Carmela Bertrand owns the Memory Mine Scrapbook Shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. She is at the Hotel Tremain in the midst of Mardi Gras waiting for her turn to be interviewed by KBEZ-TV news reporter Kimber Breeze when she hears a commotion out on the balcony as the parade is going by.

When Carmela heads out to the balcony, she finds Kimber dangling from the balcony with a black cord around her neck. Before the police detectives could arrive, the majority of the guests panic and leave the Suite giving the killer ample opportunity to escape, if he hadn’t already. The screaming crowd was anxious to get away from the gruesome scene.

Homicide detectives Bobby Gallant and lieutenant Edgar Babcock are on the case. Because of Babcock and Carmela’s close personal relationship, Carmela does everything she can to get inside information so she can solve the case. Although Babcock warns her number of times to stay out of it, Carmela’s natural curiosity drives her to seek as many clues as she can. With her best friend Ava at her side, her disregard of his warnings almost causes her to lose her boyfriend, and her life.

One odd situation is that as Carmela continues to operate her scrapbook shop and stay on top of the investigation, she also starts receiving post cards with threatening messages signed by Kimber Breeze, the dead reporter.

Postcards from the Dead is the tenth book in the Scrapbooking Mystery series written by Laura Childs. She is also the author of the popular Tea Shop Mysteries, and the Cackleberry Club Mysteries.

Her books are always well received because of the interesting storylines, engaging characters, and the tips and recipes that accompany each novel. She fleshes out her characters and gives each of them a personality rather than reading about what feels like cardboard images. Many are recurring through the run of the series giving readers the opportunity to get to know them as individuals.

Numerous books have used Mardi Gras and New Orleans as a backdrop, but using a costume parade marching through the street just below the hotel while a body hangs over the side of the balcony gave a grisly but realistic vibe to the story. This is the type of writing that draws her many fans to Childs’ mysteries.

A special thank you goes to Berkley Prime Crime for providing us with complimentary copy of Postcards from the Dead for our review. If you are interested in any of Laura Childs’ books, they are available on Amazon.com.