I am so delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for Glitter Bomb (A Scrapbooking Mystery #15) by Laura Childs with Terri Farley Moran on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour. Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!
Glitter Bomb (A Scrapbooking Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
15th in Series
Berkley (October 2, 2018)
Hardcover: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 0451489543
ISBN-13: 978-0451489548
Digital ASIN: B078VVDSQT
An exploding Mardi Gras float has got to be the strangest murder weapon scrappy sleuth Carmela Bertrand has ever encountered in this latest Scrapbooking Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author.
It’s Mardi Gras in New Orleans and scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is excited to be attending the Pluvius Parade along with her best friend Ava. Carmela’s ex-husband Shamus rides by the duo on his float at the head of the parade, when suddenly the revelry turns to disaster. Shamus’ float crashes and explodes, and although Shamus escapes unhurt, a member of his krewe is killed.
Carmela and Ava plunge into an investigation of the krewe member’s death, but as they dig deeper it starts to look less like an accident and more like a murder….and Shamus seems less like a victim, and more like a suspect.
Carmela Bertrand and her bff Ava Gruiex are watching the Pluvius parade when the King Neptune float suddenly goes wonky and explodes almost in front of them. Among the krewe members on the float are her ex-hubby, Shamus Meechum, who is thrown clear but survives. One of the members who did not is krewe captain Hughes Wilder. He was close to the blast and also ingests glitter–not a good thing and no one was able to save him. It doesn’t take long before Carmela’s possibly betrothed Detective First Grade Edgar Babcock arrives on the scene and takes over, cautioning Carmela to stay out of it. Of course, knowing this is a cozy, there is no way for that to happen, especially since now it’s perceived Shamus may be a person of interest. Shamus pushes for her to clear his name while Babcock is adamant she not get involved.
Okay, I must admit the writing style, snarky and slightly immature dialogue had me flipping pages to see if it would serious up a tad. Granted, the well-plotted cozy mystery throws out a hook and ensures you’ll read far enough to engage deeply enough to see it through to the whodunit. No, it doesn’t (get serious), not really. But the back-and-forth between Carmela and Ava definitely defines their personas. Ava, the opposite of Carmela, obviously complements the friendship in a way that offsets Carmela’s shier shortcomings. While Ava, ever the bon vivant, sets a style well above the more tasteful and demure Carmela. Ava is also single, promised more, and strongly rethinking him. While both go fishing, Carmela sets small bait, Ava brings a bat.
Trying not to upset Babcock with her quiet sleuthing, Carmela goes about her business, which is a scrapbooking store (Memory Mine) cum graphic shop. She is apparently loaded with equipment and knows how to use it–and not just for photo albums. Ava is likewise self-employed. Both ladies enjoy New Orleans society and with upcoming Mardi Gras, a wealth of activities and week-long parties. Carmela gently chips away at discoveries, a few of which she shares with Babcock and gradually gains additional persons of interest.
Mardi Gras traditions, the wild and crazy jazz and zydeco atmosphere, are shared along with hints of decorating crafts (masks), and all manner of craft materials and ideas. Red herrings in the guise of unrelated pursuits take you 90 degrees out of the main plot, either putting the sleuthing on minor hold or as a way of gleaning additional tidbits about their suspects. Carmela continues to interact with Shamus while getting more and more “keep out” instructions from Babcock. (I hope he’s worth it.) Both ladies seem to have the freedom from their shops to go play (Carmela a loyal and capable assistant) and party they do. The antagonist is guessed at, not a complete surprise, but neither a #1 choice.
The author includes scrapbooking hints at the end, along with some recipes, and surprise!! A recipe for dog treats that I absolutely will try. Not my first book with this author (using another name), but with this series, I found this fairly evenly paced plot and characters could function just fine as a standalone. A fast and fun cozy that I downloaded from the publisher through NetGalley for this book tour for a read and review. Recommended for fans of Laura Child, cozy mysteries, crafts and hobbies, and women sleuths.
Please sign up here for your chance to win one of two (2) Print Copies of Glitter Bomb (A Scrapbooking Mystery) by Laura Childs with Terrie Farley Moran (U.S. Only). Rafflecopter giveaway
Laura Childs is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. In her previous life she was CEO/Creative Director of her own marketing firm and authored several screenplays. She is married to a professor of Chinese art history, loves to travel, rides horses, enjoys fundraising for various non-profits, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs.
Laura specializes in cozy mysteries that have the pace of a thriller (a thrillzy!) Her three series are:
The Tea Shop Mysteries – set in the historic district of Charleston and featuring Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop. Theodosia is a savvy entrepreneur, and pet mom to service dog Earl Grey. She’s also an intelligent, focused amateur sleuth who doesn’t rely on coincidences or inept police work to solve crimes. This charming series is highly atmospheric and rife with the history and mystery that is Charleston.
The Scrapbooking Mysteries – a slightly edgier series that take place in New Orleans. The main character, Carmela, owns Memory Mine scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter and is forever getting into trouble with her friend, Ava, who owns the Juju Voodoo shop. New Orleans’ spooky above-ground cemeteries, jazz clubs, bayous, and Mardi Gras madness make their presence known here!
The Cackleberry Club Mysteries – set in Kindred, a fictional town in the Midwest. In a rehabbed Spur station, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra, three semi-desperate, forty-plus women have launched the Cackleberry Club. Eggs are the morning specialty here and this cozy cafe even offers a book nook and yarn shop. Business is good but murder could lead to the cafe’s undoing! This series offers recipes, knitting, cake decorating, and a dash of spirituality.
Laura’s Links:
Webpage – http://www.laurachilds.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/laura.childs.31
Short-listed twice for The Best American Mystery Stories, Terrie Farley Moran is delighted to introduce mystery fans to the Read ’Em and Eat café and bookstore, which debuted with Well Read, Then Dead. followed by Caught Read-Handed and Read to Death released in July of this year. The only thing Terrie enjoys more than wrangling mystery plots into submission is playing games and reading stories with any or all of her grandchildren.
Terrie’s Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terrie.moran.9
Blog: www.womenofmystery.net
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/23186092-terrie-moran
Purchase Links:
Amazon B&N Google Books IndieBound Kobo BookBub
Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!
Tour Participants:
October 1 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
October 1 – Island Confidential – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 2 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
October 2 – Valerie’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
October 3 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST
October 3 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT
October 4 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW
October 4 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 5 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
October 5 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 6 – Cinnamon, Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder – REVIEW
October 6 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
October 7 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW
October 7 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
October 8 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW
October 9 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – REVIEW
October 9 – A Blue Million Books – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 10 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
October 10 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
October 11 – Mysteries with Character – GUEST POST
October 11 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
October 12 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW
October 12 – The Montana Bookaholic – SPOTLIGHT
October 13 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 13 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
October 14 – Readeropolis – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 14 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT 
Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!
©2018 V Williams 
What a delightful and unique cozy mystery! Of course, I always enjoy a paranormal twist to the plot and this one proved a distinctive one at that. Apparently a 1940’s PI Jack Shepard was killed in the very bookstore in which the widowed protagonist Penelope Thornton-McClure joined her Aunt Sadie as co-owner. Jack Shepard totally exudes the part of a “hard-boiled” private investigator replete with period vernacular. I’ve discussed the “hard-boiled” genre previously that incorporates the noir element to novels popular in the late forties and fifties. It’s easy to conjure Humphrey Bogart in the part, though perhaps Jack has been tempered just a tad by Penelope (Pen) as she introduces her modern-day sensitivities to Jack.
Mollie Cox Bryan is the author of the Cumberland Creek Scrapbooking mystery series and the Cora Crafts mystery series. She is also author of two cookbooks, the regional bestseller Mrs. Rowe’s Little Book of Southern Pies and Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant Cookbook: A Lifetime of Recipes from the Shenandoah Valley. An award-winning journalist and poet, she currently blogs, cooks, and scrapbooks in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband and two daughters. Scrapbook of Secrets was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Visit her on the web at molliecoxbryan.com.
Rosepoint Publishing 