What could be more fun than celebrating mysteries in New Orleans?

I just got home from the World Mystery Convention, commonly called Bouchercon, in the Big Easy at the Gulf end of the Mississippi River, and it was a great gathering.

To say Bouchercon, for those who are unfamiliar with the event, start with BOW (like what the butler does), followed by CHUR (like church), then CON. (not pro). Bow-chur-con.

The event this year, I heard, drew something like 1,600 people — readers and writers, book sellers and book buyers — from around the world for five days of fictional murder and mayhem, with panels, interviews, awards, and more.

And swag! Lots of swag. I came home with a (buried in the picture) Mardi Gras themed tote bag in purple, green and gold, filled with books, book marks, jar openers, a bottle opener, candy, key chains, book marks, a pair of socks (because we adopted a “pound puppy” when my kids were young), pens — always a favorite of mine– and (also buried) a t-shirt celebrating Blood on the Bayou–Case Closed. Authors bring the swag to remind readers of their books, and I picked up a bunch of it during one of the two Author Speed-Dating sessions. I went to the early-riser event with my roomie, Sharon Michalove (“City Sharon” to my “Country Sharon”), who was one of the authors introducing her work to the fans who attended.

The New Orleans case was finally closed. I originally planned to go to Bouchercon in New Orleans years ago, but COVID cancelled that trip. I had my fingers crossed that we would see no resurgence in September, and that a relatively calm hurricane season would also pass us by. Thankfully, neither calamity struck the city and “City Sharon” booked us a huge room an easy trolley ride from the conference hotel. One generous trolley driver who had to wait for a light even took my picture for me.

We came early and settled in for a week. On our first day in town, she took a cooking tour while I volunteered to help with conference set up. She loved the tour to the city’s School of Cooking, with a traveling beverage tour afterward. I’m lucky enough that my first trip to NOLA was for a food writers’ conference, so I figured I could pass on the tour.

We had a few meals in and around the French Quarter. One night I joined a group of several Blackbird Writers at the Court of Two Sisters where I had a great steak dinner with bread pudding for dessert. A few in our group, though, ordered the flambeed Bananas Foster, which was a show in itself.

Another night, I went to Bourbon House, which was also good. The highlight there, I thought, was the red-gowned woman entertaining with her trained parakeets just outside the window where we sat. Sadly, I didn’t get any pictures of her birds in action.(I was plying my fork, not my camera.)

The Creole House, next to the conference hotel, was handy for a breakfast, a lunch, and a dinner on different days of the conference. And the hotel, the Jung, where I stayed with my roomie, had a lovely weekend breakfast service, too. Next door to Tulane University Department of Medicine, and just blocks from the Superdome, the old hotel has a touch of elegance that newer hotels, for all their modernity, can’t touch. Our double-queen room would have been considered a suite in many other places. And the staff, who greeted us my name by the second morning, proved most helpful when we needed tips.

The meals and sidetrips were fun, but the best part of the conference was seeing old friends and making new ones. On most of those occasions I tended to get caught up in conversation and forgot to take pictures. But I really enjoyed them.

One new friend, Linda Amey, even helped me decide which of the many novel drafts I have to work on now that I’m home for a while. (Well, I will be heading to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for the Wisconsin Writers Association conference next month. But that’s just a long weekend.) It’s lovely when a brand new friend helps you set a goal you’ve been dawdling about for months.

Next Bouchercon is in Calgary. I hope they have a great, big crowd of fans and writers!

In the meantime, I’ll be writing!

À bientôt!