Review

Just the right blend of cozy fun and clever plotting. (Susan Wittig Albert) Murder suits [Laura Childs] to a tea. (_St. Paul Pioneer Press_) Engages the audience from the start. (_Midwest Book Review_)

Product Description

New Orleans scrapbooking shop owner Carmela Bertrand delights her customers with the sophisticated looks she achieves with their scrapbooks. But among her client's keepsakes she finds a tip of her own-about a murder...

Product Description

New Orleans scrapbooking shop owner Carmela Bertrand is hosting a late-night "Crop Till You Drop" session-when a neighboring antique-shop owner winds up murdered in the alley. Now, the scrapbooking expert must rearrange the jumble of clues and pick out the killer.

Product Description

New Orleans scrapbooking shop owner Carmela Bertrand's pre-wedding party is overshadowed when a friend's intended groom is murdered. Asked by the heartbroken bride to look into the case, Carmela must help her friend pick up the pieces while wrapping up a murder that has more than one lethal loose end.

From Publishers Weekly

Memory Mine shop owner Carmela Bertrand finds herself caught up in New Orleans Halloween mayhem in Childs's sprightly fifth scrapbooking mystery (after 2006's Motif for Murder). In an alley behind her friend Ava Grieux's Juju Voodoo Shop, Carmela discovers the body of fashion model Amber Lalique, who was in the shop only moments earlier. The cops suspect Giovanni, Ava's sexy new tarot card reader, whose brother, Santino, is Amber's ex-boyfriend. Carmela and Ava become determined to uncover the truth and throw themselves headlong into danger, filling in as models for the big Halloween night unveiling of Moda Chadron's newest fashion creations, snooping around New Orleans and even venturing into the creepy bayou. Childs rounds out the story with several scrapbooking and crafting tips plus a passel of mouth-watering Louisiana recipes. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

SCRAPBOOKING TIPS AND RECIPES INCLUDED.

For Carmela Bertrand, a New Orleans shop owner who can turn any scrapbook into a treasure, this Halloween will feature more than the usual scares. On her way home from a ghoulish gathering, Carmela finds the dead body of a model—and is then attacked herself. Her leads are many, including animal tooth marks on the deceased’s neck. And as the witching hour draws closer, Carmela must find what’s lurking in the shadows—or get the fright of her life.

From Publishers Weekly

A murder in the midst of Mardi Gras propels Childs's enjoyable sixth Scrapbooking mystery (after 2007's Frill Kill). Carmela Bertrand, the owner of the New Orleans scrapbook shop Memory Mine, and her best friend, Ava Gruiex, are eager to begin the festivities with a party hosted by their float designer pal, Jekyl Hardy. But the discovery of the garroted Archie Baudier, Jekyl's assistant, puts a damper on the fun. In their efforts to solve the murder, Carmela and Ava encounter a host of eccentric characters, including a sullen Russian, a rare coin dealer, a meek curator of the local historical society and all manner of costumed party-goers. Carmela, in the process of a divorce, also meets dapper police lieutenant Edgar Babcock, who might be unappreciative of her investigative efforts but provides some romantic heat. Glossing over the effects of Hurricane Katrina, Childs paints a picture of New Orleans sure to appeal to cozy fans. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Scrapbooking store owner Carmela Bertrand and her good friend Ava find float designer Archie Baudier as he lies dying, strangled with barbed wire at a Mardi Gras party. A friend of the victim's asks Carmela to find the murderer, so she begins an investigation into who would want Baudier dead. Is it a rival float designer or someone who wants his coin collection? The investigation quickly becomes a treasure hunt when Carmela learns that Baudier was searching for pirate Jean Lafitte’s legendary buried treasure. As the investigation proceeds, and as the soon-to-be-divorced Carmela deals with the romantic feelings she has for New Orleans police lieutenant Edgar Babcock, the city gears up for and then attempts to enjoy Mardi Gras in the wake of Katrina. Well-developed main and secondary characters mesh nicely with the vibrant setting and with details on the design of scrapbook pages. --Sue O'Brien

From Publishers Weekly

The murder of jeweler Melody Mayfeldt, an enthusiast of the supernatural, at Medusa Manor, a New Orleans mansion being converted into a haunted house attraction for an upcoming horror convention, drives Childs's contrived seventh scrapbooking cozy (after 2008's Death Swatch). Scrapbooking diva Carmela Bertrand and her French Quarter sidekick, Ava Gruiex, know it wasn't a ghost who killed their friend by a blow to the head and then pushed her flaming corpse out of a third-floor window of the manor. NOPD Det. Edgar Babcock, Carmela's boyfriend, and the Crescent City Nancy Drews investigate various suspects, including Melody's husband, Garth, who co-owned Fire and Ice Jewelers with Melody, and a real estate developer who wanted to buy Medusa Manor. While Child conjures up the abiding charm of New Orleans with her usual flair, besides providing recipes and scrapbooking tips, the rushed resolution disappoints. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

The next Scrapbooking mystery takes readers back to New Orleans, where there are spookies, foodies-and crafty killers.

Carmela, owner of Memory Mine scrapbook shop, and her best friend, owner of Juju Voodoo, have a big project. Melody Mayfeldt is converting an old mansion in the Faubourg-Marigny district into an unforgettable haunted house for those who flock to New Orleans for a creepy fix. She needs Carmela's crafty touch to make the Medusa Manor come to life in time for the upcoming horror convention.

But Melody takes her house haunting too seriously-especially when her flaming body comes crashing through a tower window to 'welcome' them to the job. Sure there's been an increased trend in murder lately, but someone specifically wanted Carmela's client very dead. Carmela's in some deep gumbo again and needs to crop out a killer from the throngs of people flocking to New Orleans. Then maybe it won't be so hard living in the Big Easy.

From Publishers Weekly

In the enjoyable eighth installment of Childs's tea shop series (after 2006's Blood Orange Brewing), Mark Congdon, commodities broker and co-owner of a Charleston bed and breakfast, drops dead after sipping a glass of sweet tea at the Spring Plantation Ramble. This was no simple heart attack—Mark was poisoned. Eager to help out Mark's grieving widow, tea shop proprietress and gumshoe Theodosia Browning offers to collect his belongings from his office. There, she discovers that a surprising number of co-workers, including a spurned lover and a professional rival, had reason to want Mark dead. Yet again, Childs proves herself skilled at local color, serving up cunning portraits of Southern society and delectable descriptions of dishes like cheesy crab casserole (recipe included). (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

Although Theodosia Browning barely knows a Phalinopsis from a Bog Rose, she still enjoys Charleston's Spring Plantation Ramble, especially since she can promote her Indigo Tea Shop and her latest concoction, Dragonwell Sweet Tea. But the party's over when Mark Congdon wins a bid for a rare orchid-and promptly dies. It looks like a simple heart attack, but Theo suspects that someone purposely turned his green thumb blue.