Customer Reviews

Paper, Scissors, Death: A Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mystery

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm no scrapbooker. In fact, I'm not very crafty at all, so I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy a "Scrap and Craft" mystery.

I needn't have worried. Kiki the professional victim drove me a little crazy at first, as I'm more of a (less hairy) Dodie, myself. But I loved the way Kiki's friends Dodie and Mert quickly signed her up for "Tough Tamales University, School of Hard Knocks" and toughened her right up.

What I'm saying is that I was hooked from the first line to the last. I finished the book this morning, and have spent the rest of the day still thinking about Kiki's life and imagining what will happen next. The characters were real to me, the sense of place was perfect, and the mystery was solid, deftly handled.

One of my favorite things about this book was the setting. I love a good book set in St. Louis, and this one was more so than most. It wasn't just the names of the streets and malls: I know those Ladue moms, and I loved how Kiki held her flashlight like she was Albert Pujols at bat when she was going after the intruder in her house.

But it's not just local flavor. Slan is a great writer with a real knack for description. When she's depressed, Kiki sees a November sky like mixed concrete. The whole book is full of great little observations like that. And while most of the book is very fast-paced and funny, occasionally Slan slows things down with some fabulous descriptive prose.

I assumed that a scrapbooking mystery would *have* to be a cozy, but I'm not sure if this one is or not. It's definitely a traditional mystery, but there's more heft to this novel than most cozies, weighing in at 327-trade-paperback-sized pages, though it's still a very quick read. That's because there's a bit more action and violence than you might find in most cozies. Not too much violence, and definitely no bad language (Kiki wouldn't stand for it!) but she does find herself in harm's way from time to time.

This was a good, fun read. Highly recommended!

First, the lead character, Kiki Lowenstein, came across to me as being too dumb for words. Her husband had a heart attack, or was is murder, under rather questionable circumstances and his business partner swooped in a little too quickly demanding repayment of missing funds,. What woman who has an 11 year old to support would just up and sell everything she owns to pay back a supposed half a million dollar debt. No proof, no paperwork, no anything. Dumb.

Second, if you are being investigated for murdering said husband, why would the lead investigator come to your home and make dinner or was it breakfast, for you? Any episode of Law and Order would show you that this would never happen, and it doesn't matter how cute your great dane is.

I am really beginning to question this whole cozy mystery genre. Many of the books are just getting ridiculous, the same plots are used over and over with only the location / business / craft / and pet de jour changing.

When I first started reading cozies I loved them. The writers were unique but now it appears that anyone can jump on this bandwagon and publish a book. Sort of like Harlequin does cozies, but without the bodice ripping.

The plot is simple. Kiki Lowenstein, a scrapbooking extraordinaire, is accused of murdering her husband, her mother in law thinks that she is now an unfit parent, her husbands ex-business partner is demanding repayment of missing funds. Her husbands girlfriend is making a nuisance of herself, and wants Kiki to make her a scrapbook. Sells her million dollar home in record time and her fancy cars, keeps daughter in private school at all costs, can't have your friends talking about you. Live in substandard conditions, own a dog that is too cute for words, and when that isn't enough, in walks a police detective who will either charge you with your husbands murder or make you a meal.

As soon as I started reading Paper Scissors Death, I knew it would be an enjoyable read. It really kept me coming back and the end has quite a twist that I didn't see coming at all. The last sentence in the book will keep you coming back for more. Joanna did a great job with this book. The references to scrapbooking were right on. She hit the ball out of the park with this one. I can't wait for the sequel!

Kiki Lowenstein is in her favorite scrapbooking store Time in a Bottle when St. Louis Police Detective Chad Detweiler informs her that her husband George was found dead completely naked in an upscale hotel room. The medical examiner says he died of a heart attack, but Kiki doubts that as George had a physical six months ago with a clean bill of health. She considers investigating but instead has to deal with George's angry partner who insists he took $500,000 out of the business.

In order to pay it back and take care of her eleven-year-old daughter Anya and their dog, Kiki sells all their major assets from their upscale home to their car; they move into a rental in a lower class neighborhood. When George's mistress is murdered, Detweiler suspects Kiki as the killer especially in light of the fact that she threatened to kill Roxanne at a public social event in which the drunken mistress acted as if she was George's wife. George's mother wants custody of Anyta and someone breaks into Kiki's home stealing her computer while trying to get CD pictures of the now infamous social event. A malicious woman arranges it so that Kiki is thrown into jail for murdering Roxanne leaving Anya with her mother-in-law. Kiki loses custody of Anya and the mother-in-law from hell gets temporary custody so Kiki has to prove she was framed with only Detweiler and her close friends believing she is innocent.

This is an electrifying combination of a family drama within a whodunit. Kiki proves she has deep inner strength that even she did not know she possessed as she goes about what she must do to provide food and shelter for her daughter following the riches to rags scenario and subsequently to regain custody. Detweiler turns from enemy to friend with the possibility of a romantic interest though Kiki calls the shots in their relationship. This adds realism to an engaging cozy as the heroine with no time to breathe let alone grieve sets out to prove her innocence and regain custody of her daughter.

Harriet Klausner

This book is the first installment in a cozy mystery series. Kiki's husband is murdered and she is deemed a suspect so she begins her own investigation. With her husband's death, Kiki's life is changed--she loses money, she loses friends and she faces losing the custody of her 11 year old daughter, Anya. But with her job at the scrapbook store, good friends, a lovely Great Dane and a blossoming romance with a police detective, she might be able to make it. This was a good mystery with good twists and turns and great characters. I really enjoyed this book and will continue with the series (there are three books, to date). I borrowed this book from my public library.

[...]

I discovered Joanna Campbell Slan and her fiction debut Paper, Scissors, Death at the Manhattan Mystery Conclave a few weeks ago. I saw Joanna speak about her pet character, Gracie, and I was intrigued. So I bought her book. I had no idea what to expect from a Scrap-N-Craft mystery.

I'm not into arts and crafts. I don't like scrapbooking. I have absolutely no visual talent and even less desire to work on anything that involves glue or sticky tape. Add to that my unfortunate dislike of first-person POV and Joanna's book was in a tight spot. But I read it, and I loved it. In fact, I adore it.

I liked that Kiki, the cozy sleuth, had no idea what she was doing. Yes, she knew she needed to find the killer of her husband, but she had other more pressing issues to deal with first: without money or resources, she needed a job, a home, some safety in a life that was crashing down around her. Not model tall or model thin, she felt like a very real person thrust into a bad situation. She did her best, and I liked the way she rallied after each setback. Her friends, Dodie and Mert, were delightful in their no-nonsense approach to life. Detective Chad Detweiler received bonus points for cooking and gently pursuing a relationship with Kiki. (I'm so glad to hear that he'll stick around for the next book in this series.)

Yes, Kiki used her scrapbooking knowledge to figure out the mystery behind her husband's murder, but I didn't have to know a thing about arts and crafts to follow along. I had an interesting glimpse into a foreign world, and I enjoyed the tour. Joanna did a great job of making me feel comfortable, explaining things and not making me feel like the clueless crafter that I am. Hey, for a moment I even wondered if I could work one of those beginner kits Kiki put together for her scrapbooking students :-)

I can absolutely recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a cozy mystery.

PAPER, SCISSORS, DEATH by Joanna Campbell Slan is a really fun and enjoyable read. I liked the main character, KiKi Lowenstein right from the start and I adore her relationship with both her pre-teen daghter Anya and her beautiful dog Gracie. Her relationships with her relatives and friends are so realistic because none was perfect and to me that is real.

Although KiKi is an avid scrapbooker, the reader of this book does not need to know a darn thing about "scrapping" to enjoy this book thoroughly. That being said,I loved the scrapbook hints and ideas at the end of some of the chapters.

Now to the core of the book....... the mystery. I adore a good mystery and PAPER, SCISSORS, DEATH is just that. The book kept my interest from start to finish and the suspense was wonderful because, to me, there were many characters who could have been the one to have" dunnit". The descriptions of the characters, the places, the scrapbooking were all so good. I felt like I knew each of them. I especially fell in love with the good looking cop and pictured him looking like...... well I won't say as we all have our own idea of what a good looking cop should look like.

When I was a kid I wanted in the worst way to be Nancy Drew and I couldn't wait to go on to Nancy's next adventures. Now as an adult I look so forward to my next Mary Higgins Clark book, my next " Melanie Travis" book and now my next " KiKi Lowenstein" book!!!!

Keep up the good work Joanna!!!! We are using PAPER, SCISSORS, DEATH as our next BAD GIRLS BOOK CLUB read!!!!!!

Sue Betts, Minnesota

I loved, loved, loved this book. I laughed, I cried, and I identified with Kiki, and not just because I'm a scrapper. Can't wait to read the next story about Kiki.

I was looking for a new venue for my love of mysteries, and this was it! I'm an avid scrapper, so this book married my two loves too. I couldn't get the next book quick enough. I hope I get an Amazon gift card for Christmas so I can buy the other two!

This book is the worst book I have ever read. I couldn't put it down however, because I had to keep reading to see if it would ever get any better. It didn't, and I'm sorry I wasted my time. The characters were poorly drawn and so stereotypical, that I knew what was coming before it happened. The dialogue was contrived and so full of cliches, it about made my stomach turn. I also had a problem with the pacing and plot sequence. The timeline was so uneven, once the main character's husband was killed, she managed to sell her home and pay off a questionable debt in record time. Then, all of sudden, it was six months later, and then I don't know what kind of time passed before the "mistress" was killed. The author also provided random allusions to people in the main character's life and her belief system that had no bearing on moving the plot along. I will never read another book by Joanna Campbell Slan again.