Book Review: Plantation Shudders by Ellen Byron

Cajun Country Mystery Book 1

USA TODAY BESTSELLER AGATHA AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST FIRST MYSTERY LEFTY AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST HUMOROUS MYSTERY DAPHNE DU MAURIER AWARD NOMINEE

Check in for some Southern hospitality in Plantation Shudders, the Cajun Country series debut from Ellen Byron.

It's the end of the summer and Prodigal Daughter Maggie Crozat has returned home to her family's plantation-turned-bed-and-breakfast in Louisiana. The Crozats have an inn full of guests for the local food festival--elderly honeymooners, the Cajun Cuties, a mysterious stranger from Texas, a couple of hipster lovebirds, and a trio of Georgia frat boys. But when the elderly couple keels over dead within minutes of each other--one from very unnatural causes-- Maggie and the others suddenly become suspects in a murder.

With the help of Bo Durand, the town's handsome new detective, Maggie must investigate to clear her name while holding the family business together at the same time. And the deeper she digs, the more she wonders: are all of the guests really there for a vacation or do they have ulterior motives? Decades-old secrets and stunning revelations abound in Ellen Byron's charming cozy debut, Plantation Shudders.

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My Review:

I stumbled across this series entirely by accident when I picked up a review copy of a book much further along in it. (Thank-you NetGalley.) This book was so much fun, I’m sorry it’s over already. The characters are wonderfully quirky and funny. Maggie and her family are so complex I can’t even begin to describe them in the short space of time I have in this review. The mysteries that surround them are layered and multifaceted. I was able to pick up some of the connections to clues, but at no point was I actually successful in outthinking the plot. I’m so excited to read more about the Crozat family and their special little corner of the world I read a borrowed copy of this book.