Scrapbook of the Dead

Mollie Cox Bryan

Sep 2015 · A Cumberland Creek Mystery Book 5 · Kensington Cozies

About this ebook

Halloween means spooky scrapbooks for the Cumberland Creek Scrapbook Crop, but what's been happening around town is truly frightening. First a dead woman is found in the freezer at Pamela's Pie Palace, and the next day a second woman is found murdered by the river. Reporter Annie Chamovitz learns the victims were sisters and is certain their deaths are linked. Most bizarre of all, both women were found clutching scrapbook pages.

As their Saturday night crop quickly becomes an opportunity to puzzle out the murders, the ladies begin to wonder if Pamela is hiding more than her secret recipes for delicious pies--or if the crimes are related to the startling discovery that there are gangs in Cumberland Creek. As All Hallows Eve approaches, the crafty croppers must cut and paste the clues to unmask a deadly killer.

Includes tips and a glossary of terms for the modern scrapbooker!

Ratings and reviews

Scrapbook of the Dead by Mollie Cox Bryan is the fifth book in A Cumberland Creek Mystery series. Annie Chamovitz is a freelance reporter working on her last story as a freelance reporter in Cumberland Creek, Virginia. Randy Swanson found a dead body in the freezer of Pamela’s Pie Palace owned by Pamela Kraft. The young woman is Marina Martelino. She was found with a scrapbook page in her hand. Marina worked at Pamela’s Pie Palace as a baker. The next day her sister, Esmerelda is found dead. She also had a scrapbook page in her hand. Who wanted these two women (sisters) dead and why? Both girls are from Mexico. The two women came to America through an agency as do many of Pamela’s kitchen employees. Annie, DeeAnn, Sheila, Vera, Cookie, Karen and the scrapbook group set out to solve the crime. Annie is surprised to find out that there is a large Mexican population in Cumberland Creek. She has not noticed it before this case (it’s a small town. How could she not notice? She is a reporter.) Will the scrapbooking group be able to solve the crime before the killer strikes again? I have read previous books in the series, but this is the first one in over a year. I found it to be very confusing and hard to read. It jumps around from Annie to Sheila to Karen then Vera. It is hard to keep it straight. There are just too many people in the book (you have the main characters as well as their families). I wish just one person like Annie was the main character and a couple of side people or friends. The scenes changed quickly which added to the confusion. One minute you are with Annie and then Karen and then someone else. There is too much going on in the book. Besides the murder, we have Annie doing her last story, Karen dating someone that the group does not like or approve of, scrapbooking (I liked this part), Sheila’s not happy with her job, DeeAnn’s back injury and pill addiction, Cookie’s amnesia, and Emma Drummond agoraphobia. I just think that too much was packed into one story (because there are too many characters). I did like the scrapbooking and card making tips as well as information on digital scrapbooking. Overall, the book does have a lovely setting (Cumberland Creek, Virginia), interesting characters (just too many), and an interesting murder mystery. The author provides some twists along the way to solving the murder. I liked that the mystery was more complicated and not easy to solve. I give Scrapbook of the Dead 3.75 out of 5 stars. I received a complimentary copy of Scrapbook of the Dead from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

About the author

Mollie Cox Bryan writes cozy mysteries with edge and romances with slow, sweet burn. The first book in her Cora Crafts Mystery series, Death Among the Doilies, was a "Fresh Fiction Not to Miss” selection and was a finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Award. The second book, No Charm Intended, was named a “Summer 2017 Top 10 Beach Read” by Woman's World. She also wrote the Agatha-award nominated Cumberland Creek Mysteries. She makes her home at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, where she works as a researcher and fact checker and writes in the early morning hours. Visit her and sign up for her newsletter at molliecoxbryan.com.