A Deadly Appraisal: A Big Easy Mystery

by Blake Rivers

A secret supper.
A priceless painting.
A dead art expert and a chef caught in the crossfire.
Welcome to New Orleans… where the gumbo is spicy and the secrets are lethal.

I was just there to cook dinner.
Old money, fine wine, and one world-class art appraiser—what could go wrong?
Then the appraiser drops a the host’s family heirloom may be WWII-looted art.
By morning, she’s dead—and I’m the prime suspect.
Now the cops want answers and my kids just want their dad home safe.

To clear my name, I’ll have to follow a trail of stolen art, family secrets, and bodies that refuse to stay buried.
Good thing I still know my way around a knife.

140 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 14, 2025

About the author

Hi, I'm Blake and as you may have guessed by now, I'm a writer. Yup, that’s right, I write books and I wrote my first novel, The Assassin Princess, in 2011 when I was twenty-eight. Two sequels followed, A Step into Darkscape and The Assassin's Codaci. This magical fantasy series started as a story written about my girlfriend, at the time, an artist who dreamed of being a fierce warrior in another world, who kicked butt and swung a sword to battle the enemy. It grew and became The Assassin Princess, a tale of an artist who is kidnapped and taken to a strange land full of magic, talking unicorns and dragons. It goes dark, exploring jealously, greed and hunger; it goes light and reaches for the best in even the most flawed of characters. But in essence, it still remains about her at its heart.

I started writing when I was seven years old. Back then it was mostly poems about whatever interested me at the time, be it the seasons or the planets, or my love for libraries and books. I also turned my hand to a few short stories, all hand written and lost over time.

I don’t remember why I started writing, but I do remember what inspired me to do it. It was Yuri, writing his poems to Lara in the frozen house in the film Dr Zhivago, and the beautiful music played, Lara’s Theme; it was the sound of the typewriter at the very start of the film Misery, where Paul Sheldon finishes his latest book.

These still inspire me to this day, along with whole host of other influences: the novels by Brandon Sanderson, Sarah J. Maas, J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, Anne Rice, Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell to name a few. Any movie that shows a typewriter.

Reviews

[em.reads.stuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marcus Boudreaux is a chef rebuilding his life one private dinner party at a time, but tonight’s gig is to die for.

A New Orleans-based private chef and widower caters a dinner party for some wealthy Louisiana clients with some serious art-world connections. What seems to be an innocuous job turns into the job from hell when one of the guests turns up dead the following day. From here the story marches on in Marcus’ pursuit to find out why.

This was a murder-mystery with a fun Cajun-flavour! A fast-paced read packed with action that keeps you guessing. It was enjoyable, but almost too-fast paced, making me wonder just how could this all have gone from go to woah in what felt like only a few days? The writing also relied on some reused wording and tropey phrases that had me thinking I was rereading passages I’d already covered.

All in all, an innocuous read with flavour. A big thanks to the author and BookSirens for the ARC!

3.25⭐️ rounded down

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

The author creates lovely vibes - I've never been to New Orleans unfortunately, but reading this book I could imagine what it feels like to be there. As a foodie I also enjoyed the descriptions of menus, cooking etc. And I liked the characters. The stakes were low enough for the book to still feel like a cozy mystery, but high enough to make the plot interesting (and realistic, sadly enough).

A few minor inconsistencies like the main character wanting to be there for his family and then making decisions that could put that at risk ("even if it kills me"). Otherwise I really liked this book and look forward to the rest of the series.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked A Deadly Appraisal because it was different from other cozy mysteries I've read. It takes place in New Orleans where widowed chef, Marcus Boudreaux, is raising his two teen-aged sons. His life is put in danger after a dinner party at the home of Margaret Thibodaux. Margaret wants a painting authenticated by Helena Rousseau so she can donate it to a WWII museum. Unexpectedly, Rousseau claims that it is stolen and then she ends up dead from a car accident. I liked the main characters in this book and their intelligence and bravery. The author did a good job describing them so they came to life.

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Deadly Appraisal is the first book in Blake Rivers’ Big Easy Mystery series. When Chef Marcus Boudreaux witnesses an art appraiser telling a wealthy client that a family painting may have been looted by the Nazis during World War II, he becomes the prime suspect when the appraiser ends up dead a few hours later. He sets out to clear his name with help from his sons and a local historian.

This reads more like a thriller than most cozies I read, this mystery offers a compelling lead and an intriguing plot. I’m looking forward to seeing where Marcus’s story goes next.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is interesting but the writing is repetitive. Marcus “cooking dinner for the wrong people” and his son Tyler’s analytical mind are mentioned too often, as is Marcus “struggling to rebuild his life one catered dinner at a time.” There is no anticipation or suspense because some things happen and then conclude quickly, only to be followed by a general feeling or mood that’s already been described. There’s also no background that could have explained why certain things are in place. Too many words were spent on unnecessary descriptions. I received an advance review copy for free from BookSirens and am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Celine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting and pretty quick read.

Nothing super different from the normal cozy mysteries, but I did like that the family banded together to find out the culprit and save an innocent man. I did find the wholesomeness of the necessity of trusting your family and people closest to you to help you in your time of need very touching.

Also the ending was sweet and wholesome.

I did like finding out the larger scheme going on right under everyone's noses, I hadn't expected it to be so in-depth.

A cute, wholesome cozy mystery.

[Mary Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable read featuring a chef in New Orleans who finds himself the main suspect when a guest at a dinner he is serving is murdered. I liked the art theft aspect of the story. It is something that has always fascinated me.

It's a short read, almost too short as it felt that things happened too quickly and suddenly it was over. I still really enjoyed it and it's an easy decision to want to read more in the series to see what comes next.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Delphia Von Heeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Deadly Appraisal is Book 1 in the Secret Supper Club Mystery Series by Blake Rivers. Marcus is a chef trying to recover his reputation. He is catering a dinner party. What Marcus got was art forgers with art stolen by Nazi during WWII deciding to kill Marcus and both sons! I found this story to be so exciting and the author layed the foundation for a wonderful new series. I can't wait to read book 2. I received an arc for free and am leaving my review voluntarily.

[Chrissy Lavvs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I could not put this down. Its was fast passed and engaging from the start.

This was such a thrilling experience. I was actually sad when it ended.

The main characters Marcus and Celeste are absolutely a power duo.

Celeste is brilliant and Marcus is pure love and noble.

[Linda K Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating story. With the theft of Nazi loot (historical) and trying to pin the death on the chef. They almost do it too. Very convincing and scary. I do not think I could be so brave.

Very intriguing story and recommend.

[Susanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story, but the author spent way too many words on it.