Mumbo Gumbo Murder (A Scrapbooking Mystery) by Laura Childs and Terrie Farley Moran
A Scrapbooking Mystery, Book 16
Cozy Mystery
Berkley
October 1, 2019
Hardcover: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 0451489578
ISBN-13: 978-0451489579
Digital ASIN: B07M75KVSB
About Mumbo Gumbo Murder:
A shocking murder strikes a sour note during Jazz Fest in the latest New Orleans Scrapbooking Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Laura Childs.
It's Jazz Fest in New Orleans, and the giant puppets from the Beastmaster Puppet Theatre are parading through the French Quarter. Some are very spooky and veiled, others are tall and gangly, like strange aliens.
As the parade proceeds, Carmela Bertrand and her best friend, Ava, follow behind, down Royal Street and past the food booths. Suddenly, they hear a terrible crash from Devon Dowling's antiques shop. They rush inside to find Devon collapsed with blood streaming down the side of his face. Has he been shot? Stabbed? 911 is hastily called, and the police and EMTs show up. After the police examine Devon's body, they tell Carmela and Ava that their friend was murdered with an icepick. They're shocked beyond belief—and now Mimi, Devon's little pug, is left homeless.
Carmela and Ava are determined to catch the murderer, but the list of suspects is long. How long do they have before they find themselves on the killer's list?
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My Review:
Mumbo Gumbo Murder is the 16th book in Laura Childs’ Scrapbooking Mystery series. The book, however, is the first one in the series I’ve had a chance to read. I may have joined the party a bit late, but I found the book to fun, interesting, and easy to follow despite not having any information about the characters from previous books.
The New Orleans setting was a wonderful change of pace from settings of other cozies. Instead of being set in a small town, Mumbo Gumbo Murder is set in the heart of Mardi Gras territory. The book is set during Jazz Fest and the town is hopping when in the middle of parade, Carmela and Ava are lead to a friend’s antique store where he’s found dead on the floor. Devon’s homicide is not only upsetting, it’s puzzling since Devon is an easy-going person without any enemies. The author does a wonderful job providing several potential suspects and when it comes right down to who was responsible, disguises the true murderer fantastically. I was shocked.
The characters were likable enough and I enjoyed learning about them. Carmela is a bit indecisive but it’s not a bad trait. She is your typical cozy mystery heroine and runs into trouble headfirst. She puts herself in very dangerous situations. The “will-she-marry – won’t-she-marry Edgar Babcock” ping-pong match going on in Carmela’s mind was a bit distracting, though. The reappearance of an old boyfriend and Carmela’s ex-husband added quite the twist to the story and I found those situations interesting. Ava and Gabby are great secondary characters and I enjoyed their interactions.
Mumbo Gumbo is a great novel. I didn’t feel like I was lacking any information since I hadn’t read the previous books. What reading book 16 in the series did, though, was increase my excitement for the series. I will be starting the series from book 1 now.
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Thanks so much for your review. Laura and I are so glad you enjoyed MUMBO GUMBO MURDER.
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