Review & Giveaway: Parchment and Old Lace by Laura Childs

Title: Parchment and Old Lace    

Author: Laura Childs    

Series: A Scrapbooking Mystery, #13     

Published: October 2015, Berkley   

Format: Hardcover, 336 pages   

Source: Author  

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.

My thoughts: This is the 13th book in Laura Child’s A Scrapbooking Mystery series and I really enjoy this series. It’s such a fun cozy mystery series and I just adore all the characters.

Usually when I read this series, I find that I’m in the dark until the very end as to who the murderer really is, but this time, I had my suspicions about halfway through and they turned out to be correct. But, what I loved is that this in no way detracted from my enjoyment of this book. I loved seeing if my suspicions would prove to be correct and therefore enjoyed seeing how all the red-herrings played out. 

I love how determined Carmela becomes in her sleuthing, despite the many warnings she gets from her beau, detective Babcock. But this time, there were a few instances where he played both sides of the fence – he wanted her to stay out of the investigation, but he wanted her to look into certain things. That seems a little bit like mixed messages if you ask me and no wonder why Carmela continues to do her sleuthing thing, knowing that Babcock’s bark is usually worse than his bite.

Besides the murder investigation, there were some interesting happenings going on. I loved the idea of The Mourning Cloak show at the museum – that is definitely an exhibit I would love to see, as macabre as it sounds. It also reminds me of another series that I need to get back to reading, Christine Trent’s Lady of Ashes series, which is about a Victorian undertaker. And then there there are all the fun classes that happen at Memory Mine, the scrapbooking store Carmela owns – these always make me want to pull out my own scrapbooking stuff and get scrapping!

Books in this series:

1. Keepsake Crimes                         9.  Skeleton Letters
2. Photo Finished                            10.  Postcards from the Dead
3. Bound for Murder                      11.  Gilt Trip
4. Motif for Murder                        12.  Gossamer Ghost
5. Frill Kill                                         13.  Parchment and Old Lace
6. Death Swatch
7. Tragic Magic
8. Fiber & Brimstone  

 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS – (US/Canada only)  

Thanks to the publisher, two reader can win a copy of  Parchment and Old Lace  by Laura Childs. To enter the giveaway, please fill out the form by October 15th.

  
 

This giveaway is open to US/Canada residents only and ends October 15th.  

 

Good Luck!!!