A MURDERER'S GUIDE TO MARDI GRAS

Her first Mardi Gras after her return to New Orleans is filled with surprises for Los Angeles transplant Ricki James-Diaz.

Although her cousin Olivia Felice is this year’s queen of the legendary Krewe of Gaia, Ricki’s chosen to ride with the more contemporary Krewe of Chew, whose members include chefs, cooks, waitstaff, and others who contribute to the city’s fabulous food scene. If running Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop at the Bon Vee historic mansion didn’t qualify Ricki for Chew membership, her romance with “cooking world hottie” Virgil Morel certainly would. Unfortunately, on their way home from Olivia’s Krewe of Gaia ball, Ricki and Virgil stumble across the body of Chew co-captain Jax Fortier. The police zero in on Jax’s widow, Jessica, as their main suspect. Knowing Ricki’s record of success solving murders, Jessica reaches out to her new friend for help. In the process, Ricki is ensnared in a web of crimes with deep roots in the past. Though her path to the truth is a bit convoluted for fans of clean, well-clued puzzles, that’s largely beside the point, for the main pleasure of this entry in Byron’s New Orleans–based series is its vivid description of Mardi Gras season in the Big Easy. Her lavish detail about Fat Tuesday customs and lore, from king cakes to costume design to the wild variety of “throws” krewe members lavish on the public as their floats make their way down the street to the construction of the floats themselves, gives readers an insiders’ view of the Crescent City’s best known but perhaps least understood traditions.

Byron lets the good times roll, and then some.