Bayou Book Thief - (A Vintage Cookbook Mystery) by Ellen Byron (Paperback)
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13 June, 2022
Stealing Books Should be Punished, but Maybe Not by Death
Ricki James-Diaz is looking to start over in New Orleans, and her interest in opening a vintage cookbook store is a perfect match for the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum. As she gets to know her new coworkers, she quickly realizes just how much of a grump Franklin Finbloch is. Still, the man isn’t fired until he is caught trying to steal from Ricki’s new gift shop. Then his body turns up in what Ricki thought was a trunk of books donated to Bon Vee. With the suspicion falling on people Ricki was beginning to consider friends, she jumps in to figure out what really happened. Will she solve the case? As is often the case with a series debut, the beginning was a little slow as it set up the premise of the series and began introducing us to the characters. The ending was a bit abrupt, although everything that happened did follow logically from what came before. And what came before? It was wonderful, with plenty of twists to keep me engaged. The sub-plots helped as well. Ricki has quite the interesting background, and I appreciated how it was doled out as we needed it. Being a series debut, the potential series regulars also serve as suspects, and that made me care about the outcome that much more. Naturally, there are recipes at the end, but in a twist that fits this book, all six are from vintage cookbooks. This is a fun series debut. I’m already looking forward to revisiting Ricki again in a few months.
4 out of 5 stars
10 June, 2022
Finer than a frog hair split four ways!
Bayou Book Thief contains Ellen Byron’s fun writing style. She provides us with quirky characters and plenty of Southern charm. I enjoyed the descriptions of New Orleans, the vintage cookware, and the cookbooks. There is humor sprinkled throughout the story that will have readers chuckling. The whodunit was entertaining. No one was sad to see Franklin end up dead in a trunk. The man was not liked. The more Ricki learns about the man, the more she can see why someone murdered him (just surprised it did not happen sooner). Detective Nina Rodriguez is nice and accepts information from Ricki. She does give her a warning about sleuthing on her own. There are clues to help readers solve the mystery before the reveal. I enjoyed the takedown scene (it will have you laughing). There is a secondary mystery involving an air conditioning repairman. I do not know how Ricki put up with the heat and humidity. I would have gone out and purchased a window unit rather than a swamp cooler. Southern heat along with the humidity can be brutal. There is a large cast of characters so it can be difficult to keep them all straight. It will get easier as the series progresses. There are delectable food descriptions that will have you craving a po’ boy, beignets, and shrimp etouffee. I loved the ending. It has me eager for the next A Vintage Cookbook Mystery. There are recipes at the end of the book as well as a preview of Wined and Died in New Orleans. Bayou Book Thief is finer than a frog hair split four ways with a man who is as useless as a screen door on a submarine, a bounty of books, a vile victim, a diligent detective, an artful air conditioning repairman, warm weather, and a riled Ricki.