Body on the Bayou by Ellen Byron

Very few cozies move me to tears. Body on the Bayou by Ellen Byron is exceptional. It is a cozy that has that right balance of what you love in a cozy mystery, a crazy set of circumstances and an incredible dose of reality. I loved this book. Maggie (Short for Magnolia) is a character I could immediately relate too, she was easy to get behind and felt like she would make a really great friend. The relationships in this book are wonderful, and what I would expect from a southern based cozy, tons of loyalty and a touch of crazy, a seamless blend and the perfect balance. I truly appreciated the story line of the relationship with Maggie and her boyfriend's son. With out giving too much away the character has Autism and as a mom with kids with Autism, this story line felt incredibly authentic. As it touches me personally, when I come across characters in cozies who are supposed to be on the autism spectrum I am often unhappy with how the author writes that character, not in Ellen's book though. I feel as if she had a true understanding of what it is like to love and support a person on the autism spectrum. She was able to normalize the true relationship with out making it feel negative or unfeeling.  I felt her story line was a great service to our community and I will be forever grateful. I loved the mystery, the way she wrote the victims was perfect. I had no idea who the real murderer was until the big reveal. Surprising and comedic twists through out. This was the perfect Sunday read. This is a book I would and will buy my friends to read.

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 sparkplug 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.

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