Mardi Gras and Murder

This year Fat Tuesday falls on March 1st with the week of February 23 through March 1st set to be full of Mardi Gras Festivities, with some Covid restrictions, such as shorter parade routes, thrown in for good measure.  Everything You Need to Know About 2022 Mardi Gras in New Orleans By Sarah Buder and Lyndsey Matthews

My husband has wild stories from attending Mardi Gras in the past, and so do my parents. I do not.  I recall at some point thinking I'd like to go but this urge lessens the older I get. I'm perfectly willing to attend from afar via a book or perhaps some NCIS New Orleans.   

Mardi Gras Murder by Byron, Ellen

It's Mardi Gras season on the bayou, which means parades, pageantry, and gumbo galore. But when a flood upends life in the tiny town of Pelican, Louisiana--and deposits a body of a stranger behind the Crozat Plantation B&B--the celebration takes a decidedly dark turn. The citizens of Pelican are ready to Laissez les bon temps rouler--but there's beaucoup bad blood on hand this Mardi Gras.

Death Swatch: A Scrapbooking Mystery by Childs, Laura

Jekyl Hardy is hosting a Mardi Gras party in his French Quarter apartment, amid Zydeco rhythms and popping champagne corks. On a wild night like this, anything can happen. The guests--including scrapbook-store owner Carmela Bertrand--never imagine it will be murder. But as the evening progresses, Jekyl's neighbor, float designer Archie Baudier, is found on the balcony choked to death with a barbed wire garrote. Buried up to her neck in strange clues, Carmela is sure of only one thing: whoever killed Archie is now following her--straight into the madness of Mardi Gras.

Glitter Bomb by Childs, Laura

An exploding Mardi Gras float has got to be the strangest murder weapon scrappy sleuth Carmela Bertrand has ever encountered in this latest Scrapbooking Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author. It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans and scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is excited to be attending the Pluvius Parade along with her best friend Ava. Carmela's ex-husband Shamus rides by the duo on his float at the head of the parade, when suddenly the revelry turns to disaster. Shamus' float crashes and explodes, and although Shamus escapes unhurt, a member of his krewe is killed. Carmela and Ava plunge into an investigation of the krewe member's death, but as they dig deeper it starts to look less like an accident and more like a murder....and Shamus seems less like a victim, and more like a suspect.

Bullets and Beads by DeLeon, Jana

It's Mardi Gras time and Fortune is looking forward to seeing the spectacle firsthand. When a visitor to Sinful is murdered during the celebration there, Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie start looking into the woman, and the family in Sinful she came to visit. The investigation sends them to New Orleans, right at the height of the Mardi Gras celebration. But instead of relaxing a little and enjoying the festivities, Fortune can't shake the feeling that she's being watched. When she catches sight of her father in the Mardi Gras crowd, she knows why. Unfortunately, her father's presence in Louisiana has brought with it a host of terrorists, all with only one thing in mind-- locate and terminate Dwight Redding. Why has Dwight returned from the dead? And will knowing the answer make things worse or better?

Killer Takeout by Burdette, Lucy

• "Every year, Key West's weeklong Mardi Gras--style festival has tourists and locals alike lining up for costumed revelry and delicious eats. Key Zest magazine has assigned Hayley to write a piece on the fest's grab-and-go food, so she's planning on hitting up the mobile eateries while checking out the party preparations. Hayley's office mate, Danielle, recently elected Queen of Fantasy Fest, is also buzzing between festivities and fundraisers. But when a former royal rival gets taken out, Hayley needs to put down her party hat and her pen and figure out who served up a side of murder--before Danielle gets crowned a killer"--P. [4] of cover.

Fat Tuesday by Brown, Sandra

The superstar author of more than two dozen New York Times bestsellers spins an electrifying tale of raging passion and police corruption in New Orleans.It's Mardi Gras week in the French Quarter, a perfect time for narcotics cop Burke Basile to avenge the acquittal of his partner's murderer by kidnapping the defense attorney's sheltered wife. So begins Sandra Brown's riveting story of corruption in the Big Easy. As the crisis reaches a fevered pitch, the line between saint and sinner blurs. Who will find redemption as the clock ticks toward midnight on Fat Tuesday?

The Chef by Patterson, James

Police detective by day, celebrity food truck chef by night, now Caleb Rooney has a new title: Most Wanted. In the Carnival days leading up Mardi Gras, Detective Caleb Rooney comes under investigation for a murder he is accused of committing in the line of duty--as a Major Crimes detective for the New Orleans Police Department. Has his sideline at the Killer Chef food truck given him a taste for murder? While fighting the charges against him, Rooney makes a pair of unthinkable discoveries. His beloved city is under threat of attack. And these would-be terrorists may be local.