Bayou Book Thief

Ricki James-Diaz’s life has been unusual, beginning with her abandonment at a New Orleans hospital as an infant and her adoption by a nurse. She’s now a widow, after her actor husband died while attempting a social media stunt; her former boss has been arrested for a Ponzi scheme; and Ricki has moved back to New Orleans, where she’s hired to operate Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop at Bon Vee, a mansion in the Garden District. As Ricki gets to know he coworkers, she catches Franklin, one of the guides, stealing cookbooks. He’s fired, but turns up again—dead, in a steamer trunk sent to the shop. Ricki worries that she’s under suspicion; because she feels guilty for turning in Franklin, she calls Detective Nina Rodriguez with every wild guess about suspects. Ricki’s new friends rally around her in a dramatic climax.