Romaine Wilder, big-city medical examiner with a small-town past, has been downsized and evicted. With few other options, she’s forced to return to her hometown of Roble in East Texas, leaving behind the man she’s dating and the life she’s worked hard to build. Suzanne Babet Derbinay, Romaine’s Auntie Zanne and proprietor of the Ball Funeral Home, has long since traded her French Creole … Creole upbringing for Big Texas attitude. She’s a member in a number of ladies’ auxiliaries and clubs, including being in charge of the Tri-County Annual Crawfish Boil and Music Festival.
Hanging on to the magic of her Louisiana roots, she’s cooked up a love potion or two—if she could only get Romaine to drink it. But her plans are derailed when the Ball Funeral Home, bursting at the seams with dead bodies, has a squatter stiff.
Dead Guy is a problem.
Auntie Zanne can’t abide by a murderer using her funeral home as the dumping grounds for their crimes, and Romaine doesn’t want her newly elected cousin, Sheriff Pogue Folsom, to fail on his first murder case. Together, Romaine and Auntie Zanne set off to solve it.
With a dash of humor, a dollop of Southern charm, and a peek at current social issues in the mix, it’s a fun romp around East Texas to solve a murder mystery of the cozy kind.
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SECRETS, LIES, & CRAWFISH PIES | A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you’ll probably like them all.
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Secrets, Lies & Crawfish Pies by Abby L. Vandiver was a fun beginning to a new mystery series.
Romaine Wilder has returned to her roots in East Texas after losing her medical examiner position in Chicago. She has returned with her Aunt Zanne to the funeral home where she grew up after her parents died. Aunt Zanne is truly over the top throughout the book and caused many humorous moments throughout the story. The writing flows smoothly and there were enough twists and turns in the mystery to keep me turning the pages.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Henery Press via NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.
Secrets, Lies, & Crawfish Pies by Abby L. Vandiver, a delightfully quirky Louisiana-TX cozy that’s a first in series. I think this will be a popular and winning series. This author has mad skills and nailed these LA-TX traditions. The two female protagonists are tremendously funny and stole my heart immediately. I will definitely follow this author. Highly recommend this new series, book and author.
I usually don’t read cozy mysterious. However, this novel was an entertaining read from start to finish. Characters make this story. Romaine, the main character and sleuth is the “straight man” to Auntie Zanne, a hoot. These ladies solve a mystery in a charming small town setting, with a crazy cast, and plausible crime solving. This was a quick, and fun read. I can’t wait to read the sequel. (less)
What a delightful read! Lots of great characters with quirky personalities. It’s obvious that the author spent a lot of time developing them and wanted you to become a part of the town of Roble, TX.
Great mystery from the very first of the book and keeps you guessing until the end. I had a clue, but wasn’t sure which person might be guilty of murder until the very end. But it doesn’t matter if you can’t figure it out right away, because the story is full of twists and turns and lots of crazy antics. Auntie Zanne has you chuckling and understanding how Romaine could lose her cool with her aunt.
It appears this book sets things up for a sequel and I am looking anxiously forward to seeing what happens with Romaine and a couple of interested “fellas”. The book moves along quickly and you are constantly facing a new clue as you try to figure out the identity of the dead body found at the funeral home and how he got there.
The one negative aspect is that I did not like the situation Romaine left in Chicago. She’s too smart to put up with that type of relationship. But we’ll see what happens when the next book comes out…hopefully soon!
Thank you to Henery Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
Secrets, Lies, and Crawfish Pies is the first story in Abby L. Vandiver’s new Romaine Wilder series. Recently downsized from her medical examiner position in Chicago, Romaine finds herself accompanying her Auntie Zanne by train back to her childhood home in Roble, Texas.
Romaine’s people are from Creole background, but when their home of New Orleans was ramrodded by racist bureaucracy in the mid twentieth century their was a mass migration to East Texas, first to the Houston area, later after tragedy struck, Auntie Zanne moved on to Roble with her new husband. There they opened the Ball Funeral Home and Crematorium. Some years later tragedy struck once more with the loss of both of Romaine’s parents. At this time a young Romaine came to live with her aunt. Now, after all of her years’ of study and hard work, returning to Roble seems like defeat.
Auntie Zanne’s right hand man Rhett Remmiere gets them at the station with the last leg of the journey in pouring down rain. Their homecoming is met by Auntie’s best friend Josephine Gail dancing in the rain awaiting the arrival of new sheriff, and Romaine’s first cousin on her father’s side, Pogue Folsom. It seems that Josephine Gail has discovered a dead body on the premises, one that was not accounted for.
New to the job in an area with minimal crime, Pogue is clueless as to how to investigate. That was part of what he was to learn at the conference he was to attend the following day. With Romaine’s encouragement, Pogue does go to the mandated conference. To further complicate matters, however, the tri-County medical examiner is ill. With her national and local certifications in order, Romaine steps in to do the autopsy, but then is swept along in Auntie’s ideas of how to solve the crime.
In a fast paced, often funny, story of life in a small East Texas town and the interesting characters who dwell there, we are treated to a winding mystery that will be solved, even if serendipitously so. This is a fun read and I do recommend it.
I felt right at home reading this story. I’m a native East Texan and could’ve stepped right out of the pages of Abby L. VanDiver’s story. Set around the awesome pineywoods area of Roble, TX, we find protagonist—Dr. Romaine Wilder—traveling home with her Aunt Zanne (Babet). Home being the Ball Funeral Home & Crematorium. They arrive to find Josephine Gail, Babet’s ditzy best friend, all in a tizzy saying there’s an extra dead body in the funeral home. Sure enough, there’s a suited corpse laying in a casket someone swiped from the showroom floor! The local law, Pogue, just happens to be Romaine’s first cousin, and he’s pretty green when it comes to solving crimes, especially murder.
Aunt Zanne’s not shy and she’s determined to find out who the unidentified dead man is as soon as Romaine performs the autopsy to determine cause of death and whatever other clues she can gleam from the body. Following Auntie as she drags Romaine from place to place looking for clues had me chuckling throughout the story. Babet is not one to stop when she’s on a mission!
Ms. VanDiver skillfully sets up a mighty fine southern mystery. Brimming with humor, it’s a great portrayal of small town families, friends, and rivalries. The cast have realistic personality quirks and all kinds of talent! I had fun reading this story and can hardly wait for the next one. 5 out of 5 Stars!
I provide an honest review of an ARC from NetGalley and Henery Press.
I like it. It’s my intention to read another cozy by this author. There is a relationship between the Medical Examiner and her Aunt. To find a solution these two work together in Robles, Texas. The Aunt owns the Ball Funeral Home And Crematorium. The author knows how to create friendly people in a small town. The story has left me wondering what Crawfish pies taste like and look like.