Parchment and Old Lace
A Scrapbooking Mystery
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4.2 • 11 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
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
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of Childs's uneven 13th scrapbooking mystery (after 2014's Gossamer Ghost), this one coauthored with Moran (Caught Red-Handed), Carmela Bertrand, proprietor of the scrapbook shop Memory Mine, and her detective boyfriend, Edgar Babcock, have a brief encounter with assistant DA Isabelle Black the sister of Carmela's tarot card reader friend, Ellie at a New Orleans restaurant. After dinner, the couple walk to Lafayette Cemetery, where they find Isabelle strangled with a piece of antique lace. Carmela sees a possible connection to the costume collection of Vesper Baudette, the disapproving mother of Isabelle's fianc , Edward. Also providing grist for Carmela's investigating mill are the activities of Naomi Rattler, a fashion blogger; Julian Drake, an ambitious casino businessman; and Oliver Slade, Isabelle's chef ex-boyfriend. Contradictory assertions, awkward plotting, and situations that stretch credulity and cause the reader to question Carmela's judgment contribute to a less than satisfying read.
