When widow Ricki James returns to New Orleans and opens a gift shop full of vintage cookbooks, the discovery of a body in a box of donated books leads her to investigate the murder.
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When widow Ricki James returns to New Orleans and opens a gift shop full of vintage cookbooks, the discovery of a body in a box of donated books leads her to investigate the murder.
Read Less
Add this copy of Bayou Book Thief (a Vintage Cookbook Mystery) to cart. $1.86, good condition, Sold by Goodwill rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brooklyn Park, MN, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Penguin Publishing Group.
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Add this copy of Bayou Book Thief to cart. $2.19, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Penguin Publishing Group.
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Add this copy of Bayou Book Thief (a Vintage Cookbook Mystery) to cart. $2.59, very good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Berkley.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Bayou Book Thief (a Vintage Cookbook Mystery) to cart. $2.92, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Berkley.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Bayou Book Thief (a Vintage Cookbook Mystery) to cart. $3.19, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Berkley.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Bayou Book Thief (a Vintage Cookbook Mystery) to cart. $3.19, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Berkley.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Born in New Orleans and abandoned immediately by her teenage mother Miracle "Ricki" Fleur di Lis James was adopted by the NICU nurse who took care of her. She now packs up her life in Los Angeles after her husband dies while trying to do an internet challenge and returns to New Orleans to start over.
That new start happens in a big way when she can combine her love for vintage cookbooks with her new job at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the home of the city's legendary restaurateur, Genevieve "Vee" Charbonnet. Ricki will be opening the museum's new gift shop, Miss Vee's Vintage Cookbooks, and Kitchenware.
After being open just a few days she discovers an employee of the museum is stealing books and they are fired for the crime.
Trying to put the matter behind her she is excited to learn she has received a steamer trunk and two oversize boxes of donated books. Worried about keeping the shop fully stocked the donation arrives at the perfect time. Ricki along with a couple of employees set out to sort through the donations before the museum opens but the trunk didnÃ?Æ'Ã?¢Ã?¢ââ?¬Å¡Ã?¬Ã?¢ââ?¬Å¾Ã?¢t contain any books. Inside was the very dead body of Franklin Finbloch . . . the recently fired . . . book thief.
Being a fan of Ellen Byron's Cajun County Mysteries I was sad to see that series end so I was ecstatic to learn of this new series again set in Louisiana.
Readers are introduced to a wonderful quirky cast of characters led by Miracle "Ricki" Fleur di Lis James who has a very interesting backstory that just starts to unfold within the pages of this story. She comes across already as a very strong protagonist with some great sleuthing skills.
We also meet several members of the staff at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum including Eugenia Charbonnet Felice who is the president of the Bon Vee Foundation Board. She oversees everything at the museum. She works hand in hand with the Executive Director, Lyla Brandt. We also meet Cookie Yanover, the Education Program Director. She and Ricki become fast friends. In fact, all of the employees for the most part get along very well and welcomed Ricki with open arms.
Away from the museum we meet Ricki's landlord, Kitty Kat Rousseau and she is a hoot. Ricki's AC has been out for days in the steamy New Orleans heat and Kitty is trying to get it fixed but Ricki believes something shady is going on.
Speaking of the heat, Ms. Byron's detailed descriptions will have you sticky and sweating, wait, this takes place in the south, perspiring and glistening, and turning on your own air conditioners. She also paints a clear picture of Miss Vee's Vintage Cookbooks, and Kitchenware and places in and around the museum including the staff's favorite hangout, the Bayou Backyard. It was easy to visualize every scene and this author does it without getting overly wordy.
The mystery that Ms. Byron put forth was plotted with intricate precision. It flitted in and out with varied subplots perfectly. Filled with clever twists and a red herring or two it wasn't hard to get completely engaged by everything happening in the story. I did find it hard to truly pin down the killer. I was astonished when the guilty party started to be revealed. The ending was exciting and a bit comical as Ricki gets some awesome assistance from an unlikely duo.
Bayou Book Thief has set this series off to an excellent start. Diverse characters, a fun location, and a puzzling mystery have me declaring this book A Perfect Escape. And the cliffhanger introduced in the Epilogue has me excited and intrigued about Ricki's future. Wined and Died in New Orleans is set to be released on February 7, 2023.
Kristina
Jun 10, 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.
