, she clearly has doubts about divorcing Bo. Digging into Ginger's background yields even more motives, but who did the deadly deed?Often amusing characters and plenty of red herrings make Byron's second Cajun Country mystery an entertaining read.

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September 1, 2016

Introduced in the Agatha Award-nominated Plantation Shudders, Magnolia Marie Crozat, who returned to tiny Pelican, LA, to lick her wounds and help her parents run the Crozat Plantation Bed and Breakfast, now must deal with the dubious honor of serving as maid of honor to Vanessa Fleer, who is engaged to the Crozats' mortal enemy, police chief Rufus Durand. Vanessa's bridezilla moments are driving Maggie crazy, and when Vanessa demands her cousin Ginger Fleer-Starke stay at the B&B for free, Maggie is horrified. Then Ginger turns up dead and Maggie is caught in the middle of another murder investigation. VERDICT Cozy readers who fell under the spell of the eccentric and charming Crozat family will welcome their return in this entertaining sophomore effort. The writing is energetic, and the twisty plot includes a touch of romance. Diane Mott Davidson and Lou Jane Temple fans will line up for this series.

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