Ellen Byron’s second novel in the Cajun Country Mysteries series won a Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery. Her debut book in the series was a USA Today Bestseller and was nominated for multiple awards. Her latest book in the series, A Cajun Christmas Killing, takes us to Louisiana for the holidays.

How A Cajun Christmas Killing began

Byron said A Cajun Christmas Killing grew out of the tradition in several parishes north of New Orleans called Bonfires on the Levee. “Participants build giant bonfires that they light on fire Christmas Eve amidst much partying and fanfare. There are many theories about the origin of this tradition, but now locals like to say that the bonfires exist to light the way up the Mississippi River for Papa Noel so he can find his way to all the Cajun children’s homes.

“I’ve always been fascinated by this uniquely Louisiana tradition and thought it would provide a great entrée into one of my Cajun Country Mystery books. I got to experience it myself with my family in 2015. A storm threatened to postpone the event, but luckily for us it went on, even under a gentle rain. I’ll never forget the sights, sounds and smells of that evening – all of which you’ll find in A Cajun Christmas Killing.”

Beneath a plot that moves quickly and offers up plenty of quirky characters, there’s actually a bit of what Byron likes to call stealth social commentary. “What I mean by this is that I’m very subtly addressing an issue. In this case, I actually address two issues: racism and anti-Semitism. Ione Savreau, a black co-worker and friend of my protagonist Maggie Crozat, is demoted as general manager of the historic site, Doucet Plantation. She’s replaced by Tannis Greer, who’s young, blonde and white. When a man is found murdered in the plantation’s manor house, Tannis immediately points a finger at Ione.

“As to addressing anti-Semitism, Emme Harmon, the widow of the murder victim, is an upscale native New Orleanian from a family with storied Southern genealogy. She’s in love with the victim’s brother, a practicing Jew, which horrifies her bigoted old-school mother and brother. I believe my readers will root for Ione’s vindication and Emme’s happiness. In doing so, they’ll be striking a blow against racism and anti-Semitism, possibly without even realizing it.”

Books are best

Byron feels she’s had a wonderful career as a writer. She’s had plays published and produced, published hundreds of magazine articles in national publications, and has written many hours of television shows along with a TV writing partner. With all that success, she still feels books are best. “I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun than I’ve had writing mysteries and being accepted into this most generous community. And I’m eternally grateful to everyone who reads my books.”

Ellen Byron Contest Code: #CajunHoliday

In fact, Byron must enjoy writing books immensely because she wrote A Cajun Christmas Killing while working a full-time job writing animation for Nickelodeon and parenting a teenager. “I’d drive my daughter to school at 7 a.m. for a zero period class, come home and write for a couple of hours, go work a full day as a different kind of writer, then come home and work on the book some more. I’m not kidding when I say some of the craziest typos of my career were in that first draft. There were sentences that seemed to be written by a delirious person or someone on drugs.”

Differences between TV and books

While writing books is a very solitary profession, working on TV is not. And where there are coworkers, there are opportunities for a little fun. Byron recalled one opportunity from her last season on the sitcom Wings. “Our bosses sold a series starring Jenny McCarthy to NBC. Jenny was famous for being a Playboy Playmate of the Year, and a calendar featuring sexy shots of her came out around Christmas of that year.

“As a joke present for our bosses, twelve of us women who worked on the show took one of the calendars and had our faces superimposed over hers. For example, my face—glasses, brown hair, and all — replaced Jenny’s in a provocative pose on a bearskin rug. Our bosses and fellow writers thought this was hilarious. Then we went on the set, where we were greeted by winks and the occasional whistle from some crew members — who thought we’d actually posed for the sexy shots in the calendar!”

Learn more about Ellen Byron and A Cajun Christmas Killing at ellenbyron.com.

Book & a Latte Contest

What: This month, Ellen is giving away one of three books. The winner may choose a hardcover copy of Plantation Shudders (first in series), a softcover copy of Body on the Bayou (second in series), or an e-book copy of “A Cajun Christmas Killing.” I’m adding a $5.00 Starbucks gift card. One random entry will be chosen as winner. Winner will receive a book and a gift card.

How to enter: Choose one or more of the options below. Each option gives you an additional chance to win.

Who can enter: This contest is open to anyone over 18 years of age. (Only e-book will be sent out of continental US.)

Winners: Selected winners must claim prizes within 72 hours of notification. Verification of entries: All winning entries are subject to verification

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Shannon Baker spent twenty years in the Nebraska Sandhills, where cattle outnumber people by more than 50:1. She also moved seven times in less than ten years, from the Nebraska Sandhills, to Boulder, CO, Flagstaff, AZ, back to Boulder and did a short stint in southwestern Nebraska. In addition to the Kate Fox Mystery series, Baker is also the author of the Nora Abbott Mysteries. Here’s the story behind her latest Kate Fox Mystery, Dark Signal.

The control thread

“It seems there’s generally a thread running through all my books about women taking control of their own lives. I’ve had lots of mother/daughter relationships going on, and I’m not sure if that’s me working out my own therapy or just writing what I know. After all, I’m a daughter and a mother.”

Baker said readers shouldn’t worry about her books being all women’s lit. “I’ve got a husband/reader who keeps me from getting too squishy. Whenever I write what he calls a ‘kitchen scene’ he points it out to me, usually with his snoring. Kitchen scenes are those where I put characters in a static place and they have heartfelt talks. Tension, for sure, but no action. When my husband’s eyes start to droop and glaze over, I know I’ve got to bring out the big guns, knives, or some other lethal object.”

Baker said she hadn’t come across any western mysteries revolving around trains when she read Barbara Nickless’ Blood on the Tracks, which she called fabulously dark and twisty.

“I wanted to include the railroad because it is so much a part of the west,” Baker said. “Many small towns were established about ten miles apart because that’s the distance it took a train to need to take on more water. It was a bonus that my husband was a BNSF conductor for forty-two years.

“When I asked him how someone might be killed on a freight train, he didn’t hesitate. It was fascinating, and not a little unsettling, that he rattled off a method complete with the hardware I’d need, how to install the device, and exactly how to make it work.”

The Nebraska Sandhills 

Baker said she always wanted to write about the Sandhills. “The people there are quirky and the way of life is vastly different from what most people are familiar with. I was really happy when Kate Fox popped into my head. She’s nothing like me. She’s smart and competent, able to deliver calves, put up hay, build a fence, and repair a tractor. I love hanging out with Kate because her take on her family and the folks around the Sandhills makes me laugh.”

After Stripped Bare released last year, Baker enjoyed seeing the reactions of people from the Sandhills town where she used to live. “They love trying to figure out who is who in the list of characters. The truth is that each of the characters is an amalgamation of two or three people, not all of them Sandhillers.”

When she started writing about the railroad, Baker thought the research would be easy since her husband is a retired railroad conductor. “Turns out,” Baker said, “he doesn’t like to talk about it. Maybe it’s like a war veteran. His standard line is, ‘It’s a do-nothing job and I do it better than anyone.’ I know that’s not true. He eventually coughed up the details I needed and added a few I hadn’t thought to ask. I think I’ve trained him well in the art of mystery writing because he’s getting pretty good at plot points.”

Double Trouble Contest Code: #TakingControl

And then there’s Jezebel’s influence

Jezebel is Baker’s two-year-old Weimaraner. She said, “Our standard joke is: you know black Labs, yellow Labs, chocolate Labs, and then there’s Jezebel, the Meth Lab. But she’s ours and we love her.”

As with any large dog, Jezebel requires exercise. “We try to give her a desert romp every morning. We’ll walk five miles and let her take off. She does 10-15 miles, I’m sure, always keeping us in sight. But one morning, I stayed home from the walk and my husband emailed me a horrible picture. Jezebel, who is convinced everyone loves her, barreled into a group of javelinas.”

Let’s put this in context — javelinas are native to the Americas and are not a pig. They look a lot like wild boars. And they stink. In fact, javelinas smell so bad they earned the nickname skunk pig. If you’re downwind, you can smell the herd coming.

Baker said, “Apparently, one of them went after Jezebel and jabbed her back thigh with his tusks. Jezebel didn’t seem all that affected, but I took her to the emergency vet. She ended up with surgery and stitches and drains and a lot of icky stuff. She’s all healed and hardly scarred.”

The real problem, according to Baker, is she’s not sure Jezebel learned her lesson. Too bad there aren’t any javelinas in Nebraska, that could make a great scene.

Learn more about Shannon Baker and Dark Signal on her website at shannon-baker.com.

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