Parchment and Old Lace

By: Laura Childs, Terrie Farley Moran

Narrated by: Danielle Ferland

The New York Times best-selling author of Gossamer Ghost returns to the Big Easy and the historic Garden District, where scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand discovers a bride-to-be murdered in the legendary Lafayette Cemetery.

Carmela couldn't imagine a finer evening than dinner at Commander's Palace with her beau, Detective Edgar Babcock. The food and the company are equally divine - with the exception of Isabelle Black stopping by to brag about her upcoming wedding. Resuming the romance with a walk in the evening air, the couple is interrupted once again - this time by a terrifying scream from inside the cemetery. Having just seen Isabelle, Carmela and Edgar now find her lying across an aboveground tomb, strangled to death with a piece of vintage lace. Carmela would rather leave the investigating to Edgar, but she can't say no to Isabelle's sister, Ellie, the tarot card reader at Juju Voodoo, when she asks her to help. As she untangles the enemies of Isabelle's past, Carmela hopes she can draw out the killer before someone else gets cold feet.

©2015 Gerry Schmitt (P)2015 Recorded Books

Good but the ending felt rushed

Another witty mystery, with forbidden secrets for our gal pals Carmella and Eva to solve. The murder weapon is a piece of antique lace. This episode includes “a good 'ole boy” political network and under-the-table dealings hinted at but never spelled out.

The pro: This time I did not even suspect the actual murderer until the very end.

The con: The series usually doesn’t disappoint but this saga did. The reason that I never saw the ending coming was the lack of information leading up to the ending. It was rushed with last minute characters added into the mix (the realtor) and a rush to finish the book. I felt like the number of pages produced dictated the rush to end. It just was not well finished.

Not usual quality compared to rest of the series

This book just didn't have the same "feel" as the others in the series. Don't know if it is because of the collaboration or what but the characters seemed wooden. There are also a lot of repeated phrases throughout. The narrator still doesn't make enough difference brtween the character voices to easily hear who is talking. Like the series but this is a disappointment.

solid cozy until the ridiculous event at the end.

i like the sereise and have been enjoying them one after the other that Carmela's reaction to fining out the killer at the end of this one is utterly absurd. If there was no other way to contrive a chase scene at the end, the book would have been better off without it.