Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Book Tour



I'm so happy to be a stop on the blog tour for
MARDI GRAS MURDER
Book 4 in the Cajun Country Mysteries
by Ellen Byron


USA Today bestselling author Ellen Byron is back at it with fan-favorite plantation B&B owner Maggie Crozat in a fourth installment of the Cajun Country mysteries.

Southern charm meets the dark mystery of the bayou as a hundred-year flood, a malicious murder, and a most unusual Mardi Gras converge at the Crozat Plantation B&B.


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. 

A simmering gumbo of a humorous whodunit, Mardi Gras Murder is the fourth piquant installment in USA Today bestselling author Ellen Byron’s award-winning Cajun Country mysteries.


A GUEST POST FROM MAGNOLIA “MARIE” MAGGIE CROZAT OF THE CAJUN COUNTRY MYSTERIES

Hi! I’m Magnolia Marie Crozat, although everyone calls me Maggie. About a year ago, I moved from New York back to my hometown of Pelican, Louisiana – town motto, “Yes, We Peli-CAN!” – to help out at the family business, Crozat B and B. Crozat is a plantation that’s been in my dad’s family since it was built in the 1800s. I also work as a tour guide at Doucet Plantation, which belonged to my mother’s family but is now open to the public.

I’m an artist. Before I returned to Pelican, I was living in New York with my boyfriend. We ran an art gallery together. Chris and I had been together for years, but he was dragging his feet about progressing to what he called the “M word” – marriage. I gave him six months to decide whether or not he wanted to make the leap. He decided he did – but to someone else. That’s when I bailed on our relationship and our business and retreated to my tiny hometown between Plantation and Cajun Country.

I never imagined I’d end up back home, where an artistic type like me is a bit of a fish out of water. But I’m starting to see that maybe I was meant to be here. The local scenery, with its bayous and lush vegetation, is inspiring my paintings. I’ve also created a line of souvenirs featuring my less traditional illustrations of local plantations and historical sites. And… I have a boyfriend. Bo Durand, who moved to town around the same time I did. He’s a detective with Pelican PD, where his cousin Rufus is chief. Rufus Durand has carried on a grudge against my family that’s lasted for a hundred and fifty years. Seems one of my great-great-greats was engaged to one of his, who was caught cheating on her. The Durands believe my ancestor put a curse on his family dooming all their relationships. Of course, this relieves Rufus of any of his own responsibility for messed up romances. But he doesn’t see it that way.

Luckily, Bo thinks the whole curse thing is ridiculous, although he is divorced. Unlike Rufus, he owns up to his part in the breakup. He and his ex, Whitney, married right out of college and grew apart. They share custody of their seven-year-old son, Xander, a darling boy with Asperger’s Syndrome who happens to be an amazingly talented artist himself. I give him art lessons and watching him blossom as an artist and increasingly confident young boy has been one of the great joys of my life.

Now if we could just find a way to stop the murders that keep up-ending life in Pelican and our family business…

📚📖📚📖📚

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

Winner will be chosen after November 2.
at the end of the tour

1 lucky reader will win a hardcover copy of 
MARDI GRAS MURDER
and author swag!

USA only

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

This giveaway is through Great Escape Book Tours, not Lisa Ks Book Reviews.




Forget about New Orleans y’all. I want to go to Mardi Gras in Pelican and stay at the Crozat Plantation Bed and Breakfast!

Author Ellen Byron has penned another Cajun mystery delight. I was quickly pulled into MARDI GRAS MURDER, and held captivated until the last page.

This was a thrilling murder mystery combined with subplots that increases the depth of the story. Page after page, I hung on every word, and by the end of the book I was near breathless.

Mystery, humor, action, and wonderful recipes make MARDI GRAS MURDER a must read!

About the Author


Ellen Byron authors the Cajun Country Mystery series. A Cajun Christmas Killing and Body on the Bayou both won the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery and were nominated for Agatha awards in the category of Best Contemporary Novel. Plantation Shudders was nominated for Agatha, Lefty, and Daphne awards. Mardi Gras Murder launches October 9th. Ellen’s TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. She’s written over 200 national magazine articles, and her published plays include the award-winning Graceland. She also worked as a cater-waiter for the legendary Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing.

Author Links:
Purchase Links



TOUR PARTICIPANTS

October 20 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW, RECIPE
October 21 - The Power of Words – REVIEW
October 21 - Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 22 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
October 22 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST
October 23 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
October 23 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 24 – Lisa KS Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 24 – cherylbbookblog – SPOTLIGHT
October 25 – I Wish I Lived in a Library – REVIEW
October 25 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
October 26 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST
October 26 – Laura's Interests – REVIEW
October 27 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
October 27 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
October 28 – The Montana Bookaholic – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 29 – Mallory Heart's Cozies - REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 29 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT
October 30 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
October 30 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 31 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 31 – Varietats – SPOTLIGHT
November 1 - Island Confidential - REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
November 1 - Ruff Drafts – GUEST POST
November 2 - MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 2 - Handcrafted Reviews – SPOTLIGHT


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14 comments:

  1. Thank you for your review on "MARDI GRAS MURDER" by Ellen Byron and for being part of the book tour.

    Enjoyed reading the guest post from MAGNOLIA “MARIE” MAGGIE CROZAT. Can't wait to read this great sounding book. LOVE the cover!
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  2. Thanks, Lisa. I love the dog’s expression, on the cover! Happy Wednesday!

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  3. Great review I can't wait to read this I love the series
    Penney

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  4. Another book by Ellen Byron is always a treat - and just look at that cover.

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  5. Thank you for a great review on Mardi Gras Murder.

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  6. Lisa, thank you so much for a FABULOUS POST!! XOXOO

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  7. RENEE COLLINS HERE once again having to post anonymously as google is snubbing me again today! Absolutely and avidly look forward to each of Ellen Byron’s books!

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  8. Abso-tootin more fun than N'Orleans. And how timely with all the flooding in the US

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