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    A Cajun Christmas Killing
    A Cajun Christmas Killing
    A Cajun Christmas Killing
    Audiobook9 hours

    A Cajun Christmas Killing

    Written by Ellen Byron

    Narrated by Amy Melissa Bentley

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Maggie Crozat is back home in bayou country during the most magical time of the year. In Pelican, Louisiana, Christmastime is a season of giant bonfires on the levee, zydeco carols, and pots of gumbo. Except, this year, the Grinch has come to stay at the family-run Crozat Plantation BB. When he floods travel websites with vicious reviews, Maggie thinks she's identified him as rival businessman Donald Baxter. That is, until he's found stabbed to death at Maggie's workplace. And Maggie and her loved ones become top suspects.

    The Crozats quickly establish alibis, but Maggie's boyfriend, Detective Bo Durand, remains under suspicion. With Bo sidelined during the investigation, Maggie finds herself forced to work with an unlikely ally: longtime family enemy Rufus Durand. Her sleuthing uncovers more suspects than drummers drumming, and lands her in the crosshairs of the murderer.

    The sleigh bells are jingling, and the clock is ticking for Maggie and Rufus, who must catch the killer, or it will be the opposite of a Joyeux Noël.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 27, 2019
    ISBN9781630157579
    A Cajun Christmas Killing

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    Reviews for A Cajun Christmas Killing

    4/5

    46 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      Title: A Cajun Christmas Killing: A Cajun Country Mystery
      Author: Ellen Byron
      Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
      Genre: Cozy/Mystery

      Bonfires on the levee, zydeco carols, and pots of gumbo greet Maggie Crozat when she returns home to Pelican, Louisiana. It's Christmas time, her favorite time of the year. This year, however, things aren’t going as planned at the Crozat Plantation B&B. Murder shows up for the holidays.

      Someone is writing bad reviews on travel websites that are hurting business. A rival, Donald Baxter is not whom he seems, and before long her family and everything they worked for are in danger. Maggie is set to accuse Baxter of trying to destroy their business when she finds him stabbed to death.

      Her family all have alibis, Detective Bo Durand, Maggie’s boyfriends comes under suspicion. Maggie is forced to work with longtime family enemy Rufus Durand, who, as it turns out, isn’t as bad as she thought. The investigation leads her in circles and places her in the line of fire.

      --
      A Cajun Christmas Killing is a wonderfully entertaining book with colorful characters who will remain in the reader's memory for years to come. Ellen Byron has crafted a story that leads the reader down a path of Cajun proportions. Filled with everything you would expect for a Cajun Christmas celebration, music, unique characters and of course, food.

      Maggie is crazy about her boyfriend Bo, and she wants things to move on to the next step, but Bo is a gentleman and won’t be rushed. Tug and Ninette, Maggie’s parents, are the kind of parents who support their daughter in everything she does but also want her to be happy and settle down. Gran is a delight; she has a mischievous nature; she is lively, caring and can be put on airs when necessary.

      This book is the third installment of the“A Cajun Country Mystery” series. Readers that have not read the first two books will have no trouble understanding the backstory, the players or their role in the family dynamic. They will fall in love with the Cozart family. This book is a page turner and will keep the reader guessing to the end. The reveal of the killer is in true Cajun style, filled with excitement that leaves a smirk on the reader's face. The story is fast-paced and flows smoothly; it is extremely well written. The action and intrigue are non-stop. This book, along with the series is highly recommended as an all-out entertaining and satisfying read.

      An ARC was provided for this book.
    • 5/5
      Maggie Crozat is an artist who returned home to Pelican, Louisiana after her relationship soured. She's still painting, but mostly she's helping at her family's Crozat B&B and acting as a tour guide at the Doucet Plantation, which once belonged to her family but was donated to the state, and is now open to visitors.She's also involved in a new relationship with Bo Durand, and while they're still finding their way, they're completely committed to each other. Unfortunately, she hasn't had the easiest (to say the least) relationship with Bo's cousin Rufus, who doesn't like the Crozats - all dating from a feud going back to the Civil War.When Maggie's family discovers that someone is writing negative reviews of their B&B and she finds out from her Uncle Tig that a man named Steve Harmon is trying to turn the Crozat home into a boutique hotel, Maggie isn't letting it happen without a fight. And when she discovers that a particularly nasty guest is the same man, her mother throws him out of the hotel. But when Maggie is giving a tour at the Doucet plantation, she discovers Harmon's body, and now there's a bigger problem:Although Maggie and her family have been cleared of any wrongdoing, the same can't be said for Bo. He had a very public argument with Harmon, and is on desk duty until the murder is solved. So Maggie and Rufus must team up to find the killer and clear Bo's name. But there's more going on beneath the surface, and Maggie starts to realize that Harmon's enemies weren't all in the hotel business, and even his widow isn't sorry he's gone. But as she gets closer to the truth - and the killer gets closer to her - another death occurs and Maggie's running against the tide to find out who wants her permanently out of the picture...This was a delightful book to read. Ms. Byron gives a wonderful vision of what Maggie's Pelican looks like during the holidays, and it would be wonderful to visit. Bonfires, winter warming food and drink, and decorations galore. Maggie has grown up in a wonderful atmosphere.Aside from the scenery, it was a surprise - albeit a nice one - to see the changes in Rufus since he's become a father. He's mellowed out and realized the type of person he was, and watching him and Maggie work together to help Bo was refreshing, to say the least; he's actually becoming a likable character.The murder itself was very well done, and I while I figured it out a little earlier than Maggie, it was nice to watch how she put everything together at the end. I also enjoyed the subplots involving Bo's ex-wife, Rufus' new (maybe) love interest, and it was quite revelation to finally meet Maggie's ex Chris (and realize how she dodged a bullet on that one). All in all, Ms. Byron has given us another worthy journey into Cajun Country, its traditions, its people, and a wonderful mystery to decipher. I look forward to reading the next in the series. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      When Maggie Crozat complains there is only water and soda in the hospital vending machine, when there should be booze because emergencies are the times when “You need a belt” I fell in love with her, instantly.Maggie is a great character and I adored Pelican, the town in Louisiana, too. I was so certain this would be a five star read but then I became mired in the surplus of characters and subplots.Maggie is an artist with a New York home but she is back home in Pelican, also working as a tourist guide at Doucet. Her father Tug is in hospital and at this point Maggie discovers the family owned business, the Crozat B&B, is the target of online trolls. They are leaving bad reviews on a travel web site and the aim seems to be to force a sell at a low price. As Maggies swings into action, the first murder occurs, and the victim is possibly the person orchestrating the bad reviews.That was simply enough but then it got really complicated. Maggie has a dodgy ex and a beau. She is conflicted about her work and her future. Also, her Doucet boss is up to some evil, and it involves several of her close friends being bullied. Further complications arise when an ex-police officer, Rufus, turns up, who is an old family enemy. He hooks up with another minor character, who has her own back story.At that point I was still tracking but then we got to the victim having biological kids, step kids, and possibly unacknowledged kids who might be mistresses, plus in-laws who are also given their own detailed back story. When even more subplots and characters were added to this, I just couldn’t unravel it anymore. It didn’t help that the ARC was so badly formatted that parts of it were impossible to read.I love Maggie and the writing itself is great but the author clearly got so involved in her world (and it's a great one) that she's made it too complicated for readers to step into. I can’t help but feel this needs an editor to pull out half the sub plots and at least a third of the walk on characters.I was given an ARC by the publisher through Net Galley, and as you can see, I was reviewing voluntarily and honestly.
    • 4/5
      I wavered between 3.5 and 4 stars for this one, but ultimately I enjoyed the story and was able to lose myself in Louisiana for a few hours and that's enough for a solid 4 stars. The book got off to a shaky start for me because it begins with someone leaving malicious reviews online for Maggie's parent's B&B. Now call me eccentric if you'd like, but while I'm all in for a good old fashioned murder mystery, I'm completely turned off by malicious behaviour. Mean with a motive, I can do; mean for the sake of being mean and I'm out. Luckily, this thread was a thin and short one and once it was resolved, I enjoyed the story and the characters a lot more. Byron succeeds with the mystery plot be virtue of making it so chaotic there was no telling who done what. The resolution was a tad weak, but not amongst the top 50 worst denouements I've ever read. My only real complain about the book is that even though it takes place during Christmas and Christmas pops up here and there throughout the story, there's very little Christmas spirit. But I find this to be true of most "Christmas" stories anymore, so I can't really gripe too much over it. I'll definitely look forward to another Cajun Mystery.
    • 5/5
      law-enforcement, bayou, Louisiana, Cajun culture, situational-humor, cozy-mystery, family-dynamics, relationships 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.
    • 5/5
      I Loved This Book. From the very first page to the last one I enjoyed this story so much. I just wish I could have given it more than 5 stars. The mystery part of the story was written perfectly. I didn't know who the killer was until the end and that excited me. I hate when I figure out who the killer is half way through the book.The author included just the right amount of description and I adored reading about the Louisianan Christmas customs. I will admit I had tears in my eyes while reading the end. I wished that I was part of the celebrations.This is book three in the Cajun Country Mystery Series but you needn't worry if you haven't read the first two book because this book was so well written that you don't feel as if you're missing something. I've already put the first two books on my To Read list.