French Quarter Fright Night, A Vintage Cookbook Mystery by Ellen Byron
Author Interview + Book and Author Info + Author Pet Corner! + a Giveaway
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French Quarter Fright Night
The third in the fabulous cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Ellen Byron.
Welcome to the Bon Veeevil Festival of Fear! Prepare for the spookiest night of your life . . .
It’s Halloween in New Orleans, and the staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum is setting up a fantastic haunted house tour for their visitors. But when flashy movie star Blaine Taggart and his entourage move into the mansion next door, gift shop proprietor Ricki James-Diaz gets a fright of her own.
While Ricki is excited about the potential business the tours will bring to her vintage cookbook shop, she’s less thrilled by former friend Blaine’s arrival in town. Then Bon Vee’s prop tomb becomes a real tomb for Blaine’s nasty assistant, and suddenly everyone at Bon Vee is a murder suspect. There isn’t a ghost of a chance one of them committed the crime, but with NOPD busy tackling the mischief and mayhem generated by the spooky holiday, it falls on Ricki and her friends to catch the killer.
As the Big Easy gears up for the Big Scary, it seems everyone has skeletons in their closets. Can Ricki reveal the shadowy killer before someone else becomes part of the Halloween horror show?
French Quarter Fright Night (Vintage Cookbook)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – the Garden District of New Orleans
Publisher : Severn House (September 3, 2024)
Hardcover : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 1448312655
ISBN-13 : 978-1448312658
Digital ASIN : B0CTHQXNM5
Purchase your copy of French Quarter Fright Night at Amazon – B&N – Bookshop.org
French Quarter Fright Night Author Interview with Ellen Byron
French Quarter Fright Night is set at The Bon Vee Culinary House Museum in New Orleans. Tell us about the museum and the neighborhood it’s located in:
The museum is actually an historic mansion in New Orleans’ stunning Garden District. It was inspired by the homes of Ella Brennan, the iconic NOLA restauranteur behind Commander’s Palace, and her sister Adelaide.
I read a story about how Adelaide happened to walk by this elegant 19th century columned home on Prytania Street and declared that one day she’d buy it. And she did! The house was famous for its Gold Ballroom and the many parties that bon vivant Adelaide threw.
After Ella divorced, she moved into the house with her two children, who’d often have to yell down to their party-loving mother and sibling in the middle of the night, “Be quiet, I have school tomorrow!” After Adelaide passed away, Ella moved to another historic home right next to Commander’s Palace and they’d send her meals over through an attached pass-through.
French Quarter Fright Night is third in the Vintage Cookbook series. What would you like readers to know about the first two books?
They’re fun to read?? Especially Wined and Died in New Orleans, Book #2, whose plot was inspired by both a real-life experience and a story I read on the internet.
I happened to be in New Orleans researching and visiting my daughter when Hurricane Ida was approaching. I wanted to stay but my daughter insisted we evacuate and thank God we did. But that indecision – do we stay or go? – formed a plot thread in Wined and Died, when a hurricane might strike New Orleans.
The story I read on the internet was about a couple who bought an old home in upstate New York and during renovations, they found a stash of hundred-year-old whiskey stashed in the crawl space. It turned out the original owner was a bootlegger! This story inspired the plot point where the characters of my series find a stash of old and rare wine hidden under Bon Vee.
French Quarter Fright Night introduces a flashy movie star, Blaine Taggart. You live in Hollywood and work in the film industry, is Blaine modeled after any actor you know personally? How did you come up with that character?
I did work with one actor who inspired aspects of Blaine’s personality. He was handsome, charming, and totally self-centered in an affable way. I won’t name him, though!
I was very lucky. I worked with fantastic actors on every show, even the ones that flopped. They were all hardworking, dedicated performers – even the actor who might see a bit of himself in Blaine! (Although he probably would be clueless about it, lol.)
What is Halloween like in New Orleans? What’s your favorite part about that holiday there or in Los Angeles?
Halloween in New Orleans is the best!!! (Well, considering New Orleans brags about being the most haunted city in America, it kind of has to be doesn’t it?). They embrace it with the energy of Mardi Gras, going all out to decorate their homes and wear great costumes.
The week before, the city celebrates with the Krewe of Boo, a Halloween version of a Mardi Gras parade.
I got to watch the parade two or three times over the last couple of years and it’s a blast. A friend of mine was actually in one of the marching dance troupes, the Amelia Airhawts! On Halloween night, the French Quarter is filled with people in the most wonderful costumes, both locals and visitors. It’s a much less drunk and more laid-back celebration than Mardi Gras. Everyone is there to admire each other’s creativity and just have fun.
You write a number of series! How do you juggle the different characters, locations, and even author names. What keeps you excited about returning to (or creating) different series?
It’s not always easy. I made the mistake of giving three out of four of my protagonists names that begin with “M.” (Even Ricki James-Diaz in my Vintage Cookbook Mysteries. Her full name is Miracle.) But I love switching up protagonists and settings, finishing with one book in a series and then segueing to another in a different series.
It’s like hanging out with a rotating crew of friends, even if fictional, and locations that I love… even if some are fictional!
What are you working on now?
I just finished the outline for the fourth Vintage Cookbook Mystery and am in the weeds for the outline for the third Golden Motel Mystery.
Words of wisdom for aspiring writers:
Find your tribe. There are people who are passionate about the same genres as you are. Connect with them and you’ll have a support system that will help you navigate the highs and lows of a writing career. Also, stay humble and be a lifelong learner. Do Olympians stop practicing once they achieve a goal? No, they keep training and improving. We can always grow as writers, so be open to always learning new things.
Great advice! Thanks for hanging out with me and my readers!
Author Pet Corner!
Our latest pet child is Cammie! We adopted her on Father’s Day, 2023.
The rescue thought she was about a year and a half or two. She was found pregnant on the streets of San Pedro.
The Amanda Foundation (our go-to rescue) took her in. All five of her puppies were adopted but she wasn’t – until us.
She’s feisty and hilarious. She loves to steal socks, so I put a bin of them in our hallway for her! We adore our Cammie.
Ellen Byron — Author of French Quarter Fright Night
Ellen is a USA Today bestselling author, Anthony nominee, and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico).
Her new series, The Golden Motel Mysteries, recently debuted. She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents, but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. Visit her at Cozy Mysteries | Ellen Byron | Author
To learn more about Ellen, click any of the following links: Newsletter, Facebook, Instagram & BookBub
Visit all the Stops on the Tour!
September 4 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
September 4 – Angel’s Book Nook – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 5 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW
September 6 – The Mystery of Writing – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 6 – Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW
September 7 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 7 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
September 8 – The Plain-Spoken Pen – REVIEW, RECIPE
September 9 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
September 9 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 10 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT WITH RECIPE
September 10 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
September 11 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
September 11 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIIGHT
September 12 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
September 13 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
September 14 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – REVIEW
September 14 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
September 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
September 16 – Sarah Can’t Stop Reading Books – REVIEW
September 17 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
Elena Taylor/Elena Hartwell
Elena, thanks for a great post! And for using my fave photo of Cammie. 🙂
She is such a cutie pie! The photo with the socks kills me. Congrats on the new book!