Ellen Byron

Ellen Byron is an American cozy mystery author best known for the Cajun Country Mystery series set in Louisiana. She is a multiple Agatha Award winner and a prolific contributor to the traditional mystery genre. Her books are celebrated for their colorful Louisiana settings, ensemble casts of eccentric characters, and comic-tinged plots. Born in New York, Byron drew on her experience living in the American South to create the fictional Douet family and their Crozat Plantation Bed and Breakfast in rural Louisiana. The series has been praised for its vivid sense of place and its warm, community-centered narratives. She won the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel for Mardi Gras Murder (2018) and Cajun Kiss of Death (2021). She is also a television writer, having worked on the TV series Wings and Just Shoot Me!.