Scrapbooking Mysteries Books
From the author of the popular Tea Shop Mysteries comes the first in a cozy crafting mystery series! New Orleans scrapbooking shop owner Carmela Bertrand delights her customers with her stunning arrangements of their scrapbooks. But among her clients’ keepsakes she finds a tip of her own—about a murder... Business is booming and life is cozy for Carmela at her scrapbooking shop, Memory Mine. But when one of the city’s elite dies during Mardi Gras, the police name Carmela’s estranged husband as their number one suspect. Although Carmela hasn’t forgotten how he scrapped their marriage, she doesn’t think he is cut out to be a killer. And if Shamus is being framed, Carmela might be the only one who can find the pattern and solve the case in time...
The second Scrapbooking Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of the popular Tea Shop Mysteries . Carmela Bertrand is hosting a late-night “Crop Till You Drop” session at her quaint French Quarter scrapbooking shop, Memory Mine. All the usual suspects have turned up to trim, decorate, color, and gossip. But their all-night crop comes to a screeching halt when a neighboring antiques-shop owner winds up murdered in the alley behind the cozy store. And when Carmela and her customers become the focus of the police investigation, the scrapbooking expert realizes it’s her responsibility to rearrange the jumble of clues and pick out the real killer—before he strikes again… Scrapbook tips included!
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.
After Hurricane Katrina, scrapbooking shop owner Carmela Bertrand has her hands full getting Memory Mine back in business-and her relationship with her ex-husband, Shamus, back on its feet. But then Shamus is kidnapped, and Carmela discovers Shamus's Uncle Henry, murdered. Carmela puts together a sentimental scrapbook of memories and keepsakes of Henry. But her project holds a clue that could identify the killer and kidnapper-and the murderer is going to try to close the book on Carmela once and for all.
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.
Amid Zydeco rhythms and popping champagne corks, bead-draped revelers are moving into the streets, and Jekyl Hardy is playing host to a party in his elegant French Quarter apartment. 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. The only things wilder than the crime are the far-flung theories about who did it - from a ritualistic slaying to a mob hit to the outlandish work of a rival Mardi Gras float builder. Handsome detective Edgar Babcock isn't buying any of it. Neither is Carmela, and the odd clues are bringing out the sleuth in her: gold paint on the victim's shoes, a strange coin found next to his body, his ransacked apartment, and the peculiar fact that no one at the party really knew him. Only one thing is clear: Whoever killed Archie is following Carmela - straight into the chaos of Mardi Gras.
A New Orleans mansion is being converted into a haunted house for tourists and scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand has been enlisted to help. No sooner does the project begin than someone winds up dead.
With its history of spooky folklore, New Orleans offers the perfect atmosphere for Halloween. Scrappy sleuth Carmela Bertrand is getting into the spirit by building a giant puppet for the French Quarter's Halloween Monsters and Mayhem parade. But things get terrifying earlier than expected when she overhears an argument between Jekyll Hardy and Brett Fowler-and minutes later, finds Fowler's lifeless body.
When a fellow scrapbooker is bludgeoned with a religious statue in St. Tristan’s Church, a stolen relic may hold the key to catching the culprit... The last thing Carmela Bertrand and her friend Ava expect to bear witness to in St. Tristan’s Church is a crime. But now a beloved member of their scrapbooking circle is lying lifeless next to a smashed statue of St. Sebastian—and a mysterious hooded figure has absconded with an antique crucifix. With so many tourists passing through the church, the police don’t have a prayer of finding the killer. But if anyone can get to the bottom of the crime, it’s Carmela’s main squeeze, Detective Edgar Babcock—with a little assistance from some scrappy sleuths. As Carmela and Ava are drawn deeper into New Orleans’ French Quarter in search of the missing crucifix, they discover that this is one killer they don’t want to cross… SCRAPBOOKING TIPS INCLUDED!
New Orleans is in the throes of another fantastic Mardi Gras celebration when the party gets crashed by a murderer. Now a scrapbooking sleuth is going to have to stop the partying to catch the killer… There’s a parade rolling through the historic French Quarter, with gigantic floats, silver beads, and dizzying lights—and Kimber Breeze of KBEZ-TV is broadcasting live from a small balcony on the fourth floor of the Hotel Tremain, interviewing locals and capturing the spectacle down below. Her next subject will be Carmela Bertrand, owner of Memory Mine scrapbooking shop. Carmela has never been a fan of Kimber, but she isn’t about to turn down the chance of good publicity for her shop. But before Carmela’s shop gets its five minutes of fame, a killer slips onto the balcony and strangles Kimber with a cord, leaving her body dangling above the parade. Carmela is horrified, but she quickly discovers the nightmare isn’t over. Because someone is now leaving strange postcards at Carmela’s shop—signed by the dead Kimber. Now Carmela and her friend Ava will have to risk their own necks to find out who’s posing as a ghost—and to expose a killer… INCLUDES SCRAPBOOKING TIPS
Louisiana businessman Jerry Earl Leland served only a fraction of his five-year sentence for white-collar crime, thanks to some political connections and a few greased palms. But he won’t have long to enjoy his freedom… After Jerry Earl’s early release, his wife, Margo—a much-married Garden District doyenne—throws an extravagant Get Out of Jail Free Party, complete with a Zydeco band, champagne ice luge, and waiters in ties and tails. The guest list includes many prominent New Orleans socialites, as well as scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand and her best friend, Ava Gruiex. But sometime during the swirl of partying and drinking, Jerry Earl is brutally murdered—then stuffed inside a clothes dryer. Carmela has earned a reputation around town for solving murders, and when the grieving widow turns to her for help, she can’t say no. But Jerry Earl took a lot of people to the cleaners with his underhanded business tactics, so Carmela’s going to be hard-pressed to identify which of his enemies was steamed enough to kill him. As she sorts through Jerry Earl’s dirty laundry, she needs to collar the killer before another victim is set to tumble dry… Scrapbooking Tips and Recipes Included!
Carmela Bertrand knows that Halloween in New Orleans means a week of rabble-rousing, costumed craziness—and she can’t wait to get the party started. But when a local antiques dealer turns up dead, Carmela suddenly finds herself in a real-life danse macabre… An evening’s work deciding on the class schedule for her scrapbooking shop has put Carmela in the mood to kick up her heels. But after some strange noises draw her into Oddities, the neighboring antiques shop, Carmela’s night is abruptly put on hold when a bloody body falls out of a curio cabinet—and into her arms. While shop owner Marcus Joubert was known for being an eccentric with a penchant for eclectic merchandise, Carmela never thought he was the kind of man who could inspire the passion required to kill. But when Marcus’s assistant—and fiancée—Mavis reveals that a priceless death mask was also stolen, it becomes clear that murder wasn’t the culprit’s sole intention. Carmela can’t resist the urge to investigate the growing mystery, but as the list of suspects increases, she realizes it’ll take every trick in the book to unmask the killer thief before there’s another night of murderous mischief…
The Winter Market in the French Quarter is in full swing, but murder isn’t taking a holiday in this festive mystery in the New York Times bestselling Scrapbooking series. The holidays are a busy time for scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand—but not so hectic that she doesn’t have time to enjoy browsing the booths at the Winter Market with her best friend, Ava. The last thing the ladies expect to see is a lurching man stabbed by a serving fork, dying in front of them. The victim is loathed restaurant critic Martin Lash, who posted his scathing reviews on the Glutton for Punishment website. And the prime suspect is New Orleans restaurateur Quigg Brevard—who was seen giving the critic a tongue-lashing minutes before someone stuck a fork in him. An old flame of Carmela’s, Quigg asks for her help, which does not please her current beau, Detective Edgar Babcock, to say the least. Before her relationship is the next victim, Carmela needs to find a murderer who had no reservations about punishing the culinary curmudgeon… “The plot is detailed with layers of mysteries...The rich descriptions and dialog bring this story to life.”—Open Book Society SCRAPBOOKING TIPS INCLUDED!
An exploding Mardi Gras float has got to be the strangest murder weapon scrappy sleuth Carmela Bertrand has ever encountered in this latest Scrapbooking Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author. It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans and scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is excited to be attending the Pluvius Parade along with her best friend Ava. Carmela's ex-husband Shamus rides by the duo on his float at the head of the parade, when suddenly the revelry turns to disaster. Shamus' float crashes and explodes, and although Shamus escapes unhurt, a member of his krewe is killed. Carmela and Ava plunge into an investigation of the krewe-member's death, but as they dig deeper it starts to look less like an accident and more like a murder....and Shamus seems less like a victim, and more like a suspect.
A shocking murder strikes a sour note during Jazz Fest in the latest New Orleans Scrapbooking Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Laura Childs. It's Jazz Fest in New Orleans, and the giant puppets from the Beastmaster Puppet Theatre are parading through the French Quarter. Some are very spooky and veiled, others are tall and gangly, like strange aliens. As the parade proceeds, Carmela Bertrand and her best friend, Ava, follow behind, down Royal Street and past the food booths. Suddenly, they hear a terrible crash from Devon Dowling's antiques shop. They rush inside to find Devon collapsed with blood streaming down the side of his face. Has he been shot? Stabbed? 911 is hastily called, and the police and EMTs show up. After the police examine Devon's body, they tell Carmela and Ava that their friend was murdered with an icepick. They're shocked beyond belief—and now Mimi, Devon's little pug, is left homeless. Carmela and Ava are determined to catch the murderer, but the list of suspects is long. How long do they have before they find themselves on the killer's list?