POSTCARDS FROM THE DEAD
by Laura Childs
The death of a television reporter provides the newest case for a scrapbooking amateur sleuth.
New Orleans entrepreneur Carmela Bertrand, of the French Quarter scrapbooking shop Memory Mine, may be a great designer, but it’s sleuthing that provides the excitement in her life, much to the displeasure of her boyfriend, Detective Edgar Babcock. In the midst of Mardi Gras madness, Carmela’s waiting her turn to be interviewed by Kimber Breeze. When she steps out onto the balcony, she finds Kimber hanging from the railing. Although as usual, Babcock warns her off, Carmela and her fashionista sidekick, Ava, start to investigate, looking for a clue in Kimber’s life that led to her death. She starts to find postcards of cemeteries with cryptic warnings and even has her apartment smoke bombed. Furious, she keeps investigating Kimber’s boyfriend, her boss, the assistant who’s thrilled to take her place, and the subjects of some of the stories Kimber had proposed. Deeply connected to the New Orleans social scene through her wealthy ex-husband, Carmela is invited to all the best parties. She eats and drinks her away around town as she digs for motives.
Carmela’s eighth (Skelton Letters, 2011, etc.) delves deeply into the Big Easy’s food, culture and fashion scene. The mystery is upstaged by the appended recipes and scrapbooking tips.