Lori C. (dollycas) reviewed on 9/21/2024 + 694 more book reviews

Dollycas's Thoughts

Halloween in New Orleans is made even better with the Bon Veeevil Festival of Fear. The Bon Vee Culinary House Museum sets up a haunted house that they say will be the spookiest night of your life. Ricki James-Diaz knows the haunted tours will be great for business and a lot of fun too. But their new neighbor's assistant is giving the museum a lot of flack. The new neighbor is Blaine Taggart, movie actor, and someone Ricki hoped she would never see again.  Ricki has no choice when his disagreeable assistant is found dead in the fake tomb in Bon Vee's Halloween display, especially when she and all the others at the museum fill the suspect list.

Spooky? Yes! Scary? Yes! But it looks like is going to be up to Ricki and her friends to bring the killer down before they have the ghost of a chance to kill again.

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I am so happy this series has found a new home because these character's stories were just beginning.

Ricki James-Diaz is getting comfortable in New Orleans and continues to learn more about her birth family. She is friendly, organized, likable, and quite an amateur sleuth. She shows strength in this story when part of her tragic past comes to town. The author has surrounded her protagonist with some quirky characters but they all feel genuine. I love all their interactions. They all continue to grow and entertain readers so well.

I enjoyed the Halloween theme and Ms. Bryon's world-building. Her words painted vivid pictures of every scene and the characters that inhabited that scene. She pulls her readers in and holds them tight as the story unfolds. I am also a fan of vintage cookbooks. I would walk out of Ricki's shop with bags of them. There are 5 yummy recipes after the story and one I have seen before and I agree with Ellen "Don't make this recipe!" My mother tried to serve it once and it was an epic fail. The New Orleans setting always comes alive. Halloween must be a blast in the Big Easy.

Ms. Bryon has written a great mystery with twists, turns, and red herrings. There ended up being an abundance of suspects and several strange happenings that entangled the mystery. It all kept me guessing right up to the very end. Bringing people from Ricki's Hollywood past was an excellent way to not only put forth a complicated mystery but to also give Ricki some closure. The author is also an expert in infusing humor in generous amounts throughout the entire story. I was caught laughing out loud more than once.

French Quarter Fright Night is a fabulous whodunit. I am truly invested in these characters and the sweet ending leaves me hoping for more Vintage Cookbook Mysteries. I highly recommend the entire series. You really can't go wrong with anything written by Ellen Byron.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to the Severn House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

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