Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I live in New Orleans and was eager to read a series set in my lovely home town. The characters are engaing and seem very real, however, all the details about my home town are WRONG. I do understand that some liscense is needed in order to accomodate plot - the mis-statements regarding the city in general, Mardi Gras in particular, and the social attitudes of the characters and speech patterns are so far from real as to belong in a science fiction novel rather than an satisfying puzzle with good characters and enough plot to keep you reading.Very disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Keepsake Crime is a pleasure!
Review: I really liked this first book in her new series. It was wonderful to learn so much about Mardi Gras and New Orleans. I have been curious about scrap booking, so I must say that I was impressed how she combined instructions for doing it with a mystery in the mix. I think she has found a combination that works. I just bought the next book in the series tonite and can't wait to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Mystery
Review: I really love this book. It kept me quessing as to who the murderer is. I really felt like I was in New Orleans and experiencing Mardis Gras. Laura Childs is very accurate in her discription of what traditions make Mardis Gras. The king cake especially. I have never done scrapbooking before and this book has made me want to start. For me the story flowed. I have read her other series, The Tea Shop Mysteries and am looking forward to reading more of both series.
Rating: 
Summary: I like the idea of this book, but it didn't engage me
Review: I'm an avid scrapbooker, and a fan of Laura Child's tea shop mysteries - I've read them all. The tea shop books are cozy and fun - and you quickly come to idetify with and like at least 5 of the recurring characters without having to make a list to keep straight who they are. I was anxious to read the new series. For me, there was just way too much information about New Orleans and mardi gras. I just wasn't that interested in all that detail. Also, I really didn't come to care much about the characters in this book, other than Carmella and Ava. There's no strong male character, as in her tea shop books. Ms. Child's mentions many different characters on several occasions, but we're never given enough information on them to allow us to know them or to know why or how they may be connected to the story. As for the scrapbooking aspect, I really could have used more intersting tips and techniques. There were a couple unique ideas wound into the story, but many things mentioned would be old hat to serious scrapbookers. Normally, I finish the tea shop books in a day or so. They're so fun and cozy that I can't put them down. This one took me a while to read because I just couldn't get interested in it due to the excessive detail on New Orleans. However, I like the tea shop mysteries enough that I will give this new serious another try. I'll pick up the next book and see if things improve.
Rating:
Summary: Scrapbookers will love this new mystery ...
Review: Laura Child's "Keepsake Memories" was THE ultimate book for me! I've been a scrapbooker for 7 years and adore "charming gourmet mysteries". It was like meeting a new friend, as I got to know Carmela Bertrand, owner of the Memory Mine Scrapbooking store in a quaint section of New Orleans. She was a delightful character, and offered tips and discussed new products, as she reluntantly helped to solve a murder mystery. (I think Laura must be "one of us" as she captured the obsession we all seem to have with this hobby!) Can't wait to read Carmelals next adventure!
Rating:
Summary: Carmela Bertrand - Southern Belle Doormat -
Review: Photo Finish was an excellent first start to this series. But Keepsake Crimes was an interesting mystery but somewhat disappointing in the character developement department. When is Carmela going to get a backbone. I'm sorry but this girl needs a little of that steel magnolia spirit. Shamus is a charming, southern wimp who doesn't even standup to his hateful sister on her behalf. And why pray tell would Carmela go out of her way to help his drunk sister? Especially after Shamus flirts with another woman at his sister's party that he begged Carmela to attend???? Doesn't make good common sense. Why share her opportunity as a photographer with him? Yes, she still loves him, but so what. It takes more than her loving him. Where his love and RESPECT for Carmela. Any remorse about just walking out with out a byword leaving her to deal? Empty hearted user-loser needs a big time reality check. Hope we see this Carmela develop with a stronger sense of self with more steel and less magnolia.
Rating:
Summary: Carmela Bertrand - Southern Belle Doormat -
Review: Photo Finish was an excellent first start to this series. But Keepsake Crimes was an interesting mystery but somewhat disappointing in the character developement department. When is Carmela going to get a backbone. I'm sorry but this girl needs a little of that steel magnolia spirit. Shamus is a charming, southern wimp who doesn't even standup to his hateful sister on her behalf. And why pray tell would Carmela go out of her way to help his drunk sister? Especially after Shamus flirts with another woman at his sister's party that he begged Carmela to attend???? Doesn't make good common sense. Why share her opportunity as a photographer with him? Yes, she still loves him, but so what. It takes more than her loving him. Where his love and RESPECT for Carmela. Any remorse about just walking out with out a byword leaving her to deal? Empty hearted user-loser needs a big time reality check. Hope we see this Carmela develop with a stronger sense of self with more steel and less magnolia.
Rating:
Summary: Just a couple of points...
Review: There are too many authors today who should be banned from using the word "couple" until they've learned to add the word "of" after it! Ms. Childs' incorrect usage of the word is distracting, mostly because she uses it so much, and I find myself dropping out of an otherwise engaging story. Yes, I'm a grammar fanatic; I believe if people are being *paid* to write, then they have a responsibility to set an example by using correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I'll grant that "couple" may stand alone in dialogue, since few people bother to speak correctly. The protagonist of this novel, Carmela Bertrand, speaks average English, so her overuse of the word "couple" can be excused. However, to include it in the narrative is a felonious assault on the English language. Over reaction, you sniff. Perhaps, but the number of authors spreading this linguistic disease is resulting in the dilution of our language. Language evolves, but changes should add clarity and richness, not sound like drunken belches. Note to authors: It's "couple OF..."
Rating: 
Summary: Needs work
Review: This book had great images of New Orleans and lots of scrap booking ideas, but it was hard to get a good feel for her character. I spent most of the book thinking "Why does this woman need to investigate a murder?" She doesn't seem to have a knack for crime and does her sleuthing in a rather random way. At the end of the book we're presented with an ending that just kind of appears, conveniently. It jumps around from little episode to little episode without really tying things together. I think it had a good premise, but I was not entirely satisfied with how it developed. I think the series has potential--but needs work.
Rating:
Summary: Pass it up
Review: This book read more like a travel guide to New Orleans than a mystery. While the scrapbooking theme provides a feasible way to introduce characters and provides insight into this popular craft, the book doled out too much didactic info about Mardi Gras, the different parades, the names and locations of the popular bars and restuarants and the history of the city. If it had been presented in a casual by-the-way style, maybe I could be more tolerant, but 25% of the way through the tour, I began to wonder if the Louisiana Board of Tourism had commissioned the book. There was too much repetition--I remembered the colors of Mardi Gras after the first time I was told. The mystery wasn't engaging and the ending was flat. In fact, I leafed through the recipes at the end of the book hoping that there had been a mistake and that a beefed-up conclusion had printed out of order. No such luck.
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