Having read Laura Childs' teashop mystery series, I believe i prefer it to the scrapbooking series, but still an enjoyable read!

Barbara L. (
thecomet) wrote on 8/12/2008...
This is really a nice series. Takes place in New Orleans and there is historical info about the town. The characters - all of them are interesting - from the women who come to the shop and the people in the town. Camela's husband - well still her husband, but separated is being looked at for the murder of one of men in town. Camela the owner of the Scrapbook store is great, she has to get involved in solving the mystery. There are scrapbooking tips in the back and some receipes. Nice read and enjoyable. Recommend
I liked this story. It took me a while to get used to the "flowery" and overly descriptive style of writing, but I enjoyed it. About 1/2 way through, I decided to keep going and not stop until the end. I didn't predict who the murderer was, and that is a big plus. If I can't figure it out myself before I get to the end, then it's a good book. (Wish I could say that about a lot of movies and books these days). I'm an avid scrapbooker and enjoyed the scrapbooking component to the main character. Looking forward to getting another Keepsake Crimes book!!

Linda E. (
forjoy) wrote on 6/9/2008...
My first read by Laura Childs. I don't know why, but I assumed this was from a Christian author or should I say "basic Christian fiction". I did enjoy the book even with the occasional bad language. The setting of New Orleans and the colorful characters were an eyeopener for me. I went on to read several more from the series and look forward to seeing new titles come out in paperback.
I love "cozy mysteries" and scrapbooking, and thought this would a fun read. Sadly, I found the whole story to be rather predictable and "convenient", as was the ending. It focused more on New Orleans and Mardi Gra then on the "mystery" and scrapbooking.
I really enjoyed the allusions to scrapbooking, and had to giggle at its inclusion closer to the end of the book after the murderer has been revealed. Other than that and a few neat peeks into pre-Katrina New Orleans, I was not overly impressed with this book.
I've not read anything else by Ms. Childs, and though I'll read the second book in this series, that is only because of the scrapbooking theme, the fact that I've already started the series, and the next book is sitting on my shelf. It's debatable whether I'll continue after book 2, and I will probably not pick up the Tea Shop books.
The author repeats herself, restating facts every 2 or 3 chapters. She does this probably a half dozen times, and I began to feel like she doesn't think her readers are intelligent enough to follow the story. The plot was overly obvious to me, though our heroine seems to completely miss it until the very, very end and just before the revelation. She is completely surprised at the revelation, whereas it simply confirmed my own suspicions.
As a scrapbooker of 10 years, though I enjoyed the allusions to the craft, the tips themselves were not impressive. I did enjoy the fact that they are there, and hope that future books in the series have tips for the more intermediate or advanced level scrappers. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few recipes in the back of the book, though I found the talk of food and cooking a bit out of place with the craft theme.
Overall, a decent read, but not something I'll seek out in the future. I gave 3 1/2 stars for shear enjoyment - and the simple fact that it DOES include a satisfying amount of scrapbook chatter.

Sandra (
Piper) wrote on 10/15/2007...
I don't like this series as well as Ms. Child's "Tea" series. I found the women "catty". Did like the scapebooking talk. I did like Boo the dog. Hope the rest of the books in the series have more of him in them. I was concerned for him when the main charater left him running with some hound dogs while she chased down her estranged husband.

Diane M. (
ksdmom) wrote on 7/17/2007...
I thought this was pretty good. I liked this series better then then the Tea Shop Mysteries.

A. L. (
Zydeco) wrote on 1/31/2007...
Cliche and totally predictable.
This book was easy reading and more interesting than the normal mystery for anyone who scrapbooks, not edge-of-your seat exciting though.