Ellen Bryon’s new series is set in the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the “former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve ‘Vee’ Charbonnet,” legendary New Orleans restauranteur. BAYOU BOOK THIEF blends the rich ambiance of New Orleans with an imaginatively conceived mystery.

Ricki James-Diaz returns to her birthplace and proposes to open Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware gift shop in the museum and receives quick approval from Bon Vee Foundation President Eugenia Charbonnet Felice. The shop proves to be an immediate success before a few distractions appear.

The museum uses a mix of volunteer docents and paid tour guides to lead groups through the museum. A youngster catches Franklin Finbloch, one of the guides, stealing a handful of cookbooks in the new shop and is quickly fired. Bon Vee staff member Cookie Yanover discovers Franklin’s dead body in an ‘alleged’ trunk of books donated by Franklin’s landlord. The trunk accompanies boxes of books that turn out to be stolen from libraries around the region when Rickie calls about to check on their origins. Police find plenty of suspects for Franklin’s murder, including his landlords – a couple who made off with Franklin’s valuable books, quickly selling them.

Another problem develops at the museum – interviews with more prospective tour guides are mysteriously canceled – leaving the facility short-staffed. Then, due to the steamy weather, Ricki finds herself camping out at the museum because her HVAC does not work, and she is on a waiting list for repairs at her apartment. And while investigating the many stolen books from Franklin’s stash, Ricki stumbles upon a fascinating series of erotica novels with recipes – Hungry for Love by I. M. Amour – written in the 1950s and now somewhat valuable. The identity of I. M Amour turns out to be Madame Noisette, a volunteer docent from a family “that can trace its lineage back to the original French settlers of New Orleans.” Speculation surfaces that blackmail is an issue.

In her captivating new series debut, BAYOU BOOK THIEF, Ms. Bryon orchestrates an intriguing story involving history and current activities to hold readers’ attention from the first page to a sneaky cliffhanger in the Epilogue. Vintage Cookbook Mysteries is a must-read with volume two eagerly awaited.

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