A Scrapbooking Mystery

· ·
Latest release: October 1, 2019
Series
11
Books
Keepsake Crimes
Book 1·May 2003
4.2
·
$7.99
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...
Photo Finished
Book 2·Jan 2004
5.0
·
$6.99
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!
Bound For Murder
Book 3·Nov 2004
4.5
·
$6.99
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.
Skeleton Letters
Book 9·Oct 2011
4.0
·
$6.99
New York Times bestselling author Laura Childs sends her scrappy sleuths into New Orleans' French Quarter.

Is nothing sacred? The last thing Carmela Bertrand and her friend Ava expected to bear witness to in St. Tristan's Church was a crime. But now a beloved member of their scrapbooking circle lies lifeless next to a smashed statue of St. Sebastien-and a mysterious hooded figure has absconded with an antique crucifix.

As Carmela and Ava are drawn deeper into New Orleans' French Quarter in search of the missing crucifix, they may need the help of more than a few patron saints. Because this is one killer they don't want to cross...

Postcards from the Dead
Book 10·Oct 2012
4.3
·
$6.99
New Orleans is in the throes of another fantastic Mardi Gras celebration when the party gets crashed by a murderer…
 
Kimber Breeze of KBEZ-TV is broadcasting live from a hotel balcony in the French Quarter, interviewing locals and capturing the spectacle in the streets. But as Carmela Bertrand, owner of Memory Mine scrapbooking shop, waits to be interviewed next, someone sneaks onto the balcony and strangles Kimber with a cord, leaving her body dangling above the parade.
 
Soon after the murder, Carmela begins receiving strange postcards at her shop—signed by the late reporter. Now she and her friend Ava must risk their own necks to find out who’s posing as a ghost and expose a killer…
 
Scrapbooking Tips and Recipes Included!
Gilt Trip
Book 11·Oct 2013
4.0
·
$6.99
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!
Gossamer Ghost
Book 12·Oct 2014
4.3
·
$6.99
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…
Parchment and Old Lace
Book 13·Oct 2015
4.3
·
$6.99
The New York Times bestselling author of Gossamer Ghost returns to the Big Easy and the historic Garden District, where scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand discovers a bride-to-be murdered in the legendary Lafayette Cemetery…

Carmela couldn’t imagine a finer evening than dinner at Commander’s Palace with her beau, Detective Edgar Babcock. The food and the company are equally divine—with the exception of Isabelle Black stopping by to brag about her upcoming wedding. Resuming the romance with a walk in the evening air, the couple is interrupted once again—this time by a terrifying scream from inside the cemetery.

Having just seen Isabelle, Carmela and Edgar now find her lying across an aboveground tomb, strangled to death with a piece of vintage lace. Carmela would rather leave the investigating to Edgar, but she can’t say no to Isabelle’s sister Ellie, the tarot card reader at Juju Voodoo, when she asks her to help. As she untangles the enemies of Isabelle’s past, Carmela hopes she can draw out the killer before someone else gets cold feet.

INCLUDES SCRAPBOOKING TIPS
 
Crepe Factor
Book 14·Oct 2016
5.0
·
$6.99
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! 
Glitter Bomb
Book 15·Oct 2018
5.0
·
$6.99
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.
Mumbo Gumbo Murder
Book 16·Oct 2019
4.3
·
$8.99
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?