French Quarter Fright Night

One of my favorite cozy mystery writers has a new book coming out in early September. French Quarter Fright Night by Ellen Bryon is a charming and engaging cozy mystery that highlights New Orleans’s culture, food, and history. It’s the third book in the Vintage Cookbook Cozy Mystery series featuring Ricki James-Diaz and a wonderful assortment of supporting characters.

Ricki is a California transplant who has moved back to her birth city. She’s turned her avocation of collecting vintage cookbooks into a job by establishing a gift shop in the late home turned museum of Genevieve (Vee) Charbonnet, who ran one of the city’s finest restaurants before she died. Ricki’s gift shop features vintage cookbooks and kitchenware.

With Halloween approaching, the staff of the museum are gearing up for their haunted house tours for their visitors. When movie star and Ricki’s former friend Blaine Taggart and his support staff move into the mansion next door, things start to go wrong. When a body is found in the museum yard’s prop tomb, everyone in both mansions becomes a suspect, along with a few other characters.

Ricki is a likeable person that makes friends easily, but she has trust issues due to her backstory. She is a softy at heart, organized, honest, and adept at telling when people are lying. There are many characters, but there is a character list at the front of the book for reference. For those who have read the prior books in the series, there are several repeat characters among the museum employees and the New Orleans detectives. This also makes it easy to keep track of the characters.

The author is a great storyteller. As always, the world-building and characterization are great. The story is well-plotted and contains a few twists and several red herrings. I enjoyed the humor that the author intersperses throughout the novel along with visits with the various animals. Thor and Princess are the canines Ricki co-parents with her neighbor and Gumbo and Jambalaya are the peacocks at the museum. The introduction of a kitten at the museum added additional humor and warmth to the story. Threads of found family, friendship, connections, communication, genealogy, and intimidation add depth to the novel. At the end of the book are some recipes from a variety of vintage cookbooks as well as some information about the cookbooks themselves.

Overall, this was an entertaining novel with some tense moments that kept me engaged throughout. This series is best read in order. The earlier books fill in Ricki’s background and readers can see her character grow over time. Those who enjoy cozy mysteries with an amateur sleuth will likely enjoy this series. I can’t wait to see where the author takes the next book in the series.

Severn House and Ellen Byron provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for September 3, 2024.