Ellen Byron

Ellen is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, Cajun Country Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (under the pen name Maria DiRico). Her mysteries have won multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and Lefty Awards for Best Humorous Mystery Lefty awards from the Left Coast Crime conference. Bayou Book Thief, her first Vintage Cookbook Mystery, was also nominated for an Anthony award. A Very Woodsy Murder, debuting in July 2024, will be the first book in her new Golden Motel Mystery series, which is inspired by her former career as a sitcom writer.

Ellen's TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly Odd Parents; she's written over 200 magazine articles; her published plays include the award-winning Graceland and Asleep on the Wind. She is a native New Yorker who lives in Los Angeles and attributes her fascination with Louisiana to her college years at New Orleans' Tulane University. She also worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. Have an early copy of Martha's first book, ENTERTAINING? Ellen's standing right next to her in the group shot.