Bayou Book Thief

I liked the setting of New Orleans and all the food talk. I liked the vintage cookbooks much more than I expected to. Ricki is trying really hard, but she is not perfect and misses the mark sometimes. I appreciate her humanity and that she doesn't take that too seriously. She does take seriously her friendships and responsibilities. I liked that part of her character as well.
There are a lot of suspicious people around as well. I guessed wrong multiple times about motive and murderer. So I was along for the ride as Ricki was investigating.
This was a strong start to the series. I liked the character development we saw and the mystery. I can't wait to see what is next.

⭐⭐⭐.5 – Love the cover of this book!

I adored this author's Cajun Country series, so I was excited to dive into this new one. Especially since I love anything set in New Orleans! Alas, this one just didn't “wow” me as much as the other series. I loved the setting. The mystery was fine. There is a great cast of quirky and likable secondary characters. And I loved the addition of the vintage recipes.

My main issue was Ricki herself. She was just so obnoxious and unlikable. From her weird obsession with ridiculous murder scenarios (and murderers) to her nasty attitude whenever the police lady didn't jump on whatever outrageous theory she cooked up that hour. She annoyed me the entire book.