Book Review: French Quarter Fright Night

A Vintage Cookbook Mystery (Book Three)

French Quarter Fright Night

  • Series: A Vintage Cookbook Mystery (Book 3)

  • Written by: Ellen Byron

  • Published by: Severn House

  • Release date: September 3, 2024

  • Mystery type: Cozy mystery

Ricki, the owner of a vintage cookbook and kitchenware store in the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum in New Orleans, is assisting the museum staff in planning a haunted house tour for Halloween. When a dead body unexpectedly turns their prop tomb into a real one, Ricki embarks on a thrilling investigation, unearthing more than a few buried secrets.

French Quarter Fright Night is the third installment in Ellen Byron's delicious Vintage Cookbook Mystery series. The first two mysteries (Book 1: A Bayou Book Thief and Book 2: Wined and Dined in New Orleans) did an excellent job setting the stage (New Orleans Garden District) and introducing us to amateur sleuth Ricki and a cast of colorful characters.

In French Quarter Fright Night, Ricki and the museum staff have their hands full planning a haunted house and dealing with the new neighbor, a movie star with a mean girl assistant and a personal connection to Ricki. When someone stages an actual dead body in their haunted house tomb, everyone becomes a suspect and a sleuth as they try to figure out what happened.

As with all of Ellen Byron’s cozies, French Quarter Fright Night strikes a delightful balance of humor and suspense. This installment is particularly enjoyable due to Halloween’s spookiness and the intriguing guest stars, who add a refreshing twist to the plot. Ricki also finds closure with a past event and makes significant progress in her quest to find her birth family.

The book wraps up with a delightful collection of vintage recipes that perfectly complement the vintage cookbook theme.

French Quarter Fright Night is a great read at any time of the year and is especially good for Halloween. It has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and the author fills in the backstory where necessary so that it can be read as a stand-alone. However, the first two books in this series, A Bayou Book Thief and Wined and Died in New Orleans, are some of the best culinary cozies out there and well worth the read.

Disclosure: I received a gifted copy of French Quarter Fright Night. All opinions are my own.