Honestly, I was surprised to see that the author isn't a resident of Louisiana. This is not a window dressing setting. I felt like this was taking place right in the middle of small town Louisiana complete with references to the humidity and an eccentric cast. I loved catching up with the Crozat family - especially Maggie's Grandmother who is always an entertaining character. The mystery is well-plotted and thoroughly enjoyable though after reading the first two I really expect no less. It was an extra treat to have former nemesis Rufus Durand turn into a partner in crime as he and Maggie have to work together to clear Bo as well as catch the murderer. Rufus has been a little over the top nemesis-y in the last two books so I really enjoyed seeing his character fleshed out a little more in this book as well as getting some relationship growth between Maggie and Bo. If you enjoy cozy mysteries and you haven't read this series you need to fix that ASAP! This is a fun series with solid mysteries and characters I love to visit.

This delightful cozy mystery takes place in Louisiana where along with jingle bells and Christmas trees, the holiday season means building an impressive bonfire in the shape of your business of or plantation. After the one man who will take down Maggie’s family plantation tour business ends up dead, she has to sort through a long line of suspects who might have wanted to do in the dastardly fellow. I enjoyed the characters, the authentic Cajun dishes they were constantly eating, and the pacing of this mystery. Well written.

I absolutely loved this book!! I was actually surprised that I liked it that much since I really enjoyed the last one but could not go so far as loving the thing but this one I could not put down. Things started moving from the very first page and they never really stopped after that which was great. It starts with some family drama and health scares which puts them all under stress. Just when it looks like things cannot get worse the guy they all hate (myself included to be honest I was actually rooting for him to be the murder victim) turns up dead making all the main characters suspects. Maggie cannot help but get involved which of course leads to trouble though they figure it all out in the end. Since the characters are so well established by the this point I really enjoyed catching up with what is going on with them and I just loved the 180 of Rufus as it makes it so much nicer plus as an added bonus Maggie and Bo do not have to hide their relationship. The addition of the past made things heat up though the author handles it all very well while still making things fun. I just loved the mix of strong characters, silliness, action, mystery, secrets, and drama. It all combines into a wonderful cozy mystery that I was unable to put down for even a minute. I loved it so much it gets 5/5 stars.

This third installment in the Cajun Country series is just as good as all the others!

Going back to Pelican,Louisiana feels like going home. All of the characters are real and human and funny. There are no goofy cops and simpering single women here. No. This book is based on family and love and colorful characters that Louisiana is known for.

The fact that there are recipes in the back is a huge bonus! The descriptions of the food, and the bayou and all of the bonfires on the levee, leading Papa Noel to the children of Pelican were all spot on and there is nothing I love more than an intelligent bunch of characters in a well written cozy mystery!

Well Done!

Netgalley/Crooked Lane Books   October 10, 2017 Release

I absolutely love this series. I've grown to really love the Crozat family and some of the other supporting characters in this book.

I love the way Louisiana is described. The detail described in the book allows you to picture everything as if you were there yourself, and since I've never been to Louisiana, that just makes the experience that much better for me. I also love the recipes that are included with each book and will be trying them out soon!

The mystery in this one had me stumped. My suspicion kept jumping from one person to the next and ended up being someone I didn't expect. The mystery was very well written and there were plenty of suspects to choose from.

I'm looking forward to reading more books from this series in the future.

If you love the taste of Cajun Louisiana, you will love Ellen Byron's A Cajun Christmas Killing. The Crozat family is three generations living on the family estate and struggling with the development surrounding them. For Maggie Crozat, it is her life. Traditions are strong in Cajun country and Maggie wants to make sure her grandmother and parents can enjoy their lives in their home. When someone starts writing negative comments about the Crozat B&B, Maggie tries to figure out how to stop this. Unfortunately a dead body gets in her way.

A Cajun Christmas Killing by Ellen Byron is the 3rd book in the Cajun Country Mystery series and it is equally as good as the first two books in the series. I love good southern cozy mysteries. Maggie Crozat is helping her family run their plantation bed and breakfast and giving tours at a plantation, when a body is discovered, and the sleuthing begins.

A Cajun Christmas Killing is a perfect blend of mystery, humor, with serious issues thrown in. Not only is this book really funny, I often found myself laughing out loud, it also has a great mystery. I found this book to be a quick read, I read it in one day, with a well developed plot and characters. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. If you love humorous cozy mysteries, I strongly recommend this book and series.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I love her writing style. The story is fast, entertaining and witty. Highly recommended.

Quite simply, a fun and entertaining mystery!

I’ve had the first two books of the Cajun Country Mysteries in my TBR since they both came out. I read so many books, that sometimes I overlook titles in my stacks. However, after reading book three in the series, A CAJUN CHRISTMAS KILLING, I will be moving up the others to read much sooner.

So fabulous were the descriptions from author Ellen Byron, I instantly became lost in Pelican, Louisiana. The people, the scenery, the excitement of Christmas in the air. Every word pulled me further in. I felt more like an observer than merely a reader. I feel like I can honestly say I have been to Louisiana.

The mystery element of A CAJUN CHRISTMAS KILLING was superb. Lost deep into the story, wanting to solve this whodunit, I barely came up for air. With each new chapter author Byron added another layer of intrigue, another outcome as to how this tale would end. I was completely surprised when I read the reveal.

This emotional cozy also had a happy turn of events. One that has me looking forward to a new book in the series, as well as going back and catching up on those I missed in order to fill in the back stories of these characters I instantly loved.

All of the above, and amazing recipes too, A CAJUN CHRISTMAS KILLING is a book you have to add to your bookshelves.

Maggie Crozat is back in Pelican, Louisiana, after a break up with her boyfriend in New York City. She's working with her family in their plantation bed and breakfast. Currently they are dealing with a flood of bad reviews on tourist websites and possibly losing the house. Her uncle's business which restores historical properties for new uses and which own the plantation is under a hostile takeover attempt.

When they learn that an unpleasant guest is actually the head of the group planning the takeover, they are upset. However, Maggie doesn't expect to find his dead body when she is leading a tour at her job. It takes little investigation to find out that Steve Harmon had many more enemies than the Crozats. Adding to the suspect pool is Maggie's former boyfriend who is now employed by Harmon as his "art adviser." It seems that life hasn't been going well for the ex-boyfriend who would like to get Maggie back. This throws a little confusion into Maggie's current love life especially when the ex-boyfriend attempts to exploit her current boyfriend's autistic son who is showing quite a talent for art.

Add in a health scare with Maggie's father, job insecurities caused by a gung-ho new supervisor at the plantation where Maggie works, and Maggie has a full plate of things to do as Christmas is coming in Louisiana.

This story was engaging. I like Maggie and could empathize with her as she tries to find some time to fit in her own art career around her family responsibilities. I like that she has a close supportive family. I like that her new boyfriend is a loving father who still has a reasonable relationship with his ex - despite the kerfluffle about exploiting their child.

The story had a great setting and the mystery was well-developed. Even the recipes in the back of the book sound good. Readers who know Maggie and her family will enjoy her third adventure. Readers who haven't met her yet won't be lost starting with this book but will want to read the earlier two books to catch up on the earlier mysteries.

A Cajun Christmas Killing is the third book in Ellen Byron’s Cajun Country Mystery series. Ms. Byron has written a well thought out and interesting mystery, with a good story line and excellent character backstories and development. She has woven together humor, intriguing and somewhat quirky characters, and lots of twists and turns in this steadily paced whodunit with a surprising reveal. Ms. Byron has provided readers with a complicated crime to solve and detailed descriptions of the area, the food, and Cajun customs and holiday traditions. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading cozy mysteries.

Maggie Crozat is a talented artist who moved back to her hometown of Pelican, Louisiana after spending the ten years in Manhattan, New York and is living and working at Crozat Plantation Bed and Breakfast and a tour guide at Doucet Plantation, which her family once owned. Maggie fears her career as an artist is slipping away while she focuses on helping her parents, worrying about her father’s health, the future of the family business, and her blossoming romance with Detective Bo Durand. The Cajun Christmas celebration includes bonfires on the levee, zydeco music, food, but things aren’t going well for the Crozat Plantation B&B. They’re receiving untrue bad reviews posted by an Internet troll, a financier (Donald Baxter) is trying to take over their business, and then Maggie discovers Mr. Baxter stabbed to death at the Doucet plantation. Maggie’s boyfriend, Bo, becomes a prime suspect. Even through there has been an ongoing feud between the Crozats and Durands, Maggie ends up working with Police Chief Rufus Durand, who isn’t as bad as she thought. She uncovers lots of secrets, identifies multiple people with motives to kill Mr. Baxter, and finds herself in harm’s way.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

5 out of 5 Stars Top Pick


Artist Maggie Crozat loves Pelican, Louisiana, especially at Christmastime! The whole town is beautifully decorated and the bonfires on the Mississippi levee are a sight to behold! Maggie enjoys helping out at Crozat Plantation, her family’s B&B. As well as working as a tour guide at Doucet Plantation.

There are a couple of killjoys for Maggie this holiday season. Maggie’s new boss at Doucet, is a real grinch! Making Maggie’s and her co-workers lives miserable, with a lot of new changes. Plus, someone has been leaving bad fake reviews for Crozat Plantation on internet review sites. Maggie believes her family’s B&B guest; Donald Baxter is the internet troll responsible for these bad reviews. But, before she has a chance to prove it, someone murders him!

Once again the Crozat family becomes murder suspects. As well as Bo Durand, Maggie’s detective boyfriend, who is off the murder case. Maggie finds herself working with the most unlikely person in all of Pelican, her nemesis, Rufus Durand. As Maggie and Rufus search for the killer, more and more suspects are found, and more crimes pop up in Pelican. Will Maggie and Rufus be able to prove her family’s and Bo’s innocence? Will they be able to track down the killer in time?

A Cajun Christmas Killing is pure perfection! It has the just the right blend of holiday spice, mystery, and murder to be enjoyed not only at Christmas, but the whole year round! Once you crack open this blissful book you will be hooked!

Ellen Byron is an outstanding and arresting writer! In her Cajun Country mysteries, she gives us real people, with real lives and problems, who love, learn, grow, and become better human beings, for their selves, families, and community!

It is a real joy to read her books! I am longing to pick up the next book in the Cajun Country mystery series, and catch up with all my friends in Pelican, Louisiana!

Maggie is a smart, observant, paint artist with old school family lineage, kooky relatives, and a whole lot of figurative brush fires to put out. The main family home is a B&B with someone sabotaging the approval rating, the other family plantation is registered as historic but is being run by a corporation with delusions. The obnoxious owner of the corporation is staying at the B&B, but ends up murdered in the plantation house. Not only Maggie, but her whole family, some friends, and even her nice new boyfriend the cop are on the short list, even her crooked former boyfriend from NYC, who is a paid consultant for the deceased. Very twisty with lots of situational humor and a lot of red herrings. All of the characters are well developed and are very interesting, as is the trip to the Garden District of NOLA. And then there's all the mentions of the terrific local food! Thanks be that there are several of the recipes given at the end of the book!
I requested and received this book courtesy of NetGalley.
At this time, the publisher's blurb is disturbing because of errors.

Maggie Crozat is an entirely believable character which is sometimes not the case in cozy mysteries. She is inquisitive, yet not foolhardy or oppositional which is so refreshing. A thoroughly despicable character is murdered and there is a suspenseful mystery, an engaging romance and laugh out loud fun in Ellen Bryon's 'A Cajun Christmas Killing'. I'm getting the rest of the series and can't recommend this highly enough!

Fans of this series will be thrilled with this latest offering. I strongly recommend you read the previous books in the series first.

For Maggie Crozat there was nowhere lovelier than Pelican Louisiana during the holidays.
Garlands, snow scenes and pelican toys. Bonfires guided the way to St Nick on Christmas Eve.
This Christmas is different - no more elaborate bonfires and Maggie is beset with problems both with her close family, her boyfriend's ex-wife and the family business. Not to mention the numerous complex subplots about the local version of aristocratic family backgrounds, and inter-marriages, even if they have all fallen on hard times and have to sell the old plantation houses.

Setting:  Pelican, LA

Characters:  Magnolia Marie Crozat, artist, daughter of Ninette and Tug, who are B & B owners. Bo Durand, a Pelican PD detective and Maggie's boyfriend. Assorted family members, friends, coworkers, and suspects!

Plot:  The holidays are nearing in the small Louisiana town of Pelican. Maggie is hard at work helping her parents and grandmother operate the Crozat Bed & Breakfast while also working as a guide at another area plantation. She fears that her career as an artist is slipping away while she focuses on being a good and supportive daughter. Maggie is also focused on her blossoming romance with Bo, but the issues that have taken precedence as A Cajun Christmas Killing begins are Maggie's father's health and the health and future of the family business. Once she learns the truth of the trouble the B & B may be in, Maggie and Bo swing into action, seeking out a mystery Internet troll who is writing negative and damaging reviews about their business and trying to get to the heart of the matter of a ruthless financier intent on acquiring the Crozat estate. But when that financier ends up dead, Maggie and Bo find that they are both on the suspect list, along with Maggie's entire family. The stakes have never been higher for the Southern sleuth. 

Pacing:  Steady

Predictability:  Low

Wild Card:  This book was a treat - a story that finally got me out of a reading slump! I've enjoyed the series from the beginning - the family dynamics, the clever plots, and the vivid imagery make for a compelling series for sure. I love all of the detail about Pelican, Louisiana; the rich descriptions of the area, the food, and, in this story, the holiday traditions really set the scene for readers and drew me deeper into the story and the series. I can't wait to see what Maggie and Bo get up to next!

COZY CAJUN CRIME!

This is a wonderfully entertaining read from start to finish! The Crozats and Durands are two of the founding families in Pelican, LA and they've been feuding since before the Civil War. Pelican has found itself with a surge in murders in recent months and the locals want to find a way to come together and celebrate a safe and normal Christmas on the Bayou. They are used to having beautiful decorations throughout the town and elaborate decorations at the antebellum homes Crozat B & B, Doucet and Belle Vista. Along the riverbanks, people built bonfires that would be lit on Christmas Eve. Some were just in pyramid shape, some were in the shape of the home and someone once built one that was a mini pirate ship. In the midst of all this fun time of the year, evil is lurking. Someone is out to sabotage businesses, relationships, families, careers and lives! The Crozats and Durands find themselves in a new set of circumstances. They decide to join forces with the common goal of finding the killer before more lives are lost! I was provided an ARC by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. The opinions expressed here are completely my own.

When an author makes me want to pack my bags and visit an area you know she must be a good writer. When I read Ellen Byron's Cajun Country Mystery series (this is book 3) I learn so much about this wonderful sect of American culture. Since she incorporates a great cozy mystery it's even better. Maggie is back in Louisiana permanently working on her art career while helping the family B&B.
When a man is killed in her studio they become suspects but it is soon her boyfriend, police detective Bo Durand that is the main suspect. Love this series and the recipes are so good and appear easy to follow. This is certainly one way to celebrate the Christmas season.

I was lucky to get an advanced reading copy of Ellen Byron's third book in the A Cajun Country Mystery series, A Cajun Christmas Killing. This book is out October 10th and a series I adore!
Ellen Byron made me feel right at home at Christmas in her home plantation and b&b. Set just before Christmas, this was not your normal Christmas story either and I loved that it was a complicated crime to solve and there were some points in the story I found so emotional. I feel so invested in these characters and it felt like going home for the holidays. In true cozy mystery form, you get a crime that cozy are famous for and you get that cozy Christmas feeling at the end. I also loved the recipes included.