Louisiana B&B owner Maggie Crozat kicks up her heels at a country music festival–but she’ll have one foot in the grave if she can’t bring the killer of a diva’s hanger-on to heel.
Grab your tickets for Cajun Country Live!, the pickers’ and crooners’ answer to the legendary New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Maggie Crozat, proprietor of the Crozat Plantation B&B, plans to be in the cheering section when her friend Gaynell Bourgeois takes the stage with her band, Gaynell and the Gator Girls.
The festival’s headliner, native daughter Tammy Barker, rocketed to stardom on a TV singing competition. She has the voice of an angel…and the personality of a devilish diva. But Maggie learns that this tiny terror carries a grudge against Gaynell. She’s already sabotaged the Gator Girls’ JazzFest audition. When a member of Tammy’s entourage is murdered at the festival, Tammy makes sure Gaynell is number one on the suspect list.
Gaynell has plenty of company on that list–including every one of Tammy’s musicians. Posing as a groupie, Maggie infiltrates Tammy’s band and will have to hit all the right notes to clear her friend’s name.
Release Date: Sep 10, 2019
Series: A Cajun Country Mystery
Book: 5
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Price: $12.99
Maggie Crozat and her fiancé, Bo Durand, put their wedding planning on hold to help Maggie’s grandmother plan a music festival to attract tourists to Pelican, Louisiana. Gran’s idea will help the whole town and has brought more business to their family’s hotel. The festival’s headliner, Tammy Barker, has booked all the rooms at Crozat Plantation Bed and Breakfast for her return to Pelican from Los Angeles. Many people in Pelican are thrilled to see their hometown hero again. However, one of Maggie’s best friends, Gaynell Bourgeois, doesn’t have such fond memories of Tammy, who bullied her in high school. A suspicious death at the musical festival puts Gaynell in the spotlight as the prime suspect, so it’s up to Maggie to prove her friend’s innocence.
Fatal Cajun Festival is the fifth book in the Cajun Country Mystery series, but the “Cast of Characters” at the beginning of the book makes it easy for new readers to catch up. I have read each of the prior books and have liked the main character, Maggie, from the very beginning. She has shown how devoted she is to her family time and time again, and this time, she shows how loyal she is to her friends. She not only stands behind Gaynell no matter how bad the situation looks for her, she actively looks for evidence to clear her friend’s name.
I like that even though Maggie investigates some things on her own, she regularly fills Bo in on the direction of her sleuthing so they can compare notes and to minimize the chances of putting herself in danger. Trouble still seems to find her, but she has Bo’s support and respect for Maggie’s contributions to the investigation. Some clues are given to the identity of the killer, but things gets fairly complicated so I didn’t begin to guess the truth. When everything is revealed at the end, I was very surprised. I really enjoyed the epilogue which sets up something wonderful that I assume will be the highlight of a future book. The descriptions throughout the story really transport the reader to Louisiana’s Cajun Country. The setting and the characters have made this a series in which I eagerly anticipate reading each new installment.
~ Christine