Scrapbooking Mystery Series in order: How to read the Laura Childs’s series?

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks!

Need some scrapbooking tips and recipes, with a side of cozy mysteries? Written by Laura Childs (author of The Tea Shop Mysteries and Cackleberry Club Mysteries), this series is exactly what you are searching for!

The story takes place in New Orleans where Carmela Bertrand, owner of Memory Mine, a scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter, is solving murder mysteries as an amateur sleuth (with her friend Ava) when she’s not too busy helping her clients finish their scrapbooks, of course.

How to read Laura Childs’ Scrapbooking Mysteries In Order?

Each book in the Scrapbooking Mystery series offers a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one book to the other.

  1. Keepsake Crimes – Business is booming and life is cozy for Carmela at her scrapbooking shop, Memory Mine. But when one of the city’s elite dies during Mardi Gras, the police name Carmela’s estranged husband as their number one suspect. Although Carmela hasn’t forgotten how he scrapped their marriage, she doesn’t think he is cut out to be a killer. And if Shamus is being framed, Carmela might be the only one who can find the pattern and solve the case in time…
  2. Photo Finished – Carmela Bertrand is hosting a late-night “Crop Till You Drop” session at her quaint French Quarter scrapbooking shop, Memory Mine. All the usual suspects have turned up to trim, decorate, color, and gossip. But their all-night crop comes to a screeching halt when a neighboring antiques–shop owner winds up murdered in the alley behind the cozy store. And when Carmela and her customers become the focus of the police investigation, the scrapbooking expert realizes it’s her responsibility to rearrange the jumble of clues and pick out the real killer–before he strikes again…
  3. Bound for Murder – New Orleans scrapbooking shop owner Carmela Bertrand’s pre-wedding party is overshadowed when a friend’s intended groom is murdered. Asked by the heartbroken bride to look into the case, Carmela must help her friend pick up the pieces while wrapping up a murder that has more than one lethal loose end.
  1. Motif for Murder – After Hurricane Katrina, scrapbooking shop owner Carmela Bertrand has her hands full getting Memory Mine back in business and her relationship with her ex-husband, Shamus, back on its feet. But then Shamus is kidnapped, and Carmela discovers Shamus’s Uncle Henry, murdered. Carmela puts together a sentimental scrapbook of memories and keepsakes of Henry. But her project holds a clue that could identify the killer and kidnapper-and the murderer is going to try to close the book on Carmela once and for all.
  2. Frill Kill – For Carmela Bertrand, a New Orleans shop owner who can turn any scrapbook into a treasure, this Halloween will feature more than the usual scares. On her way home from a ghoulish gathering, Carmela finds the dead body of a model and is then attacked herself. Her leads are many, including animal tooth marks on the deceased’s neck. And as the witching hour draws closer, Carmela must find what?s lurking in the shadows or get the fright of her life.
  3. Death Swatch – Amid Zydeco rhythms and popping champagne corks, scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is having a wild night at a Mardi Gras party until she finds a float designer murdered on a balcony.
  1. Tragic Magic – A New Orleans mansion is being converted into a haunted house for tourists and scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand has been enlisted to help. No sooner does the project begin than someone winds up dead.
  2. Fiber & Brimstone – With its history of spooky folklore, New Orleans offers the perfect atmosphere for Halloween. Scrappy sleuth Carmela Bertrand is getting into the spirit by building a giant puppet for the French Quarter’s Halloween Monsters and Mayhem parade. But things get terrifying earlier than expected when she overhears an argument between Jekyll Hardy and Brett Fowler–and minutes later, finds Fowler’s lifeless body.
  3. Skeleton Letters – The last thing Carmela Bertrand and her friend Ava expect to bear witness to in St. Tristan’s Church is a crime. But now a beloved member of their scrapbooking circle is lying lifeless next to a smashed statue of St. Sebastian-and a mysterious hooded figure has absconded with an antique crucifix. With so many tourists passing through the church, the police don’t have a prayer of finding the killer.
  1. Postcards from the Dead – Kimber Breeze of KBEZ-TV is broadcasting live from a hotel balcony in the French Quarter, interviewing locals and capturing the spectacle in the streets. But as Carmela Bertrand, owner of Memory Mine scrapbooking shop, waits to be interviewed next, someone sneaks onto the balcony and strangles Kimber with a cord, leaving her body dangling above the parade. Soon after the murder, Carmela begins receiving strange postcards at her shop-signed by the late reporter. Now she and her friend Ava must risk their own necks to find out who’s posing as a ghost and expose a killer…
  2. Gilt Trip – Scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand and her best friend, Ava, are off to a party. Prominent socialite Margo Leland is throwing an extravagant fete to welcome home her husband, Jerry Earl. There’s a zydeco band, champagne ice luge, and waiters in ties and tails. But in the midst of the revelry, Jerry Earl is murdered–then stuffed inside a clothes dryer. When the grieving widow turns to her for help, Carmela can’t say no. But Jerry Earl took a lot of people to the cleaners with his underhanded business tactics, so Carmela’s going to be hard-pressed to identify which of his enemies was steamed enough to kill him. As she sorts through Jerry Earl’s dirty laundry, she needs to collar the killer before another victim is set to tumble dry…
  3. Gossamer Ghost – Scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is ready to head out and enjoy her night until she hears some strange noises coming from Oddities, the neighboring antiques shop, and decides to investigate. Her evening plans are abruptly put on hold when out of a curio cabinet–and into her arms–falls the bloody body of Oddities owner Marcus Joubert. While Joubert was known for being an eccentric, Carmela never thought he could inspire the passion required to kill–until she learns a priceless death mask was also stolen. As the mystery grows, so does the list of suspects, leaving Carmela with the feeling that it will take every trick in the book to unmask the killer thief before there’s another night of murderous mischief… Scrapbooking Tips and Recipes Included!

The next four books were written with Terrie Farley Moran.

  1. Parchment and Old Lace – Enjoying dinner at Commander’s Palace with her beau, Detective Edgar Babcock, Carmela finds the food and the company equally divine-with the exception of Isabelle Black stopping by to brag about her upcoming wedding. Leaving the restaurant, the couple is interrupted once again–this time by a terrifying scream from inside the cemetery. Rushing to investigate, Carmela and Edgar find Isabelle lying across an aboveground tomb, strangled with a piece of vintage lace. Carmela would rather leave the case to Edgar, but she can’t say no to Isabelle’s sister, Ellie, the tarot card reader at Juju Voodoo. As she untangles the enemies of Isabelle’s past, Carmela hopes she can draw out the killer before someone else gets cold feet.
  2. Crepe Factor – The holidays are a busy time for scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand-but not so hectic that she doesn’t have time to enjoy browsing the booths at the Winter Market with her best friend, Ava. The last thing the ladies expect to see is a lurching man stabbed by a serving fork, dying in front of them. The victim is loathed restaurant critic Martin Lash, who posted his scathing reviews on the Glutton for Punishment website. And the prime suspect is New Orleans restaurateur Quigg Brevard-who was seen giving the critic a tongue-lashing minutes before someone stuck a fork in him. An old flame of Carmela’s, Quigg asks for her help, which does not please her current beau, Detective Edgar Babcock, to say the least. Before her relationship is the next victim, Carmela needs to find a murderer who had no reservations about punishing the culinary curmudgeon…
  3. Glitter Bomb – Mardi Gras means raucous parades, fantastical floats, and glittering galas. But when an exploding float spells murder, Carmela and Ava ditch their beads for detective hats.

  1. Mumbo Gumbo Murder – It’s Jazz Fest in New Orleans, and the giant puppets from the Beastmaster Puppet Theatre are parading through the French Quarter. Some are very spooky and veiled, others are tall and gangly, like strange aliens. As the parade proceeds, Carmela Bertrand and her best friend, Ava, follow behind, down Royal Street, and past the food booths. Suddenly, they hear a terrible crash from Devon Dowling’s antiques shop. They rush inside to find Devon collapsed with blood streaming down the side of his face. Has he been shot? Stabbed?

If you like our article about the Scrapbooking Mystery series in order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also be interested in more cozy mysteries like Cleo Coyle’s books, Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries or Jessica Ellicott’s series.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *