Crepe Factor: A Scrapbooking Mystery

Bestseller Childs, with the help of Agatha Award%E2%80%93winner Moran (Well Read, Then Dead), has whipped up a frothy concoction for the 14th Scrapbooking mystery (after 2015's Parchment and Old Lace). While shopping at the Winter Market in New Orleans's French Quarter, Carmela Bertrand, owner of the Memory Mine scrapbooking shop, and her BFF, Ava Gruiex, witness the murder of Martin Lash, a restaurant critic who relishes trashing chefs in his reviews. The prime suspect is Carmela's ex-boyfriend, Quigg Brevard, a restaurateur and the victim of one of Lash's scathing reviews. The two men engaged in a loud public confrontation only a few minutes before someone fatally stabbed Lash with a huge serving fork. Quigg, who's convinced that Det. Edgar Babcock, Carmela's current squeeze, has it in for him, begs Carmela to investigate on his behalf. Carmela doesn't want to upset Babcock, but she can't resist trying to clear Quigg and plunges in. Cozy lovers who don't demand a plausible plot will enjoy the colorful characters, crafting tips, the New Orleans setting, and the Cajun recipes. (Oct.)