Dead Priest in Maude's Chicken Yard

A Cajun Cozy Mystery and Love Story. Fast-driving Audie Boudreaux, in her yellow Cordoba, and the other Sleuths of Sunrise—Maude, a retired teacher who runs a roux-making business, and Miss Katie, who at ninety-something still mows her own grass and never misses an episode of Murder, She Wrote—are anxious to find a killer, if only to prove that the ill-fated priest was not murdered by one of their friends. Sadly, only Louise, Audie’s pretty niece, is troubled by Father Henderson’s death, and only his mother will miss him. As Audie says, he was “hoist by his own petard.” Maude informs Sheriff Daly, “Father Henderson was not a popular priest.” He was, in fact, cruel and manipulative. So many suspects, but who killed him and dumped his body in the chicken-killing yard?

Join Audie, Louise (whose life is in a state of flux), and the other Sleuths in this tasty visit to Cajun country, as they drink coffee and eat bourbon-pecan balls on Maude’s front porch, enjoy the scent of her sweet-olive bushes, listen to the gentle murmuring of her chickens, hide suspects (their friends) from the sheriff, and search for the real killer. The Sleuths are determined for Louise to find a new husband, although she is still mourning her late husband and says she is not ready. Since the handsome Sheriff Daly is new in town, and might arrest one of their friends, he is not their first choice. Audie would prefer Charles Moreau, a family friend and local chef who wants to whisk Louise away to Paris. Despite all these demands on their time, the Sleuths still manage to look out for their neighbors in the small South Louisiana town of Sunrise, and reminisce about the old days, when you could still pray in public places and drive too fast on the highway without fear of hitting a bicycle.