Customer Reviews

Tragic Magic (Scrapbooking Mystery)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a story set in New Orleans, the atmosphere reverberating through the tale constantly. An old house is being renovated and some strange and dangerous events occur, and someone is found dead. The main character is a lady running a scrapbooking and decorating shop, who wants to redecorate the old house. Local foods and drinks are often mentioned, and it is certainly worth reading if you want to get a flavour of the city.

My attention did wander at times though, the author failed to involve me. I did not find the crafts very interesting though I have read several crafting series. I usually read these books for the mystery but I did not care who had done it or why. I tried another of this series in which the costumes and floats were being made for the Mardi Gras carnival and that was more interesting. Those committed to the scrapbooking craft will enjoy this more than I did. Otherwise, you can skip over those sessions - they are quite lengthy and contribute nothing to the storyline.

Laura Childs has also written a series about a tea shop where many varieties of tea are sold, or offered in tasting sessions, or cooked with, and enliven the titles. Gunpowder Green, Death by Darjeeling, Earl Grey and others. To my mind that is a better series, partly because I took more to the characters and partly because I am not that keen on scrapbooking, which seems to be a craft devoted to making dust-catching little display boxes full of things you'd otherwise throw away and photos you'd save in an album. And the shop sells bits of ribbon, glue, old coins, fancy papers and many other things that nobody needs to buy - consumerism gone mad. Naturally it is ladies of a certain age who are the crafters. That is fine and I hope they enjoy it, but I think crafters who make clothes are more practical, such as the Maggie Sefton series about a wool shop in the mountain country.

This is the seventh book in the Scrapbooking Mystery series by Laura Childs.

Carmela Bertrand is the owner of a little scrapbooking store in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Carmela's business is blooming and she is just beginning to get some order back into her chaotic life, now that she is finally divorcing her annoying husband Shamus and is starting a new relationship with the caring but a bit overprotective Detective Edgar Babcock. Creative Carmela and her best friend and Voodoo store owner, Ava are super busy converting Medusa Manor, into a haunted house attraction. When the mansion's owner Melody is murdered, Carmela and Ava decide to help Melody's husband, Garth clear his name, so they begin to investigate the case.

This is a well written mystery, with well developed and likable characters, fascinating and gripping plot, great descriptions of New Orleans and fantastic atmosphere. However, although I liked the book, Laura Childs is beginning to be a little repetitive with her Scrapbooking Mysteries. Although reading this series, at first I could not relate to the New Orleans lifestyle and the characters somehow didn't seem real to me, gradually they grew on me and now I am really looking forward to the next book in the series, Fiber & Brimstone (Scrapbooking Mystery).

Apart from the great mystery plot, as this is a Scrapbooking Mystery there are a lot of Scrapbooking trivia; information about various techniques and materials, decoration ideas and various crafting ideas, all these weaved into the story. Also, there are very detailed descriptions of the mouth-watering dishes prepared by Carmela and her friends and there are recipes at the end of the book for some of these great dishes. In addition to the recipes, there are interesting and useful Scrapbook, Stamping, and Craft Tips from Laura Childs.

The Favorite New Orleans Recipes include "Andouille Sausage Gumbo", "Mystery Muffins", "Brown Sugar and Sour Cream Butter", "Carmela's Cocoa Loco Pie", "Parmesan Shrimp Bake", "Monkey Bread", "Southern Coffee Cookies", "Chicken Piccata", "New Orleans Roast Beef Po Boy", "Deep-Fried Strawberries", and "Frozen Daiquiri".

Another fantastic book,I find that I am running out of what to say when we continually get books of the fascination of the Scrapbook Mystery Series. They are so good & again they are hard to put down once you start reading them.
I hope everyone enjoyes them as much as I do, I know my friends are pleased that I have found another great author.