Fatal Cajun Festival

Written by Ellen Byron

Narrated by Amy Melissa Bentley

Louisiana BB owner Maggie Crozat kicks up her heels at a country music festival-but she'll have one foot in the grave if she can't bring the killer of a diva's hanger-on to heel.

Grab your tickets for Cajun Country Live!, the pickers' and crooners' answer to the legendary New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Maggie Crozat, proprietor of the Crozat Plantation BB, plans to be in the cheering section when her friend Gaynell Bourgeois takes the stage with her band, Gaynell and the Gator Girls.

The festival's headliner, native daughter Tammy Barker, rocketed to stardom on a TV singing competition. She has the voice of an angel . . . and the personality of a devilish diva. But Maggie learns that this tiny terror carries a grudge against Gaynell. She's already sabotaged the Gator Girls' JazzFest audition. When a member of Tammy's entourage is murdered at the festival, Tammy makes sure Gaynell is number one on the suspect list.

Gaynell has plenty of company on that list-including every one of Tammy's musicians. Posing as a groupie, Maggie infiltrates Tammy's band and will have to hit all the right notes to clear her friend's name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Oct 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781630157593

Ellen Byron

An Anthony Award nominee, Ellen Byron is a bestselling author and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country mysteries, Vintage Cookbook mysteries, and Catering Hall mysteries (as Maria DiRico). She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. Ellen was the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. A native New Yorker, Ellen is a graduate of Tulane University and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, daughter, and a rotating crew of rescue pups.

Reviews for Fatal Cajun Festival

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the fifth Cajun Country Mystery and centers around a local music festival that was Maggie's grandmother's idea. The headliner is to be Tammy Barker who is a local girl who made good on one of those singing shows. She is a mean girl who has some sort of grudge against Maggie's friend Gaynell who is also a musician and who leads Gaynell and the Gator Girls. Tammy and her entourage including her manager Pony Pickner, her assistant Sara and the members of her band. Tammy, Pony, Sara and a couple of Tammy's local cousins are staying at the B & B Maggie's parents run. They are causing her mother a lot of trouble because each one is on a different weird diet. When Pony is electrocuted with Tammy's special microphone, Maggie has to go undercover with the band to find out who killed him. This is especially urgent because Tammy is throwing all sorts of suspicion Gaynell's way. Maggie and her fiance Bo pretend to break-up their new engagement so that Maggie's new career as a groupie seems less suspicious. Many old favorite characters from earlier books in the series have roles in this one. And recipes also play an important role. Maggie makes bunches and bunches of pralines of various flavors to sell at the festival and the recipe for them is included. This was a fun story with a lot of suspense and a nice romance between Maggie and Bo.

[lilyroseshadowlyn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although this is a cozy mystery, I think the humor woven in it is my favorite part. There's plenty of drama mixed in with everything, and I greatly enjoyed reading this. There were enough twists and subtle clues to keep me guessing. Everything was neatly wrapped up by the end, which I always appreciate. A wonderful cozy mystery.

[murderbydeath · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not bad; I think Crooked Lane Publishers could do better with a tighter editing process, but the plotting was excellent. The characters weren’t engaging as past entries of the series, but I’m not sure I can say why. Generally, a relatively solid entry in a better than average series.

[cyderry · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Maggie Crozat and her friend, Gaynell Bourgeois, are helping Maggie's grandmother with the Cajun Country festival and everything seems to be exciting until Gaynell finds out that Tammy Barker, her nemesis from high school, now a name country singer is coming back to town. Things just seem to be getting worse when Gaynell turns down a pass from Tammy's manager and then he turns up dead.As usual, Maggie has to try to make things right but ends up getting herself in danger instead.The mystery wasn't that heavy, more time was spent on the characters and their interactions but it was still fun.

[kris_anderson-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fatal Cajun Festival is an engaging cozy mystery that will have your craving etouffee and a beignet. Fatal Cajun Festival by Ellen Byron is the fifth A Cajun Country Mystery. This is a series that I recommend reading in order because it will allow you to get to know the characters and the town. I enjoy Ellen Byron’s conversational writing style. Her story welcomes you and I soon find myself immersed in the story. There is a great cast of characters in A Cajun Country Mystery series. I like their Southern charm and Louisiana quirkiness. Maggie comes from a close family and lives with her grandmother, Charlotte. Maggie was happy to put her wedding plans on the back burner to help with the festival. She designed the graphics for the festival and is also making the pralines (they are yummy) to sell at the Pelican Praline booth. Unfortunately, the Crozat B&B kitchen is off limits thanks to Tammy and her entourage with their special meal requests. Maggie must rely on the kindness of her friends and relatives for the use of their kitchens. I liked Gaynell with her sweet demeanor and beautiful voice. Gaynell and the Gator Girls played lively tunes that set my toes to tapping. I thought the mystery was clever from the way the individual was killed to the killer. You need to pay careful attention to the clues, or you will end up fingering the wrong person. Charlotte is sorting through her belongings and uncovers some information about her deceased husband that raises questions and sends her on a journey. The joyful ending will have you beaming. At the end of the book there are a couple of recipes including one for pecan pralines. Fatal Cajun Festival is a harmonious cozy mystery with lip-smacking pecan pralines, toe tapping Cajun tunes, a dramatic diva, an electric stage, a clever killer and a sneaky sleuth.

[darcia_10 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fatal Cajun Festival is a quick, light read with a strong dose of southern charm.Right from the start we have a lot of people to keep track of, with the main characters, their friends and family, and an entire band. Consequently, there isn't a lot of depth or development. I mostly got a quirky, stereotypical vibe. In fairness, this is the fifth book in the series but the first one I've read. Quite a few of these characters are probably better understood by readers following the series from the beginning.The murder mystery aspect is simple and straightforward. While I didn't find any surprises here, I enjoyed hanging out with the characters.*I received a review copy from the publisher.*

[managedbybooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Louisiana B&B owner Maggie Crozat kicks up her heels at a country music festival--but she'll have one foot in the grave if she can't bring the killer of a diva's hanger-on to heel.

Grab your tickets for Cajun Country Live!, the pickers' and crooners' answer to the legendary New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Maggie Crozat, proprietor of the Crozat Plantation B&B, plans to be in the cheering section when her friend Gaynell Bourgeois takes the stage with her band, Gaynell and the Gator Girls.

The festival's headliner, native daughter Tammy Barker, rocketed to stardom on a TV singing competition. She has the voice of an angel...and the personality of a devilish diva. But Maggie learns that this tiny terror carries a grudge against Gaynell. She's already sabotaged the Gator Girls' JazzFest audition. When a member of Tammy's entourage is murdered at the festival, Maggie makes sure Gaynell is number one on the suspect list.

Gaynell has plenty of company on that list--including every one of Tammy's musicians. Posing as a groupie, Maggie infiltrates Tammy's band and will have to hit all the right notes to clear her friend's name.

This was a quick, easy read in the summer heat! I enjoyed following along as Maggie worked to clear Gaynell's name.

*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

[joannefm2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Maggie Crozat is happy she no longer has to wear an antebellum gown since she's gotten a new job at Doucet Plantation restoring art, and working at her family's B&B, Crozat. She's delighted Cajun Country Live! will be featuring her friend Gaynell Bourgeois and her group. And she's positively ecstatic that she's going to be marrying Detective Bo Durand - if they can ever find time to set a date. In reality, her life is going along swimmingly...That is, until the arrival of home-town girl Tammy Barker, who hit it big on a TV show and headed to the big city to make a name for herself. Tammy is now famous, and the festival is happy to have her back headlining, since it will bring in plenty of tourists. But it seems Gaynell isn't happy at all. She shares with Maggie the fact that during high school Tammy made her life miserable, bullying her. When Tammy and her entourage arrives, she's surprised to learn that she and her manager and assistant, Pony Pickner and Sara Salinas, in that order, have book the entire Crozat B&B in an attempt to make sure star struck fans don't invade their privacy. And after spending time with her, she has a suspicion that Tammy isn't done with her bullying toward Gaynell; especially when Tammy unexpectedly sings a song that's obviously stolen from Gaynell, who hasn't had a chance to debut it herself.But when one of Tammy's entourage is murdered in what seems like it should have been her instead, and Gaynell is fingered - by Tammy - for the crime, Maggie steps in to find out the truth before her friend - the only suspect - goes to jail. Unfortunately, it also means that Maggie herself will have to resort to subterfuge that she doesn't want but feels is necessary. Now Maggie is not only trying to find out who wants Tammy dead, but also might be trying to kill her to keep her quiet...I am very glad that I've gotten the chance to visit with Maggie and her family and friends again. I enjoy this series and the fact that Maggie absolutely loves where she lives, and it shows every time I pick up one of these books. Everyone in the book is a colorful character, from Maggie herself right down to every one of her friends. There's several subplots going on at the same time that only make the story more real - her grandmother is 'purging her life' as it were; Vanessa is having a tug-of-war rivalry with Sandy, whose boyfriends were recent rivals for mayor, her parents are having to deal with guests who want special diets, and her cousin Lia is about to give birth to triplets. It's a busy life and makes for a book with plenty of action.When Maggie starts by trying to become friends with the members of the band, she wants to learn more about them, and if any of them had a reason to kill. She also needs to figure out if Tammy was the target, are they going to try again. But with Tammy such a nasty piece of work, it's not going to be easy to do. Especially since it seems that Tammy's not done with harassing Gaynell; and Gaynell has withdrawn from any kind of life, hiding herself away.The story is well written, and the characters are fully three-dimensional, pulling you into their world of Pelican, Louisiana. While I've never had the desire to live anywhere near this town (too much humidity for my blood) I have had thoughts of wanting to visit Cajun Louisiana and see the world through her eyes. Such is the ability of Ms. Byron to describe this place. The music, the homes, the food - all of it is appetizing (but only for a visit) and I would love to experience it at least once. (I might actually have to plan a vacation soon).Maggie's loyalty to Gaynell is fierce indeed, and it shows in her actions how far she's willing to go to prove her friend innocent. We should all be lucky enough to have a friend as loyal as Maggie. I'm also beginning to warm up considerably to Vanessa, who started out as Maggie's own bully but since becoming engaged to Quentin has mellowed her and made her happy, so she's actually becoming Maggie's friend. It's a nice look when there's not an 'evil nemesis' out to destroy the main character and make her life miserable.As the story progresses and we become more involved, things change. I love how the way everything eventually played out, even in the subplots hiding in the background of the main story. All the twists and turns will keep you on your toes, trying to figure out the murderer and the real reason behind it, which, of course, we learn toward the end, as it should be.When the final moments come everything is tied up nicely, and we are given a satisfactory ending to a terrific tale, knowing that once more everything in Maggie's world is right and good...at least for this one moment of peace. Highly recommended.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

entertainer, Louisiana, law-enforcement, jealousy, cozy-mystery, recipes, family, friendship ***** Great story whether you've read the earlier ones or not! However, this is not an unbiased review because I love this series, NOLA and the Bayou country, and especially the FOOD.Maggie Crozat is the main person along with her extended family and friends. This year the celebration is a music festival headlined by a gal raised locally but so full of herself that she alienates everyone around her. Her manager gets murdered and that sets everything off. Meanwhile, cousin Lia is on bed rest awaiting triplets, friend Gaynell gets arrested, Maggie and her local detective fiance pretend to be having issues as a diversion in the murder investigation. And besides all that, Grandmere is going through all her memorabilia and finds something disturbing. The cast of characters is at the beginning, and a few great recipes at the end. An excellent read and well worth the price. I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!