by Ellen Byron
First published 2024
Ricki James-Diaz runs a vintage cookbook shop at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum in New Orleans. Halloween arrives with the promise of extra business from their haunted house tours during the Bon Veeevil Festival of Fear. Then flashy actor Blaine Taggart moves his film crew into the mansion next door. Ricki once called Blaine a friend, but his return to town brings complications she doesn't want. The festival takes a deadly turn when someone kills Blaine's unpleasant assistant and dumps the body in a prop tomb. The police have their hands full with Halloween chaos across the city. Ricki and her friends must track down the murderer themselves. Everyone connected to Bon Vee becomes a suspect, but Ricki knows her colleagues are innocent. She digs into the victim's past and discovers secrets that reach back years. The killer strikes close to home, and Ricki realizes someone wants to frame her museum family for murder.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, cozy-mystery
Vibes: atmospheric, community-focused, cozy, festive, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family, framing-plot, small-community-mystery
Setting: New Orleans, Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, French Quarter
Period: Halloween, Contemporary
256 pages · Paperback · Severn House
Content warnings: murder