Death Swatch: A Scrapbooking Mystery (Scrapbooking Mysteries) | Laura Childs

Death Swatch: A Scrapbooking Mystery (Scrapbooking Mysteries) | Laura Childs | Swatch Out for Murder

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Death Swatch: A Sc...

	Death Swatch: A Scrapbooking Mystery (Scrapbooking Mysteries) Laura Childs Berkley Hardcover, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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Murder comes to Mardi Gras! The seventh in the popular series?including scrapbooking tips.

Jekyl Hardy is hosting a Mardi Gras party in his French Quarter apartment, amid Zydeco rhythms and popping champagne corks. On a wild night like this, anything can happen. The guests?including scrapbook-store owner Carmela Bertrand?never imagine it will be murder. But as the evening progresses, Jekyl?s neighbor, float designer Archie Baudier, is found on the balcony choked to death with a barbed wire garrote. Buried up to her neck in strange clues, Carmela is sure of only one thing: whoever killed Archie is now following her? straight into the madness of Mardi Gras.

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riveting cerebral amateur sleuth

Three years has past since The Hurricane placed New Orleans on life support but the city is returning as symbolized by the Mardi Gras. At least that is the opinion of Memory Mine scrapbook store owner Carmela Bertrand. Accompanied by her friend Ava, owner of a voodoo shop, they attend a party tossed by Jekyl Hardy who introduces them to float designer Archie Baudier. When Carmela goes to leave she finds Archie dead with barbed wire wrapped around his neck.

Jekyl asks Carmela to investigate Archie's murder as she has done successfully before (see FRILL KILL). She agrees and shows him a coin she found on his balcony where Archie died. With Ava's help she begins the inquiries at the apartments of Jekyl and Archie where she finds their hidden compartment containing the deceased's coin collection. Carmela is stunned when she finds out that Archie was an absinthe drinker which is illegal. As she follows the clues, someone is watching her just in case she gets too close to the truth.

Three years since Katrina wiped out the city leaves the story line with a gothic background that enhances the riveting cerebral amateur sleuth while also asking where the Marshal Plan is to rebuild New Orleans and the nearby parishes. Carmela is terrific as she has come a long way baby from the wimp she once was whose spouse abused her emotionally and mentally; in fact she demands a fair settlement from him as they divorce. The case proves how independent and courageous she has become as even a Russian mobster fails to scare her off. Although why she took on the investigation even for a friend is never adequately explained, readers will appreciate the latest scrapbooking cozy with a great final twist and tips and recipes.

Harriet Klausner

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Swatch Out for Murder

Party time in New Orleans! Mardi Gras in the Big Easy, and part-Cajun Carmela Bertrand is right there sipping a Purple Haze at her friend Jekyl Hardy's elegant digs in the French Quarter--where else?

Carmela belongs to the French Quarter, and the French Quarter belongs to her. It's where she works at her scrapbook shop, Memory Mine, where she lives, and where she plays--often with her best pal, the flirtatious Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo Shop just across the way. Now Ava introduces her to Jeykl's handsome next-door neighbor Archie. Ava is angling for a Saturday night date with him, but it's not to be. Faster than a vampire's fang, he lies dead, garroted with knotted strands of barbed wire.

The next day, when Carmela is busy giving creative tips to her crafting customers, a distressed Jeykl drops by Memory Mine. Will Carmela do a little sleuthing, find out more about Archie and his death? (This should be no surprise to either Carmela or the reader. Death Swatch is the sixth in author Laura Childs' "Scrapbooking Mysteries" series.) How can Carmela turn down her friend? She and Ava are off on an adventure that takes them, and us, through the glamour of old New Orleans, the building of Mardi Gras floats, and some scary times in a lonely bayou in search not only of the murderer but also of long-hidden treasure.

Childs has a great eye for place and captures the Big Easy well. She manages to throw in a nice (and palatable) dose of American history and some good New Awlins cooking. The final treat is an appendix with craft hints and recipes, including the infamous Purple Haze. Try the bread pudding and "Laissez les bon temps rouler." Let the good times roll!

by Patricia Nordyke Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

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Another good one!

I really enjoy all of Laura Child's books and this latest additon to the Scrapbooking Mystery Series is no exception! Her descriptions of New Orleans are spot on, the history is great, not to mention the recipes at the end of the book. I look forward to other books in the series...especailly since the romance has started!!

DEATH WATCHER

THIS IS A VERY GOOD BOOK IN THE CONTINUATION OF THE SERIES. AMAZON SHIPPED IT PROMTLY AND SAFELY WHICH WAS ALSO APPRECIATED SO THAT THE BOOK I WANTED TO READ WAS INDEED IN EXCELLANT SHAPE TO ENJOY. RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WHO LIKES MYSTERIES, ESPECIALLY LIGHT ONES.

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