A great start to this new historical cozy mystery series.
Fried Chicken Castañeda marks the debut of author Suzanne Stauffer’s compelling new Historical Culinary Cozy Mystery series and the introduction of a sweet, serious, and courageous young amateur sleuth, Miss Prudence Bates, a former librarian from Cleveland, Ohio. Set in 1929, Prudence is bored with her life and staid career and is bitten by the adventure bug when she attends a lecture about the Southwestern Indian Detours and the young women who guide them. Determined to broaden her life experiences before settling down, she decides to pursue her interest by applying for the program and by making a temporary change in profession. After a long train journey to Las Vegas, New Mexico, she checks into the Castañeda Hotel, where she’ll join one of the tours to reach her training location, making friends with several of the young women, the Harvey Girls, working there. But when the brother of one of her new friends is murdered, she is compelled to help identify his killer.
I so enjoyed the main character, Prudence Bates, and found her engaging and quite relatable in her longing to finally live her life for herself. She’s smart but has limited experience with life beyond her own circumstances, and her eyes are gradually opened to what others are dealing with in the country at this time. She’s resourceful as she tries to uncover the truth behind the murder.
The author packs a lot of punch into this first book in the series, and I felt I learned so much about an unusual and little-known topic. Her vivid descriptions and use of unique settings made this time period (1929 and Prohibition) and location (a railroad town deep in the Southwestern U.S.) really come to life as she developed the foundation for the series, so much so that I didn’t realize until later that the murder didn’t occur until past the halfway point of the story. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of action going on, though, as Prudence explores the small New Mexico town, discovers a vast array of culinary delights, and sees a different side of society than what she’s accustomed to as the mixed cultures clash.
I recommend FRIED CHICKEN CASTAÑEDA to readers of historical and culinary-themed cozy mysteries, especially those with an interest in the Southwestern Indian Detours and couriers and settings in the Southwestern United States.
I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.
Historical Culinary Cozy Mystery 1st in Series Setting - Las Vegas, New Mexico, in June 1929 Publisher: Artemesia Publishing, LLC Publication date: May 6, 2025 Print length: 228 pages Paperback
ISBN-10: 1963832051 /
ISBN-13: 978-1963832051 Digital
ISBN-13: 978-1963832242 /
ASIN: B0DZC47WJQ
At the Castañeda Hotel you'll find romance, gourmet dining, bootleggers, and murder!
Bored with her conventional middle-class life, Prudence Bates escapes Cleveland by heading west to qualify as a Courier for the Southwestern Indian Detours. On the California Limited she meets Jerry Begay, a charming Navajo school teacher. They feel an instant rapport, but he's headed for Gallup, so it's but a brief encounter.
In Las Vegas, New Mexico Prudence is befriended by Castañeda Hotel Harvey Girls Martha and Anne and desk clerk Clara. They take Prudence under their wing and invite her along to dances and the local hot springs.
Four days later, Martha's brother, Tom, is found murdered. Was it because of his bootlegging activities? Or his amorous relationship with Liz Kearney, daughter of the richest man in the area and rumored mob boss? And was that really Jerry Begay whom Prudence saw meeting with Tom in secret the day before he was killed?
Following in the footsteps of her favorite fictional detectives, Tommy and Tuppence, Prudence is determined to solve the murder. But one wrong step and she may end up in the sights of the bootleggers.
After 20 years as a librarian and 20 as a professor of library science and library historian, Suzanne Stauffer has moved on to a third career as a mystery novelist. She currently lives in Albuquerque with her Australian husband and brown and white spotted rat terrier dogter, Treme. Her debut novel, Fried Chicken Castañeda (Artemesia Publishing, May 2025), won the CIPA EVVY Bronze Medal in Mystery/Crime/Detection and the New Mexico Book Award for Cozy Mystery.
Please welcome Suzanne Stauffer, the author of today's featured book, to the blog!
Plaza Hotel
Hello! Thank you for stopping by. I’m Suzanne Stauffer, author of the 2025 New Mexico Book Award for Cozy mystery winner, Fried Chicken Castañeda, a historical cozy culinary mystery set in 1929 Las Vegas, New Mexico. Yes – there is a Las Vegas in New Mexico. At one time, it was the largest city in the Southwest, and it had the reputation of a “wide-open town.” Billy the Kid was held in the jail there in 1880, after being captured by Sheriff Pat Garrett. The Plaza Hotel, built in 1882, was known as “The Belle of the Southwest.”
Castañeda Hotel
It and the
Castañeda Hotel, a Fred Harvey hotel built in 1898, are still open for
business.
Las Vegas Public Library
When my husband and I stayed at the Castañeda Hotel and toured the city, including the Carnegie Library that is a scale model of Jefferson’s Monticello, I knew that I wanted to set a story there. It is such a unique little town with such an exciting history.
Indian Detour
A few years
before, on a visit to the Grand Canyon, I had learned about the Indian Detours
of the late 1920s and early 1930s and the Couriers, the women who guided them.
I remarked to my husband that they would be an excellent setting for a cozy
mystery series when I retired.
I bought the only book written about them, The
Southwestern Indian Detours by Diane H. Thomas, and discovered that the
Detours originally left from the Castañeda! Now I had my setting – I just
needed to retire. LOL! And then COVID happened and lockdown and, while I was
still teaching online (library science at Louisiana State University), I wasn’t
doing any service (aka committee meetings) or much research (I couldn’t get to
the libraries, archives, and other repositories of historical materials) ...
so, I started work on what would become Fried Chicken Castañeda.
Painted Desert
The works of
Tony Hillerman were another influence. Although my father was in the military
and we moved around quite a bit when I was young, we had settled in Utah by the
time I was in junior high school. My father’s family had settled in northern
Utah in the 1850s and I was even born in Salt Lake City. We spent our summers
at the National Parks in the Southwest and visiting relatives (on my mother’s
side) in Holbrook, Arizona. Hillerman’s descriptions of the natural wonders of
the Southwest always made me homesick when I read them while working in New
York City. I wanted to share that beauty with others who have not yet
experienced it, and encourage them to discover it.
So, with
lockdown, I had the time and I had a setting – Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1929. I
just needed a main character, an amateur sleuth. I decided on Prudence Bates, a
25-year old librarian in Cleveland, Ohio. They say write what you know, and I
was a working librarian for roughly 20 years. Prudence, who reads mysteries voraciously, is bored with her job. She
wants excitement, glamour, intrigue. She attends the promotional meeting on the
Indian Detours given by Anita Rose in 1929 (yes, Anita Rose is a real person
and she promoted the Detours through the East and Midwest in 1929, stopping in
Cleveland), learns about the Couriers, and decides that this is what has been
missing in her life. Unfortunately for her, while she was the right age (at
least 25), and a college graduate, she was not a native of New Mexico, and that
was another requirement.
La Fonda Hotel
Our Prudence is
not discouraged by this. She decides to head out to La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe
to plead her case in person.
Along the
route, she’ll spend a week at the Castañeda soaking up local atmosphere. It’s
1929, so of course, she takes the train from Chicago (where she makes a point
of eating at the Fred Harvey restaurant), sleeping in a Pullman berth and
eating in the Fred Harvey dining car. Her dining companion for one meal is
Sally Johnson, a Harvey Girl at the La Fonda. And ... unexpectedly, she meets
Jerry Begay, a thirty-something Navajo school teacher on his way to Gallup ...
so it’s a brief encounter between strangers on a train, two ships passing in
the night, and, in 1929, a forbidden love.
Montezuma Hotel
Once in Las
Vegas, she tours the town, visiting the landmarks and monuments that constitute
the pride of Las Vegas, including the Plaza Hotel. She makes friends with
Harvey Girls Martha and Anne and desk clerk Clara, who invite her to a YMCA
dance and to soak in the hot springs above Las Vegas at the Montezuma Hotel.
Before she
knows it, she finds herself embroiled in bootlegging, murder, and mystery. Who
killed Harvey Girl Martha’s brother, Tom, and why? Was it because he was
selling poisoned bootlegged liquor to the local Indians? Or was it because of
his amorous activities with Liz Kearney, daughter of the richest man in town
and rumored mob boss? And was that really Jerry whom Prudence saw meeting with
Tom the day before?
Case of the Curved Staircase: A Macaroni on Wheels Mystery Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Setting - Little Italy, San Diego and San Diego Bay Publisher: S.K. Derban Publication date: August 27, 2025 Paperback
Print length: 302 pages ISBN-10: 196318811X / ISBN-13: 978-1963188110 Digital
Print length: 273 pages ISBN-13: 978-1963188103 /
ASIN: B0FHM8HSH4 Audiobook
ASIN: B0FW1BJKX1
The Little Italy entertainment continues in this second book of the Macaroni on Wheels series. Case of the Curved Staircase has more twists and turns than Terza can handle. And, Detective Nicholas Garza is not on the case. Say it isn't so, Nico!
Staircases can be fatal, especially on Halloween. After catering a surprise birthday party on the evening of October 30th, Terza returns to the scene of the celebration on the following morning. Instead of being greeted by the happy, party hosts, Terza discovers a dead body at the bottom of the curved staircase. Not again! And this time, Terza's amateur detective skills are landing her directly into personal danger. She would rather be using her chef's knife than having one pointed at her face!
As the feisty Italian caterer continues to fill her free time solving crime, she runs headfirst into a new detective. Unlike Nicholas Garza, the detective now in charge considers Terza a hindrance instead of a help. Fortunately, Jacob Radovan, the medical examiner, continues to be Terza's ally.
There is also an unexpected wedding in Case of the Curved Staircase. Readers of Uneven Exchange just might cheer out loud. The almost perfect weather in San Diego allows the bride and groom to take a carriage ride from the wedding venue to the reception ballroom. It's a fairytale come true.
Fans of cozy mysteries will revel in solving another murder along with Terza, and will continue to appreciate her zest for life. Readers will be spending more time with the animated Tiepolo family, and especially Terza's father. Ezio's Halloween costume is a moo-ving choice! The Tiepolos celebrate their loving, family bond as they join together each Sunday. Food, family, and fun! Once again, you may consider this your personal invitation...
S.K. Derban resides with her husband in Southern California. Although born in the United States she moved to London within the first three months and remained in England until the age of five. Her father, an American citizen, was a decorated veteran of the Second World War. Her British mother was involved with the London Royal Ballet Company, and a great fan of the arts. After returning to the United States, Derban’s life remained filled with a love of the theatre, and a passion for British murder mysteries.
S.K. Derban’s personal travel and missionary escapades are readily apparent as they shine through into her characters. Readers are often transported virtually across the globe. She has traveled to Hong Kong on five separate occasions to smuggle Bibles into China, and has been to Israel on seven missionary trips. Derban’s other adventures include visits to Bangkok, Greece, Egypt, Italy, and the Caribbean.
Beginning with her faith in the Lord, S.K. Derban relies on all aspects of her life when writing. She hopes her books will allow readers to go on holiday without having to pack!
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Cozy mystery / Culinary-themed cozy mystery
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Publication Date: October 20, 2025
SCROLL DOWN FOR GIVEAWAY!
SYNOPSIS:
Roxy’s spending her summer with burros and jam, but there’s a murderer in the mountains.
It’s burro racing season in the Rockies, and Roxy Constantine is all for it. Now if she can come up with a good recipe for tomato jam, her summer will be complete. But when Roxy finds a body on the burro racecourse, she’s suddenly plunged into a murder investigation. And when her innocent friend is accused of killing her ex, Roxy must challenge a corrupt police chief who wants to shut her up. Now she needs to find the real killer and save a neighboring town from a plot to ruin its mountain magic.
Kennedy leaned close, eyes bright with malice. It’s hard to loom over someone as tall as me, but he was giving it his best shot. “You don’t get it, do you? This is none of your business. You don’t even live here. And you sure as hell don’t have any right to be sticking your nose into a police investigation. If I find out you’re stirring things up around here, I’ll throw you in a cell so fast your head will be spinning when you hit the floor.”
I was pretty sure he couldn’t do that legally. On the other hand, if he threw me into one of his cells, it might take me quite a while to get out of it. Logic argued for caution. Still, I hate being pushed around by guys who don’t have any right to push me around.
“All I’ve done is pass along information I’ve heard to people who might be interested. So far as I know, that doesn’t break any laws.”
“You. Don’t. Live. Here.” Kennedy snarled. “Like I said, this is none of your business. Keep out of it and keep your mouth shut.”
I gritted my teeth as I stared at him, trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t get me into deeper trouble.
Kennedy straightened, his gaze still burning, then swept one arm across the surface of the counter, sending jars of jam flying in all directions. I glared at him, furious and horrified.
The corners of his mouth edged up ever so slightly. “Oops.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance and cozy mysteries. Meg’s cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Her Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Along with romance and cozies, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Meg’s indie line. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, the Carly Crown Jewel of Books from the Mid-America Romance Authors, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.
It's Christmas. It's cozy. It's culinary. It's chaos! It's the fourth book in this fabulous mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron.
Have yourself a merry little . . . murder?
Ricki James-Diaz gets the best present ever when her parents arrive in New Orleans for the holidays. Not only is it a chance to catch up, it’s also an opportunity to jog her mom Josepha’s memory about Ricki’s adoption. The details have always been shrouded in mystery. And Ricki understands why when she learns her mother was blackmailed for years, simply for not wanting to lose her precious daughter.
But digging into the past soon lands the James-Diaz clan in water hotter than a big pot of gumbo! When the woman who extorted Ricki’s mom is found dead at her home, Josepha becomes the primary suspect. Now Ricki has another murder to solve, and tracking down a killer in Crescent City is going to take a miracle.
Luckily, ‘tis the season! And Ricki has all the staff at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum on hand to help. Can she prove her mother’s innocence and have the case wrapped up in time for Christmas?
Since Eugenia was possibly the last purist on the planet who refused to put up a single strand of Christmas lights before Thanksgiving, the day after turned into an all-hands-on deck day of decorating for the holidays instead of Black Friday. Ricki was grateful to landlady Kitty Kat for hosting her parents, freeing her up to turn Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware into a must-shop holiday destination.
Olivia Felice, Eugenia’s granddaughter—which made her another of Ricki’s newly discovered cousins—blew into the shop through its mullioned glass French doors. Miss Vee’s was located in a lovely room formerly known as the nineteenth century mansion’s “Ladies Parlor.” Pale green damask covered its walls and ornate molding painted white encircled the room. A glistening chandelier dangled from an intricately carved ceiling medallion. The instant Ricki had stepped foot in the parlor it felt like the perfect home for a gift shop dedicated to sharing the culinary past with fans of all things vintage.
“Ugh, I’m so glad to be here and out of the school library. Can I tell you how much I hate finals?” Olivia accompanied the statement with an eye roll and flip of her thick, dirty blonde ponytail. A junior at Tulane majoring in Communication, she’d added a minor in Psychology, motivated by a recent misjudgment of someone’s character that had almost led to her death. She’d transitioned from intern to Ricki’s sole part-time employee and lifetime young friend as well as relative.
“I’m glad you’re here. I could use help decorating this.” Ricki motioned to an artificial Christmas tree that exceeded her petite height by a foot. “I think I’ve bought up food-themed ornaments at every thrift shop in town. I thought we could fill in with smaller kitchenware items like these old measuring spoons.” She held up a set of nesting tin spoons. “Every item on the tree will be for sale, so I’m going with white lights. Colored lights would be too busy.”
“I’m on it.” Olivia reached into one of two big boxes loaded with holiday paraphernalia. She pulled out a long strand of tiny white lights. “And no, I haven’t heard anything from a krewe.”
“I was afraid to ask.”
While Ricki was born in the Big Easy, she’d moved to Los Angeles as a child when Josepha met and married Luis. She was still learning the ways of the quirky city she now called home. Olivia had educated her on the machinations of krewes, the organizations responsible for the city’s elaborate Mardi Gras parades and balls. The krewes chose local young women, mostly debutantes, for their courts. While carnival season didn’t officially kick off until January 6th—Twelfth Night—invitations to join the courts were delivered much earlier via a “court call” paid to the future queen and maids by representatives of the krewe. New Orleans may celebrate the winter holidays in a big way, but to Ricki, the local greeting of “Happy Almost Mardi Gras!” made the city’s priorities clear.
Olivia threaded the lights through the tree’s branches. “I honestly don’t care if I get a court call or not. I might even say no if they ask me to be on one.”
“Liar,” Ricki teased.
A fierce squawking disrupted the conversation. Ricki and Olivia dropped what they were doing to peer outside the shop’s bay window, where they saw Bon Vee’s resident peacocks Gumbo and Jambalaya chasing co-worker Theo Charbonnet—Eugenia’s nephew and yet another cousin to Ricki—across the mansion’s verdant green side yard.
“You OK?” Ricki called to Theo.
“I read somewhere that the Victorians put stuffed peacocks on top of their trees instead of stars or angels,” he called back. “Think about it.”
He disappeared around the corner.
The women left the window and resumed decorating. “Have you noticed Cousin Theo’s been acting more weird than usual?” Olivia asked as she added a second strand of lights to the tree.
“I wouldn’t call it weird,” Ricki said. “More like he’s being squirrelly. Secretive. I think he’s up to something.”
“That’s a scary thought.”
Ricki nodded in agreement. While she and Theo had achieved a rapprochement, she still wasn’t sure she could completely trust him.
“So, your parents are really nice,” Olivia said, providing a change of subject.
“Oh, thanks. They’re the best. I’m so glad you got to meet them.”
“Are you going to do anything special while they’re here? Like, a swamp tour or something?”
Ricki, who was about to hang a ceramic beignet ornament, paused. “Actually . . . since Dad will be busy on the TV shoot, I thought Mom and I could work together and dig up clues about my bio mom.”
Ricki had been abandoned as an infant New Orleans’ infamous Charity Hospital, her teen mother disappearing after giving birth. She thanked the universe for Josepha, a NICU nurse who fell in love with the parentless baby and adopted her, parenting as a single mother until she met and fell in love with Luis, who happened to be in town working on a film.
Ricki adored her parents beyond belief, but questions about her past drove her to seek answers. So far, she’d learned that Genevieve Charbonnet had secretly given birth to a baby who would have been Ricki’s grandparent. Her friend Mordant, who’d added private investigator to a list of occupations that included haunted tour guide and Bon Vee handyman, had tracked down the father of Genevieve’s baby. Sadly, he’d died at the age of twenty-four of a rare heart condition.
Ricki resumed hanging ornaments. “Mordant hasn’t been able to come up with any leads since he discovered my great-grandfather’s grave. And I haven’t come across any new connections on my genealogy sites. I thought I’d drive Mom around to some of the places from when we lived here and see if anything jogs a memory that might be useful.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’m starving.”
Ricki grinned, amused by Olivia’s 180-degree turn to her own needs. “You keep decorating, I’ll get us a snack.”
She left the shop and headed down the mansion’s capacious center hallway. Cookie waved from the beautifully appointed living room, which she was showing off to a group of tourists. Bon Vee was currently low on both tour guides, who were paid part-timers, and docents who volunteered their time, so Cookie and other staff members had been drafted to lead tours.
Ricki gestured to her and Cookie detached from her group. “I’m making a run to the café. You want anything?”
“An iced coffee would be great. It’s on me.” Cookie reached into the phone pocket of her leggings and extracted a twenty. She gave it to Ricki. “Plenty more where this came from,” she said in a low voice. “This group’s a mix of Houston and Dallas-ites, or whatever you call ’em. We just started the tour and they’re already trying to out-tip each other to prove their city is better.”
“Nice.”
“I want to buy Nat the best Christmas present I can, so I need these groups to make it rain.” Cookie rubbed her thumb to her index and middle finger, indicating money. She was dating the neighbor next door to Bon Vee and determined to make him the future Mr. Cookie Yanover. “Any idea what you’re getting Virgil?”
“Not a clue,” Ricki said. “I better get to the café before it closes.”
Ricki continued down the hallway, embarrassed by her obvious change of subject and feeling guilty because she hadn’t even thought about getting Virgil a gift. It’s because our relationship is so new, she told herself, batting back the insecurity that led her to fear she and the handsome, successful chef weren’t destined to go the distance.
*
By the time Olivia reluctantly left a few hours later to continue studying for finals, Miss Vee’s was decorated to the point of kitschy. No shelf was left untouched by thrift shop Santas, nutcrackers, ornaments, and a variety of small artificial trees in materials ranging from silvery mylar to one made of oyster shells wired together as branches. Ricki’s favorites were the items that were Louisiana-themed, like the alligator nutcracker wearing a Santa hat, which claimed a space next to a ceramic ornament of Santa riding an alligator.
“You could put together a whole display of gator items.”
Ricki started, not realizing she had company. She turned to see Josepha. “Mom, hey.” The women hugged.
“I thought your dad might wanna have dinner, but he and Virgil still have a lot to go over. He’s taking a break, though.”
Josepha indicated the bay window. Ricki glanced out of it and saw Luis doing a series of choreographed movements in slow motion. “Dad’s still doing tai chi?”
“Yup. It relaxes him. And Lord knows that man could use some relaxing.” Josepha delivered this in a droll but affectionate tone. “Anyhoo, I thought me and my darlin’ daughter might go out for dinner.”
“A giant yes to that.” A thought occurred to Ricki. “I just want to make one stop on the way.”
Ricki locked up the shop and led her mother to the small staff lot where she parked her Prius. They followed Washington Avenue past lovely historic homes swathed in holiday lights and garlands, eventually reaching Claiborne Avenue, a much less scenic thoroughfare of dollar stores, gas stations, and fast-food restaurants. Ricki made a right on Tulane Avenue, followed by two more right turns that placed them in front of what was once Charity Hospital, rendered uninhabitable after Hurricane Katrina and now on the cusp of a new life as Tulane University’s new downtown medical school. Scaffolding covered the center of the massive twenty-story edifice, but even at the tail end of twilight much of the building’s 1930s structure was still evident and impressive despite years of decay.
Josepha stared out the car window, her expression unreadable. “Why are we here?”
“You haven’t been to New Orleans in so long. I thought maybe seeing Charity again might bring back memories.”
“About your bio mom.”
Ricki nodded. Josepha clasped her hand and held it tight as she continued to stare out the window. She and Luis had been nothing but supportive in Ricki’s quest for answers about her past but Ricki sensed her mother’s pain as she took in the abandoned monolith where she’d once pursued a career she loved.
The two were silent for several minutes. “I wish I could remember something that would help,” Josepha finally said in a husky voice. “All I keep seeing is your tiny body in the NICU and how my heart broke for you and how that turned into burning, all-consuming passion to be your mama.”
“Oooh . . .” Ricki fought back tears. “I’m sorry, Mom. I shouldn’t have brought you here.”
“Nothing to be sorry about, baby girl.” Josepha gave Ricki’s hand another squeeze then released it. “I’m glad to see the old place and know it’s gonna be brought back to do good things in this city. Hey, we’re not too far from Mother’s restaurant here. I could go for one of their oyster po’boys.”
“Let’s do it,” Ricki said, knowing a change of subject when she heard one.
Ricki circled back to Tulane Avenue. As they drove, Josepha cheerfully recalled memories inspired by locations they passed. Ricki noted that none involved Charity or her experiences as a nurse. Ricki mused that perhaps it was too painful for Josepha to recall that time in her life. But another thought loomed larger: Josepha was hiding something.
And what she was hiding was tied to Ricki’s birth.
***
Excerpt from Crescent City Christmas Chaos by Ellen Byron. Copyright 2025 by Ellen Byron. Reproduced with permission from Ellen Byron. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
Ellen Byron is a USA Today bestselling author and recipient of multiple Agatha (Best Contemporary Novel) and Lefty (Best Humorous Mystery) awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries (published by Crooked Lane), Vintage Cookbook Mysteries (Berkley and Severn House), Catering Hall Mysteries (Kensington, as Maria DiRico) and Golden Motel Mysteries (Kensington). She is also an Anthony Award nominee and an award-winning playwright.
Byron spent twenty-five years writing TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents, plus pilots for all the major networks, before segueing into writing humorous mysteries. She blogs with Chicks on the Case, is a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America, and serves on the national board of Mystery Writers of America. But she’ll always consider her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for the iconic Martha Stewart.
A native New Yorker, Byron is a graduate of Tulane University and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, daughter, and a rotating crew of rescue pups.
This holiday season in the Big Easy is anything but easy!
When Virgil surprises Ricki by hiring her father out of
retirement as the cameraman for his upcoming cooking show special, she’s
ecstatic to be reunited with her adoptive parents for the holidays, and as they’ll
all be busy with the show and working at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum,
they’ve planned their visit to extend into the New Year. Ricki wants to take
the opportunity to pick her mother’s brain about her memories of Ricki’s first
days, when she was left at Charity Hospital as a newborn by her teenage birth
mom. Josepha had always been supportive of Ricki’s quest to learn more about
her birth parents, but this time, she’s uncharacteristically vague and resistant
to delving into the past, especially when Ricki stumbles across the name of one
of Josepha’s former coworkers who worked in the Records Department at that
time. Tracking the older woman down proves simple, but Ricki gets creepy vibes
from her the minute she mentions her mother is in town, and terminates the
visit before asking about her memories of the teenager who gave her up for
adoption. However, when the woman is found dead in her home under suspicious circumstances
the next day, Ricki and her parents become prime suspects in her death.
Crescent City Christmas Chaos is the fourth book in
author Ellen Byron’s intriguing New Orleans-set Vintage Cookbook Mystery
series, and features vintage shop owner Miracle “Ricki” Fleur de Lis James-Diaz
and her friends, family, and coworkers at the city’s beautiful Bon Vee Culinary
House Museum. Ricki has established a unique and successful small business that
she loves and has embarked on a lovely new romance with celebrity chef and neighbor
Virgil Morel. Their relationship is still in the early stages, and Ricki is
quite taken with Virgil’s innate goodness, especially after her past romantic experiences.
They really fit well as a couple, as do her adoptive parents, Josepha and Luis
James-Diaz, who met, married, and relocated to Los Angeles when Ricki was small.
While the main plot follows Ricki’s well-done personal
investigation into Phyllis Gibbs’s death, some interesting subplots vie for
attention, including Virgil’s cooking special, the Bon Vee staff’s cookbook project,
and Theo Charbonnet’s curiously secretive activities. Ricki’s search for her birth
parents has been a theme running through the series since the beginning, and
little pieces of the puzzle have been revealed in each successive mystery. This
book does not disappoint.
With its crush of great subplots involving a plethora of engaging
recurring characters, I recommend CRESCENT CITY CHRISTMAS CHAOS to cozy mystery
readers, especially those who’ve read the previous novels in the series and
those who enjoy a New Orleans setting or adoption theme.
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Murder mystery cleverly mirrors many aspects of THE GREAT GATSBY.
Murder by the Millions is the second book in author Daryl Wood Gerber's unique Literary Dining Mystery series, and with its welcome returning characters, new faces, and a myriad of parallels with the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic, THE GREAT GATSBY, it is a stellar new addition. From contentious business rivalries to disappointments in love to the scrumptious mentions of baked treats and well-researched historical recipes, this book has a little something for every fringe of cozy mystery fandom.
Allie Catt and her two business partners, half-sisters Tegan Potts and Vanna Harding, are well along in their plans and preparation for their next big literary dinner, this time based on The Great Gatsby, when a newcomer to town, handsome developer Jason Gardner, swans into town, upsetting a whole swath of the folks of Bamblewood, North Carolina. Jason had bid on and been awarded the purchase of a row of four historic homes along the far end of Main Street with the intention of demolishing them and building a shopping mall in their place. While the town council is slated to approve his plans, many others, including Allie, are vocal in their opposition. Still, she wants to maintain an open mind, especially after spending some time with him as he explained his vision. But later, when Allie discovers Jason stabbed in the back with a spearpoint like one from her own collection, she becomes the police department's prime suspect. Someone is trying to frame Allie, and they have gone to great lengths to do a good job.
Allie is the busiest young entrepreneur in town, with her catering business growing in leaps and bounds and her daily work at her best friend Tegan's bookstore, where she has a small financial interest. She is also finally finding some personal time to socialize and enjoy the perks of having an entire bookstore at her disposal. Her relationship with Police Detective Zach Armstrong seems to have permanently veered into the friend zone, and his assignment as the lead detective on the murder investigation isn't going to improve it. She's driven and energetic, so despite being warned off, she takes a hands-on approach to clearing her name.
Many of the residents of the small town frequent the bookstore daily, so it was fun reading all the book titles and author names discussed over the course of the book as they come in for their next read. However, I've never encountered such widespread enthusiasm, nor such a deep understanding of The Great Gatsby's themes, or even knowledge of the plot as it's depicted in the book, in real life. Everyone LOVED it. But after reading about the literary dinner and dress-up —the culmination of all their plans, preparation, and anticipation —I could understand why the patrons there studied up before participating; it sounded amazing. I especially enjoyed the numerous parallels between the murder victim, Jason Gardner, his life and circumstances, and the fictional Jay Gatsby.
The murder occurs after the victim's relationships with many of the townspeople have been vividly established, which results in plenty of potential suspects for Allie to check out and eliminate from her list. There are some really good red herrings to distract her and readers from pinpointing the actual perpetrator too soon, and of course, there are some awkward as well as perilous encounters on the way to the final resolution. I enjoy these characters, with their quirks and, sometimes, fractious, messy relationships, a lot, and was well entertained from start to finish.
I recommend MURDER BY THE MILLIONS to cozy mystery readers, especially those who enjoy literary-themed storylines.
I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.
A delightful start to this new cozy mystery series featuring books and baked goods.
Murder on the Page is the first novel in author Daryl Wood Gerber’s new Literary Dining Mystery series and features books, baked goods, and best friends trying to solve a murder. Engaging characters experiencing real dramas and traumas, and the tragic murder of a beloved relative, had me invested in finding out who was responsible from the very start.
The main character, Allie Catt, is smart, talented, and cool under pressure, which is a good thing because she is presented with a lot of opportunities to prove it when her best friend Tegan’s beloved aunt is murdered inside her bookstore. I loved Allie’s energy and determination, which she attributes to her literary role models and her genuine desire to help, especially when law enforcement is eyeing the wrong person as their number one suspect. She’s set on uncovering the truth behind the murder, even though it may hijack a potential romantic relationship that is slowly forming.
I enjoyed the author’s comfy world-building of the small town of Bramblewood, North Carolina, and I liked that a map of the town was included. In the opening alone, the description of the downpour and wet, slick sidewalks had me imagining the chill and dampness. So, too, were the descriptions of the various confections Gabby prepared, so tantalizing that I mentally inventoried the contents of my kitchen and came up disappointed. The author kindly includes a number of recipes, including gluten-free alternatives, at the end of the book.
The plot moves quickly, with the death occurring early in the story. From there, it is a treat of interestingly appropriate Pride and Prejudice quotations, literary figures, and famed titles, along with tasty baked goods, as Allie and Tegan work to clear the names of the innocent and find the real killer. Allie does so much and is such an engaging character; I look forward to the next installment in the series.
I recommend MURDER ON THE PAGE to cozy mystery readers, especially those who enjoy a literary or culinary-themed story.
I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.
Birds, Puppies, and Murder (Chocolate Martini Sisters Mystery) Cozy Mystery 4th in Series Setting - Arizona Publisher: Independently Published Publication date: September 23, 2025 Print length: 327 pages ISBN-13: 979-8294753788 Digital ASIN: B0FK3P31T5
Lost puppies, endangered birds… The sisters are birddogs on a murder most fowl.
The sisters are thriving like mountain sage in an Arizona autumn. Nicole’s yoga business is gaining a foothold in Wyatt. Emma’s first mystery novel is scheduled for release. But a proposed, expansive building project in the pristine area of the bird sanctuary has the community in an uproar. It’s Environmentalists versus Big Business, and the sisters are caught in the crossfire.
When one of Nic’s yoga students is found dead near the planned resort, the amateur sleuths are back on the trail of a killer. Who has the most to gain from her death—the morally challenged developer, the money-grubbing boyfriend, her jealous brother, a nasty neighbor, or a co-worker with dark secrets? And where has Skittles, the dog, gone?
While the Chocolate Martini Sisters sort through the litany of villains, they’re leaving no mystery unsolved. The stakes are escalating, throwing the sisters on divergent paths that all come together at a dangerous intersection. As they unsnarl the tangled mysteries, will they expose the murderer before the killer finds a way to silence them?
After hearing countless stories as a mental health professional, Joyce Proell retired to create her own tales. An award-winning author, she writes historical romance and cozy mystery where all endings are guaranteed happy. She shares her home on the prairie with a husband and a little dog with a big personality. When she isn’t reading or writing, she likes to swim and finds baking almost as relaxing as a day at the spa.
Brenda Whiteside is the award-winning author of romantic suspense, cozy mystery, and romance. She’s a born and bred Arizona native who sets fictional stories in imaginary, but recognizable, Arizona locations. She and her husband live in Central Arizona. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW fishes, Brenda writes.
Birds, Puppies, and Murder is the fourth book in
coauthors Joyce Proell’s and Brenda Whiteside’s fun and highly addictive cozy Chocolate
Martini Sisters Mystery series, and despite an alteration to the sisters’ birthday
plans at the local historic inn, murder still finds its way to Wyatt, Arizona.
When Emma and their visiting Aunt Lydia discover one of the clients at Namaste,
Nicole’s new yoga studio, murdered and hidden behind a public park restroom, the sisters
quickly jump into action to ensure there is justice for their friend.
The sisters, Emma Banefield and Nicole Earp, are their
delightful selves, and there are a few recurring characters to catch up with.
Told from the dual points of view of Emma and Nic, the clever story unfolds
without laying waste to the previous books, so new readers will be able to slip
right into the series without spoiling the earlier adventures. The plot moves
swiftly, without downtime slowing things up, and there are plenty of possible
suspects to consider for the young woman’s killer. The sisters’ Aunt Lydia, in
town for a visit, is a fun addition to the mix, and I enjoyed her spunky personality
and seemingly effortless ability to produce the perfect quote from literature
or theater to fit the conclusion of her scenes.
I recommend BIRDS, PUPPIES, AND MURDER to readers of cozy
mysteries, especially fans of the previous books in the series.
Fried Chicken Castañeda by Suzanne Stauffer
