CRESCENT CITY CHRISTMAS CHAOS (Vintage Cookbook Mystery #4) by Ellen Byron will be released on November 4, 2025, by Severn House.
Ricki James-Diaz’s adoptive parents are in town for the holidays, and she uses the opportunity to question her mother about the details surrounding her birth and adoption. Ricki is surprised to learn that one of her mother’s former coworkers has been blackmailing her for years. Even more surprising is when Josepha becomes a suspect in the blackmailer’s murder. With help from her family, friends, and coworkers, Ricki digs into the woman’s past and finds a long list of people who might have wanted her dead.
I’ve enjoyed the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, and CRESCENT CITY CHRISTMAS CHAOS is a great addition to the series. It’s interesting to follow Ricki’s quest to find her birth family—and she makes a big discovery in this book. There was a lot going on in this novel—not only is there the murder investigation but there’s also a serial burglar haunting New Orleans and Ricki’s boyfriend and dad are busy filming a cooking show—that it was sometimes hard to keep everything straight. Despite that, I did enjoy the book, and I’m looking forward to the next one.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.