Review: Mardi Gras Murder

Title: Mardi Gras Murder
Series: Cajun Country Mystery #4
Author: Ellen Byron
Release Date: October 9th 2018
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Synopsis from Goodreads: It’s Mardi Gras season on the bayou, which means parades, pageantry, and gumbo galore. But when a flood upends life in the tiny town of Pelican, Louisiana—and deposits a body of a stranger behind the Crozat Plantation B&B—the celebration takes a decidedly dark turn. The citizens of Pelican are ready to Laissez les bon temps rouler—but there’s beaucoup bad blood on hand this Mardi Gras. Maggie Crozat is determined to give the stranger a name and find out why he was murdered. The post-flood recovery has delayed the opening of a controversial exhibit about the little-known Louisiana Orphan Train. And when a judge for the Miss Pelican Mardi Gras Gumbo Queen pageant is shot, Maggie’s convinced the murder is connected to the body on the bayou. Does someone covet the pageant queen crown enough to kill for it? Could the deaths be related to the Orphan Train, which delivered its last charges to Louisiana in 1929? The leads are thin on this Fat Tuesday—and until the killer is unmasked, no one in Pelican is safe.
My Review: Another fantastic addition to the series. This book was a really great read, from the silly antics of the extra characters, to the hidden painting and to the history of the families in the town of Pelican. I loved this cozy mystery. Maggie’s family and friends add such character to the book and are always making me laugh. I really enjoyed the added fun of the Mardi Gras festivities and the gumbo cooking contest that Tug is determined to win. There are a ton of characters in the book to keep track but it never felt like to many. The murder was a really interesting one with a historical aspect that I really enjoyed. There was also an added mystery of a painting hidden beneath another painting that I loved. I can’t wait to read more books in this series!
*I received this book from Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review*
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