Carmela Bertrand is excited about Halloween, as she's contemplating what costumes and parties she will attend this year in New Orleans. Unfortunately, strange noises in the shop next door to her scrapbooking store, Memory Mine Scrapbooking Store, have her investigating... only to find the dead body of Marcus Joubert, the owner of Oddities. Will Carmela uncover who the real killer is in time or will she become the next victim?

I wanted to like GOSSAMER GHOST a lot more than I actually did. Laura Childs incorporates all the elements I like in a cozy mystery with the added bonus of being set in New Orleans at Halloween. Unfortunately, GOSSAMER GHOST is just not my cup of tea as the characters appear somewhat superficial. I suspect that fans who have been following the series will enjoy it far more as they will already have a vested interest in the characters, along with a better understanding of the various relationships within the series as a whole.

Laura Childs' twelfth entry in A Scrapbooking Mystery series offers readers some intriguing craft tips along with some yummy sounding recipes. I like the camaraderie between Carmela and her best friend and owner of Juju Vodoo, Ava Gruiex and will probably give A Scrapbooking Mystery series another try, but this time starting with the first book in the series.

Book Summary

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…