A scrapbooking mystery

New Orleans scrapbooking shop owner Carmela Bertrand is hosting a late-night "Crop Till You Drop" session-when a neighboring antique-shop owner winds up murdered in the alley. Now, the scrapbooking expert must rearrange the jumble of clues and pick out the killer.

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.

The last thing Carmela Bertrand and her friend Ava expected to bear witness to in St. Tristan's Church was 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 silver-and-gold crucifix. With the church open to the public and a popular tourist attraction, it looks like the police don't have a prayer of finding the killer. But if anyone can get to the bottom of the crime, it's Carmela's main squeeze. Detective Edgar Babcock- with a little assistance from some scrappy sleuths. As Carmela and Ava are drawn deeper into the New Orleans French Quarter in search of the missing crucifix, they may need the help of more than a few patron saints. Because this is one killer they don't want to cross....--From jacket flap.

It's Halloween in New Orleans. Ava and Carmela overhear an argument between Jekyl Hardy and Brett Fowler just minutes before they find Fowler's dead body. After another victim is discovered--who also had an unfriendly relationship with Jekyl--Carmela is convinced someone is framing her friend.

"Louisiana businessman Jerry Earl Leland served only a fraction of his five-year sentence for white-collar crime, thanks to some political connections and a few greased palms. But he won't have long to enjoy his freedom... After Jerry Earl's early release, his wife, Margo--a much-married Garden District doyenne--throws an extravagant Get Out of Jail Free Party, complete with a Zydeco band, champagne ice luge, and waiters in ties and tails. The guest list includes many prominent New Orleans socialites, as well as scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand and her best friend, Ava Gruiex. But sometime during the swirl of partying and drinking, Jerry Earl is brutally murdered--then stuffed inside a clothes dryer. Carmela has earned a reputation around town for solving murders, and when the grieving widow turns to her for help, she 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.."--