MARDI GRAS CRIME FICTION // MARDI GRAS MYSTERIES

Mardi Gras aka Carnivale. Whatever you call it, it's a great setting for Murder! Busy streets, crowds, costumes, drinking ..  mix it all together, and you have a recipe for the perfect crime novel.

So in honor of Mardi Gras, here's my updated list of Mardi Gras Mysteries, mostly set in New Orleans, but skip to the bottom for other countries and cities (Carnival - Carnevale). As always, I welcome additional titles. 

MARDI GRAS CRIME FICTION

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Jessica Arden
Mardi Gras Murder, edited by Sarah Glenn
The Mardi Gras Mystery by Henry Bedford-Jones
Death Visits Mardi Gras by J.J. Boortz
Cake on a Hot Tin Roof, A Sheetcake Named Desire by Jacklyn Brady
Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite
Fat Tuesday; Sunny Chandler's Return by Sandra Brown
Thrill Kill by Don Bruns
Purple Cane Road, Dixie City Jam, The Tin Roof Blowdown, Creole Belle by James Lee Burke
Mardi Gras 1975 by Frank W. Butterfield

Mardi Gras Murder by Ellen Byron
Krewe of Souls by Elaine Calloway
Gumbo Justice, Jambalaya Justice by Holli Castillo 
The Secret of the Other Mother by Laura Cayouette
Murder Comes to Mardi Gras, Death Swatch, Keepsake Crimes, Death by Design; Glitter Bomb by Laura Childs
Fat Tuesday Fricassee by J.J. Cook (Children's)
Izzy Rio's Wild and Pretty by Stacey L. Cooley

Randolph Solves the Mardi Gras Mystery by Pat Hornsby Crochet (Children's)
Havana Storm by Clive Cussler
Mardi Gras Murders by Nicole Daines and Robert Daines
Bullets and Beads; Sinister by Jana Deleon 
Ms America and the Naughtiness in New Orleans by Diana Dempsey 

The Mardi Gras Murders by Ricardo S. Dubois
No Mardi Gras for the Dead by D.J. Donaldson
Shelter from the Storm; Crooked Man by Tony Dunbar
Fat Tuesday by Earl Emerson
The Big Uneasy-Terror Strikes Mardi Gras by Murray C. Fincher
The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan
Carnaval Capers by Jody Ford
Carnival by Charlotte Foryan
Venetian Mask by Mickey Friedman
Jass, Rampart Street by David Fulmer

Dead Velvet Cheesecake by A. Gardner
Mardi Gras Murder, edited by Sarah E. Glenn
Mardi Gras Madness by Alison Golden with Honey Broussard
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran

The Mardi Gras Murder by Jackie Griffey
A Free Man of Color, Fever Season, Sold Down the River by Barbara Hambly
The Exorcist by Lily Harper Hart
Mardi Gras Mambo; The Orion Mask by Greg Herren
A Thin Dark Line by Tami Hoag
Murder at the Mardi Gras by V. Hurst
The Assassin's Gift by Ian C.P. Irvine
Mind Games by Polly Iyer

Burgundy Doubloons by TJ Spencer Jacques
The Mardi Gras Mystery by H. Bedford Jones

Storm Damage by Ed Kovacs
Murder at the Mardi Gras by Linda P. Kozar
Murder at Mardi Gras by Doug Lamplugh
Mardi Gras Murder by Leslie Langtry
Krewe by Jayson Livingston
The Devil's Muse by Bill Loehfelm
A Masquerade of Saints by Nicole Loughan
Voodoo Dreams by Alana Lorens 

Chaos by Judith Lucci
The Mardi Gras Murders by Gwen Bristow & Bruce Manning
Mardi Gras Madness by Ken Mask
Mardi Gras Gris Gris by A.C. Mason
The Gay Mardi Gras Murders by Sylvia Massara 

Rescued by a Kiss by Colleen Mooney
Mardi Gras Eyes by Phyllis Morris
The Chef by James Patterson with Max DiLallo
Krewe by Seth Pevey
Masques by Bill Pronzini
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts
The Long-Legged Fly by James Sallis
Mardi Gras Murders by Phillip Scott
Now Let's Talk of Graves by Sarah Shankman
Murder at the Mardi Gras by Elisabet M. Stone
A Hall of Mirrors by Robert Stone
The Mardi Gras Murders by Brian W. Smith

New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith
New Orleans Noir, edited by Julie Smith
Murder at the Mardi Gras by Elisabet M. Stone
The Mysterious Masks of Mardi Gras by Connie Trapp
Mardi Gras Marathon Murders by Diane L. Twilley
Mardi Gras Two-Step by Barry M. Vass
Mardi Gras Ghost by Erin Wade
A Diamond Before You Die by Chris Wiltz

Children's Literature: 

The Mardi Gras Mystery; The Mardi Gras Masquerade by Carolyn Keene

Short Stories: 

Mardi Gras Murder, edited by Sarah E. Glenn
Mardi Grad Madness: Stories of Murder and Mayhem in New Orleans, edited by Martin Harry Greenberg

Carnivale in Brazil:

The Lost Manuscript: Vast Emotions and Imperfect Thoughts by Rubem Fonseca

Carnevale in Venice:

Carnival for the Dead by David Hewson
Venice Noir, edited by Maxim Jakubowski
The Venetian Masquerade by Philip Gwynne Jones
The Mascherari by Laura Rahme
Venice Black by Gregory C. Randall
Scerzo by Jim Williams

To celebrate Fat Tuesday, you might want to have some Chocolate Chip Pancakes or Chocolate  Pecan Pie or Chocolate "Cupped" Cakes with Coffee & Chicory or Chocolate Beignets or Chocolate Filled King Cake! If you're celebrating Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, or along the Gulf Coast, have a Moon Pie. Read more here. They're a favorite 'throw' in Mobile.