Tragic Magic (A Scrapbooking Mystery) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The next Scrapbooking mystery takes readers back to New Orleans, where there are spookies, foodies-and crafty killers.

Carmela, owner of Memory Mine scrapbook shop, and her best friend, owner of Juju Voodoo, have a big project. Melody Mayfeldt is converting an old mansion in the Faubourg-Marigny district into an unforgettable haunted house for those who flock to New Orleans for a creepy fix. She needs Carmela's crafty touch to make the Medusa Manor come to life in time for the upcoming horror convention.

But Melody takes her house haunting too seriously-especially when her flaming body comes crashing through a tower window to 'welcome' them to the job. Sure there's been an increased trend in murder lately, but someone specifically wanted Carmela's client very dead. Carmela's in some deep gumbo again and needs to crop out a killer from the throngs of people flocking to New Orleans. Then maybe it won't be so hard living in the Big Easy.

About the Author

Laura Childs is the bestselling author of the Tea Shop mysteries and the Scrapbooking mysteries. In her past life she was a Clio Award-winning advertising writer and the CEO of her own marketing firm.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425229890
• ISBN-13: 978-0425229897
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,474 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful cozy to read, October 18, 2009

By	Sassy girl "Sassy" - See all my reviews

I really enjoyed this mystery cozy. The heroines,
Carmela and Ava, make this book an enjoyable read for me.
Those two ladies know how to find trouble.
Visiting graveyards, designing haunted houses, finding dead bodies,
are all in a "days work" for them.
The location, New Orleans, is perfect for this mystery.
Bring out your Mari Gras beads, and sit back for an enjoyable cozy read.
The recipes and scrapbook ideas are wonderful too.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific amateur sleuth, October 10, 2009

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

After three long years wrangling over a divorce, Carmela Bertrand and Seamus are near a settlement if his sister Gloria minds her business. In the meantime, four years since Katrina, Carmela, owner of Memory Mine scrapbook shop, is finally finding her customers coming back and making money. Her friend, Melody Mayfeldt is up against a deadline to convert an old mansion Medusa Manor into a haunted house that will attract customers from all over the country. When Carmela and her friend Ava Gruiex, owner of Juju Voodoo, are near Medusa Manor, they hear a loud explosion and see a fiery body flying through a window.

The victim is Melody; a shaken Carmela and Ava are accosted by Melody's silent partner Olivia Wainwright who pleads with them to get the haunted house ready in time for the horror convection DiscordaCon. Carmela's significant other Detective Edgar Babcock tells her that Melody's husband Garth, owner of the Fire and Ice high end jewelry store, is the prime suspect; as the shop is bankrupt and he recently took out insurance on his late wife. Carmela and the cops have other suspects, but as each investigates separately increasingly Garth looks guilty.

New Orleans is still trying to return to normal as the Big Easy, but there is plenty left to do. Although fans will have to accept Carmela's need to sleuth, as part of her being a strong independent person who refuses to let neither Seamus nor Edgar bully her; ironically their motives on the altruism scale are wide apart. Fast-paced with plenty of action, TRAGIC MAGIC is terrific scrapbooking amateur sleuth mystery in which the audience will enjoy stomping through the mud while trying to determine who killed Melody before the heroine can.

Harriet Klausner

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't get through the book, October 24, 2009

By	mysfan "mysfan" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

The problem with this book is the stilted and phony dialogue. No one talks like these people. Who uses words like "wonky" and "snarky"? If the characters aren't credible, no matter how good the plot is, the book won't work. Carmela and Ava are not 3 dimensional characters. Their actions and conversations are not believeable. The author tries to inject 4 letter words from the mouths of these characters, but it sounds too fake. This is supposed to be a cozy mystery, not a hard-boiled procedural. I was so distracted by the ridiculous wording and conversations that I couldn't make it through a third of the book. While the scrapbooking shop premise and New Orleans setting are strong, the characters are not authentic or even likable, so there was no point in finishing.