Founding Member
Ellen Byron is embarrassed to admit that she began her career as an actress. Since her main competition for roles was the way-more-talented Holly Hunter, she found herself with a lot of free time and began writing. In addition to working on sitcoms, she authors the USA Today bestselling Cajun Country Mystery series, the Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico), and the upcoming Vintage Cookbook Mysteries. Mardi Gras Murder won the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. A Cajun Christmas Killing, Body on the Bayou, and Mardi Gras Murder all won the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery and were nominated for Agatha Awards. She’s the recipient of a William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant, awarded by the Malice Domestic Conference, and will be the 2023 Toastmaster at Left Coast Crime.
Ellen’s first play, Graceland, appears in the Best Short Plays collection, and is published by Dramatists Play Service along with its companion piece, Asleep on the Wind. She’s been a writer-producer for hit series like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents, and has written pilots for both broadcast and cable networks. Ellen also maintains a career as a freelance journalist, with over 200 articles published in national magazines. In addition, she worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. Have an early edition of Entertaining? You’ll find Ellen in there, standing right next to Martha.
A native New Yorker, Ellen attended Tulane University, where she developed her obsession with Cajun culture. A lover of rain, she currently lives in bone-dry Los Angeles with her husband, teen daughter, and a very spoiled rescue dog. Her daughter insists that if Ellen was given the choice of pulling her or the dogs from a burning building, she’d opt for the dogs. Ellen would like to believe that isn’t true.
Ellen is represented by Doug Grad at the Doug Grad Literary Agency. Learn more about Ellen at ellenbyron.com and mariadirico.com.
The Golden Motel Mysteries
A Very Woodsy Murder (Book 1)
New motel owner Dee Stern has checked out of the familiar comforts in the San Fernando Valley and checked in to the quaint village of Foundgold. Running a rustic getaway in the woods sure beats LA traffic—until murder ruins the peace and quiet . . .
Down-on-her-luck sitcom writer Dee Stern is flipping the script. Twice divorced and wasting her talents on an obnoxious kids’ show, the lifelong Angeleno embraces the urge to jump in her car and keep driving. It’s a road trip with no destination—until she pulls into a mid-century motel filled with cobwebs and retro charm. Nestled in the shadow of a national park, it’s a time capsule of a place that, like her, could use some work. So, in the most impulsive move of her life, Dee teams up with best friend, Jeff Cornetta—who happens to be her first ex-husband—to transform the aging ranch into the Golden Motel-of-the-Mountains, a hiker’s oasis on the edge of the wilderness . . .
But Dee and Jeff soon realize there couldn’t be two people more unprepared for the hospitality business. There’s also the panic-inducing reality of prowling bears and a general store as the only shopping spot for miles. Living and working in the middle of nowhere takes some getting used to—especially when a disrespectful guest ends up murdered! Now, with the motel duo topping the suspect list, Dee must steer clear of a meddling park ranger, face her past in show biz, and determine if the killer is a local or tourist. Because as she quickly finds out, there are many things worse than a one-star review.
- Nominee, Lefty Award, Best Humorous Mystery
The Vintage Cookbook Mysteries
Bayou Book Thief (Book 1)
Berkley
A fantastic new cozy mystery series with a vintage flair 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 dream comes true when she joins the quirky staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the spectacular former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve “Vee” Charbonnet, the city’s legendary restauranteur. Ricki is excited about turning her avocation – collecting vintage cookbooks – into a vocation by launching the museum’s gift shop, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware. Then she discovers that a box of donated vintage cookbooks contains the body of a cantankerous Bon Vee employee who was fired after being exposed as a book thief.
The skills Ricky has developed ferreting out hidden vintage treasures come in handy for investigations. But both her business and Bon Vee could wind up as deadstock when Ricki’s past as curator of a billionaire’s first edition collection comes back to haunt her.
Will Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware be a success … or a recipe for disaster?
- Winner, Lefty Award, Best Humorous Mystery
Wined and Died in New Orleans (Book 2)
There’s a storm brewing in New Orleans. And at Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, former home of late restauranteur Genevieve Charbonnet.
It’s hurricane season in The Big Easy, which is making shopkeeper Ricki James-Diaz feel very uneasy. She’s gotten used to the flash floods produced by the city’s sudden downpours, but hurricanes are another story. She’s never been through one and she’s scared.
Against this backdrop, there’s a fascinating development at Bon Vee. A handyman replacing rotting wood unearths a cache of well-preserved Madeira wine buried over one hundred and fifty years earlier by the home’s builder and family founder, Jean-Louis Charbonnet. An auction of the valuable wine could raise much-needed funds for Bon Vee, and the staff celebrates —until distant relatives suddenly appear, all demanding a cut of the proceeds. When the family drama culminates in murder, Eugenia, who had the most to gain by ridding Bon Vee of an interloper, is NOPD’s prime suspect. The threat to her mentor propels Ricki to search for the real killer, until a shocking discovery about her birth family sends the shopkeeper reeling.
French Quarter Fright Night (Book 3)
The third in the fabulous cozy series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha award-winning author Ellen Byron.
Welcome to the Bon Veeevil Festival of Fear! Prepare for the spookiest night of your life… It’s Halloween in New Orleans, and the staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum has set up a fantastic haunted house tour for their visitors. But when flashy movie star Blaine Taggart and his entourage move into the mansion next door, gift shop proprietor Ricki James-Diaz gets a fright of her own.
While Ricki is excited about the potential business the tours will bring to her vintage cookbook shop, she’s less thrilled by former friend Blaine’s arrival in town. Then Bon Vee’s prop tomb becomes a real tomb for Blaine’s nasty assistant, and suddenly everyone at Bon Vee is a murder suspect. There isn’t a ghost of a chance one of them committed the crime, but with NOPD busy tackling the mischief and mayhem generated by the spooky holiday, it falls on Ricki and her friends to catch the killer.
As the Big Easy gears up for the Big Scary, it seems everyone has skeletons in their closets. Can Ricki reveal the shadowy killer before someone else becomes part of the Halloween horror show?
The Catering Hall Mysteries
(as Maria DiRico)
Here Comes the Body (Book 1)
Kensington
After her philandering husband’s boat went down, newly single Mia Carina went back to Astoria, the bustling Queens neighborhood of her youth. Living with her nonna and her oversized cat, Doorstop, she’s got a whole new life—including some amateur sleuthing . . .
Mia is starting work at Belle View, her father’s catering hall, a popular spot for weddings, office parties, and more—despite the planes that occasionally roar overhead on their way to LaGuardia and rattle the crystal chandelier. Soon she’s planning a bachelor party for a less-than-gentlemanly groom. But it goes awry when the gigantic cake is wheeled in and a deadly surprise is revealed . . .
Since some of her family’s associates are on the shady side, the NYPD wastes no time in casting suspicion on Mia’s father. Now, Mia’s going to have to use all her street smarts to keep him out of Rikers Island . . .
“Mamma mia! What a nifty story. This endearing new heroine has a lot on her plate—all of it delicious fun!” – Laura Levine, author of Death of a Gigolo
Long Island Iced Tina (Book 2)
Kensington
Mia Carina is back in the borough of Queens—in charge of the family catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor, and keeping her nonna company. But some events—like murder—are not the kind you can schedule . . .
Mia’s newly pregnant friend Nicole plans to hold a shower at Belle View—but Nicole also has to attend one that her competitive (and mysteriously rich) stepmother, Tina, is throwing at the fanciest place in Queens. It’s a good chance for Mia to snoop on a competitor, especially since doing a search for “how to run a catering hall” can get you only so far.
Mia tags along at the lavish party, but the ambience suffers at Nicole’s Belle View shower when a fight breaks out—and then, oddly, a long-missing and valuable stolen painting is unwrapped by the mom-to-be. Tina is clearly shocked to see it. But not as shocked as Mia is when, soon afterward, she spots the lifeless body of a party guest floating in the marina . . .
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder (Book 3)
Kensington
Astoria, Queens, is decorated within an inch of its life for the Christmas season, and Mia Carina is juggling her job at the Belle View catering hall with a case of murder . . .
Mia’s busy with a full schedule of events at the family business—among them an over-the-top Nativity-themed first birthday party and a Sweet Sixteen for a teen drama queen. But her personal life is even more challenging. Her estranged mother has returned—and her lifelong friend Jamie has discovered a shocking secret about his past. He’s so angry that he starts hanging out with Lorenzo, who claims to be his long-lost brother—even after it becomes clear that Lorenzo’s story is as fake as a plastic Christmas tree.
Then a body turns up among the elves in a Santa’s-workshop lawn display, and amateur sleuth Mia has a buffet of suspects to choose from. Amid the holiday celebrations, she intends to find out who’s the guilty party . . .
Four Parties and a Funeral (Book 4)
In this fresh and witty cozy mystery series set amid an extended Italian-American family in Astoria, Queens, catering hall owner and amateur sleuth Mia Carina must solve a murder on the set of a reality show.
The June events schedule at Belle View is busting out all over—proms, graduations, and of course, weddings. There are unexpected bookings too, including a casting call for the pilot of Dons of Ditmars Boulevard. But soon, Mia’s fears about the cheesy reality show are confirmed . . .
Belle View quickly becomes the site of a sea of wanna-be goombahs and phony girlfriends, and some of Mia’s friends insist on getting in on the action. The production company owner and his executive producer ex-wife—who’s also very minor British royalty—have assembled a motley crew that does as much infighting and backstabbing as the on-screen “talent.” Even so, it’s a shock when a dead body is found in the pool house of a local mansion rented by the show . . .
Murder might boost the ratings. But Mia intends to make sure the killer gets jail time, not airtime . . .
The Witless Protection Program (Book 5)
Mia Carina has steered her Italian-American family’s Astoria, Queens, catering hall, Belle View Banquet Manor, into becoming the borough’s premiere party site, and nothing could make her happier—except her boyfriend proposing. There’s just one presumed-dead obstacle in the way . . .
A strong, independent woman and respected entrepreneur, Mia never imagined she’d pine for a marriage proposal. Yet lately, with her beloved Shane, she’s on tenterhooks. It’s especially surprising, considering Mia’s first husband, Adam, was a philandering grifter, assumed lost-at-sea after a boating disaster. But everyone knows what happens when you assume . . .
While working a huge wedding expo in Manhattan, Mia is shocked to spot the man who nearly destroyed her life. The one who’s supposed to be sleeping with the fishes. But she loses him in the crowd. And when it happens again the next day, it’s time for an emergency meeting with the family—and the Family. Because if Adam is alive, Mia is still married . . .
Everyone wants Adam dead. Everyone except Mia. She’s dealt with enough police for a lifetime. Mia needs to be a divorcée, not a widow. But someone out there disagrees, and if Mia doesn’t discover who, she may never be free to marry Shane—or anyone else . . .
The Cajun Country Mysteries
Plantation Shudders (Book 1)
Crooked Lane Books
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 her family 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.
- Agatha Award nominee, Best First Novel
- Lefty Award nominee, Best Humorous Mystery
- Daphne du Maurier Award nominee, Best Mainstream Mystery
“Byron’s debut brings energy and verve to the cozy.” – Publishers Weekly
Body on the Bayou (Book 2)
Crooked Lane Books
The Crozats feared that past murders at Crozat Plantation B&B might spell the death of their beloved estate, but they’ve managed to survive the scandal. Now there’s a très bigger story in Pelican, Louisiana: the upcoming nuptials between Maggie Crozat’s nemesis, Police Chief Rufus Durand, and her co-worker, Vanessa Fleer.
When everyone else refuses the job of being Vanessa’s Maid of Honor, Maggie reluctantly takes up the title and finds herself tasked with a long list of duties–the most important of which is entertaining Vanessa’s cousin, Ginger Fleer-Starke. But just days before the wedding, Ginger’s lifeless body is found on the bayou and the Pelican PD, as well as the Crozats, have another murder mystery on their hands.
There’s a gumbo-potful of suspects, including an ex-Marine with PTSD, an annoying local newspaper reporter, and Vanessa’s own spark plug of a mother. But when it looks like the investigation is zeroing in on Vanessa as the prime suspect, Maggie reluctantly adds keeping the bride-to-be out of jail to her list of Maid of Honor responsibilities in Body on the Bayou, Ellen Byron’s funny and engaging follow up to her critically acclaimed novel Plantation Shudders.
- Agatha Award nominee, Best Contemporary Novel
- Lefty Award winner, Best Humorous Mystery
“A tight plot, an appealing setting, and a smart, good-hearted protagonist with a caring, supportive family and lots of friends give this story everything cozy readers could want.” – Publishers Weekly
A Cajun Christmas Killing (Book 3)
Crooked Lane Books
Christmas in Cajun Country is magical. Elaborate decorations adorn homes and businesses, and Pelican residents come together for a raucous Christmas Eve festival featuring giant bonfires on the levee that light the way up the river for Papa Noël. But this year, there’s coal in the stockings at Crozat Plantation B&B. Someone is flooding travel websites with vicious negative reviews of the B&B. The culprit may be one of the Crozats’ own holiday guests, among which is Don Baxter, a nasty businessman who’s an innkeeper’s worst nightmare.
When Baxter is found stabbed to death at Doucet Plantation, where heroine Maggie Crozat works part-time, she and her entire family are considered suspects. They establish alibis, but her boyfriend, Detective Bo Durand, also a suspect, remains under suspicion. With Bo sidelined during the investigation, Maggie finds herself with an unlikely ally, longtime family enemy Rufus Durand. Her sleuthing uncovers a viper’s nests of dysfunctional family dynamics, and puts her in the crosshairs of a murderer. She and Rufus must track down Don Baxter’s killer, or it will be the opposite of a Joyeux Noël for those at Crozat Plantation Bed & Breakfast.
- Agatha Award nominee, Best Contemporary Novel
- Lefty Award winner, Best Humorous Mystery
“Superb… there’s no end to the mischief and mayhem in this exceptional cozy.” – Publishers Weekly Starred Review.
Mardi Gras Murder (Book 4)
Crooked Lane Books
It’s Mardi Gras season on the bayou, which means parades, pageantry, and gumbo galore. But when a flood upends life in the tiny town of Pelican, Louisiana—and deposits a body of a stranger behind the Crozat Plantation B&B—the celebration takes a decidedly dark turn. The citizens of Pelican are ready to Laissez les bon temps rouler—but there’s beaucoup bad blood on hand this Mardi Gras.
Maggie Crozat is determined to give the stranger a name and find out why he was murdered. The post-flood recovery has delayed the opening of a controversial exhibit about the little-known Louisiana Orphan Train. And when a judge for the Miss Pelican Mardi Gras Gumbo Queen pageant is shot, Maggie’s convinced the murder is connected to the body on the bayou. Does someone covet the pageant queen crown enough to kill for it? Could the deaths be related to the Orphan Train, which delivered its last charges to Louisiana in 1929? The leads are thin on this Fat Tuesday—and until the killer is unmasked, no one in Pelican is safe.
- Agatha Award winner, Best Contemporary Novel
- Lefty Award nominee, Best Humorous Mystery
“Superior… Well-rounded characters, a fair-play plot, entertaining repartee, as well as dashes of Cajun lore and Louisiana history make this cozy a winner.” – Publishers Weekly
Fatal Cajun Festival (Book 5)
Crooked Lane Books
Grab your tickets for Cajun Country Live!, Pelican, Louisiana’s 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.
- Agatha Award nominee, Best Contemporary Novel
- Lefty Award nominee, Best Humorous Mystery
“Byron’s witty fifth Cajun Country Mystery… supplies a few nasty characters readers can love to hate, along with a joyous dollop of Cajun lore. Cozy fans will enjoy returning to Pelican and dropping in on the Crozat clan.” – Publishers Weekly
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard (Book 6)
Crooked Lane Books
Maggie Crozat has the Halloween heebie-jeebies in USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Ellen Byron’s howlingly funny sixth Cajun Country mystery.
Maggie Crozat, proprietor of a historic Cajun Country B&B, prefers to let the good times roll. But hard times rock her hostelry when a new cell phone app makes it easy for locals to rent their spare rooms to tourists. With October–and Halloween–approaching, she conjures up a witch-crafty marketing scheme to draw visitors to Pelican, Louisiana.
Five local plantation B&Bs host “Pelican’s Spooky Past” packages, featuring regional crafts, unique menus, and a pet costume parade. Topping it off, the derelict Dupois cemetery is the suitably sepulchral setting for the spine-chilling play Resurrection of a Spirit. But all the witchcraft has inevitably conjured something: her B&B guests are being terrified out of town by sightings of the legendary rougarou, a cross between a werewolf and vampire.
When, in the Dupois cemetery, someone costumed as a rougarou stumbles onstage during the play–and promptly gives up the ghost, the rougarou mask having been poisoned with strychnine, Maggie is on the case. But as more murders stack up, Maggie fears that Pelican’s spooky past has nothing on its bloodcurdling present.
Cajun Kiss of Death (Book 7)
Crooked Lane Books
The next shot from Cupid’s bow may be fatal in USA Today bestselling, Agatha Award-winning author Ellen Byron’s hearty and delightful seventh Cajun Country mystery.
In Pelican, Louisiana, Valentine’s Day has a way of warming the heart, despite the February chill. But the air at Crozat Plantation B&B turns decidedly frigid when celebrity chef Phillippe Chanson checks in. And when the arrogant Phillippe–in town to open his newest Cajun-themed restaurant–perishes in a fiery boat crash, Maggie Crozat’s dear friend JJ lands in very cold water.
Did JJ, proprietor of Junie’s Oyster Bar and Dance Hall, murder Phillippe because he feared the competition? Might Maggie’s mother, Ninette, have bumped off the chef for stealing one of her cherished recipes? Or was the culprit a local seafood vendor, miffed because Phillippe was somehow able to sell oysters for a remarkably reasonable price, despite an oyster shortage?
Maggie had planned to devote her February to art lessons in New Orleans, a present from her sweetheart, Bo. But now she has to focus on helping her friend and her mother cross a murder charge off the menu. Meanwhile, Maggie receives a series of anonymous gifts that begin as charming but grow increasingly disturbing. Does Maggie have an admirer–or a stalker? And are these mysterious gifts somehow related to Phillippe’s murder?
Blood may be thicker than water, but this case is thicker than gumbo. And solving it will determine whether Maggie gets hearts and roses–or hearse and lilies–this Valentine’s Day.
- Lefty Award nominee, Best Humorous Mystery
“Diane Mott Davidson and Lou Jane Temple fans will line up for this series.” – The Library Journal
“Brilliant… Ellen Byron has written a delectable Cajun cozy mystery that is one of the best books I have read in a long time!” – Night Owl Reviews, Top Pick
“’Plantation Shudders’ is a brilliant book that takes us to Louisiana, where there is an abundance of Southern hospitality, charm, legends, and fabulous food. Ellen Byron has written a delectable Cajun cozy mystery that is one of the best books I have read in a long time!” – Night Owl Suspense Top Picks
“An engaging mystery with a touch of romance and a twist of Southern charm.” – NYT Bestseller Nancy Atherton
“Grab a grisgris bag and dish out the jambalaya. You won’t want to miss Magnolia “Maggie” Crozat, a charming new heroine, and her crime-solving adventures in Louisiana Cajun Country.” – Connie Archer, author of A Soup Lover’s Mystery Series
Available in bookstores and online:
Ellen Byron: Bookshop | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Books A Million | PRH
Maria DiRico: Bookshop | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Books A Million
Chicks on the Case 