Crescent City Christmas Chaos

Name: Crescent City Christmas Chaos
Brand: Tantor Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Ellen Byron
ISBN: 9798855576504

Author: Ellen Byron

Series: Vintage Cookbook Mystery

Narrator: Amy Melissa Bentley

Unabridged: 7 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/04/2025

Categories: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Amateur Sleuth, Ghost, Cozy, Cozy Culinary

Synopsis

It's Christmas. It's cozy. It's culinary. It's chaos! It's the fourth book in this fabulous mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron.

Have yourself a merry little . . . murder?

Ricki James-Diaz gets the best present ever when her parents arrive in New Orleans for the holidays. Not only is it a chance to catch up, it's also an opportunity to jog her mom Josepha's memory about Ricki's adoption. The details have always been shrouded in mystery. And Ricki understands why when she learns her mother was blackmailed for years, simply for not wanting to lose her precious daughter.

But digging into the past soon lands the James-Diaz clan in water hotter than a big pot of gumbo! When the woman who extorted Ricki's mom is found dead at her home, Josepha becomes the primary suspect. Now Ricki has another murder to solve, and tracking down a killer in Crescent City is going to take a miracle.

Luckily, 'tis the season! And Ricki has all the staff at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum on hand to help. Can she prove her mother's innocence and have the case wrapped up in time for Christmas?

About Ellen Byron

Ellen Byron is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, Cajun Country Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (under the pen name Maria DiRico). Her mysteries have won multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and Lefty Awards for Best Humorous Mystery from the Left Coast Crime conference. Bayou Book Thief, her first Vintage Cookbook Mystery, was also nominated for an Anthony award. A Very Woodsy Murder is the first book in her new Golden Motel Mystery series, which is inspired by her former career as a sitcom writer.

Ellen's TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents; she's written over 200 magazine articles; her published plays include the award-winning Graceland and Asleep on the Wind. She is a native New Yorker who lives in Los Angeles and attributes her fascination with Louisiana to her college years at New Orleans' Tulane University. She also worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. Have an early copy of Martha's first book, Entertaining? Ellen's standing right next to her in the group shot.

Reviews

Goodreads review by PamG on October 14, 2025

Crescent City Christmas Chaos is the fourth book in the Vintage Cookbook Mystery series by one of my favorite cozy mystery authors, Ellen Byron. It’s a charming and engaging mystery featuring Ricki James-Diaz and a wonderful cast of supporting characters, and it highlights New Orleans’ culture,......more

Goodreads review by Deborah on October 25, 2025

I have loved this series from the start, and this one is no exception. I am a huge cookbook fan with a large collection, so that has been a hook from the beginning! The atmosphere at Bon Vee, the shop, and the group of friends and now family add to the warm vibe. This book is ramped up even higher b......more

Goodreads review by Sheila on August 10, 2025

I received a free copy of, Crescent City Christmas Chaos, by Ellen Byron, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book number four in The Vintage Cookbook,, Mystery series. Ricki has always known she was adopted, she was always curious about her biological parents.......more

Goodreads review by Christine on November 01, 2025

4.25 stars When you open a book by Byron, you know you're going to have a fun read, and Christmas in New Orleans is a fun setting. The title references Christmas Chaos and there is definitely a lot going on in this book. Ricki James-Diaz owns a vintage cookbook and kitchenware store, which is part of......more

Goodreads review by Tracy on August 14, 2025

Christmas is getting ever closer, and Miracle James-Diaz, Ricki, to her friends, is busy, busy, in her vintage cookbook and kitchen equipment store at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum in New Orleans. Boyfriend and top chef Virgil Morel has arranged a surprise for her at the museum’s Thanksgiving di......more