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BAYOU BOOK THIEF, the first book in my new Vintage Cookbook Mysteries series, officially launches June 7, but is available for presale. I'm so excited about this new series. It incorporates several things I love - historic homes, the New Orleans Garden District, and my very own collection of vintage cookbooks. Isn't the cover beautiful?
Here's a synopsis of the series...
A new series from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author
Ellen Byron.
Twenty-eight-year-old widow Ricki James leaves Los Angeles to start a new life in New Orleans after her showboating actor husband perishes doing a stupid internet stunt. The Big Easy is where she was born and adopted by the NICU nurse who cared for her after Ricki’s teen mother disappeared from the hospital.
Ricki’s career dream comes true when she joins the quirky staff running Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the spectacular former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve “Vee” Charbonnet, one of the city’s most legendary restauranteurs. The mansion, built in 1867, has recently been opened to the public as an historical site. Ricki is excited about turning her avocation – collecting vintage cookbooks – into a vocation by launching the house museum’s gift shop, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware, where she’ll sell the cookbooks along with unique kitchenware. In her free time, she’ll hunt for the birth parents she never knew. But when murder bedevils the site, Ricki suddenly finds herself thrust into the role of amateur sleuth, putting to use the observational skills she’s developed ferreting out hidden vintage treasures.
Will Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware be a success… or given some of the Crescent City’s nefarious denizens, a recipe for disaster?
Each book will include recipes inspired by Ellen’s personal collection of Vintage Cookbooks.
Here are covers from some of the cookbooks that inspired recipes in BAYOU BOOK THIEF. I hope you enjoy the book - and the recipes!