Crepe Factor by Laura Childs and Terrie Farley Moran

9780425266700

317 Pages
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Release Date: October 4, 2016

Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Murder, Amateur Sleuth, Woman Investigator, Scrapbooking

We are back in the French Quarter just in time for the holidays. Carmela Bertrand and her friend Ava are soaking in the holiday atmosphere at the Winter Market when there is a commotion. They see Quigg, the owner of Mumbo Gumbo having a loud argument with a man, Martin Lash. Lash wrote a terrible restaurant review on one of Quigg’s restaurants. Shortly after the two women are looking at a leather booth when the booth starts shaking. Thinking something funny is going on, Carmela goes around the back just as the booth collapses and she sees Martin Lash with a meat serving fork stuck in his neck.

The book is written in third person point of view. The story is fast paced with a cast of characters. The main characters are well developed and the author even revisits Carmela’s past relationship with Quigg. I always enjoy reading about Carmela and her adventures and this one was no different. She also teaches craft classes which she details within the story. The tips and recipes at the end of the book.

This book follows Carmela and Ava who are visiting the booths at the Winter Market and encounter a fight between Quigg and Martin Lash a local reviewer who seems to always write bad reviews of restaurants when Martin Lash winds up dead being forked to death! Quigg begs Carmela to figure out what is going on and who murdered Martiner Lash.

Carmela investigates and it leads her all over New Orleans and Bayou. It leads to meeting the new owner of the paper and the hold Martin had over her. It also shows his side things he was involved with protecting the bayou. Then as the heat is on Carmela has to search for the truth no matter where it leads!

I love the friendship between Carmela and Ava they are great together. I also love how the girls worked with Moony and Squirrel as well. Such a great team of friends. Can’t wait to see what the girls are up to next!

Crepe Factor
A Scrapbooking Mystery #14
Laura Childs with Terrie Farley Moran
Berkley Prime Crime, October 2016
ISBN 978-0-425-26670-0
Hardcover

Ms. Childs and Ms. Moran continue their collaboration in a charming mystery featuring the death by fork of a food critic (stick a fork in me, I’m done, anyone?) practically right in front of Carmela and Ava, sleuthing duo extraordinaire. Carmela’s previous relationship with the #1 suspect makes sticking her nose in a little dicey and her current boyfriend, police detective Edgar Babcock really wants her to stay out of his investigation but she and Ava can’t resist. A nifty whodunnit and characters that feel like old friends, not to mention a few recipes and scrapbooking tips round out this entertaining entry in the series. I always enjoy these two, especially the slightly loony Ava, and for a few hours while I’m reading one of these books, I can’t help wishing I had the patience and dedication to get into scrapbooking…but the urge passes until the next book 😉

It's the holiday season, but scrapbook shop owner Carmela has just seen a man die at her feet. The victim has ties to both the restaurant scene and the local environmentalists, and Carmela's ex is a prime suspect.


I loved how Childs made the setting of New Orleans absolutely come alive. It made me want to visit there right away, and eat eat eat!

The characters are also very vivid, and Childs does an excellent job of making each character unique and memorable.


The title didn't really make sense. Crepes don't come into the book at all to my memory.

The solution to the mystery seemed a bit out of nowhere, but Childs did still make it work.

I've enjoyed the other books of Childs' I've read more. This one was enjoyable, but merely okay.

Carmela Bertrand runs a scrapbooking shop in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It's the holiday season so it's busy, especially now there's a festive winter market going on in the city, which she visits with her best friend Ava. They don't expect to be a witness of a murder scene on the winter market, when they are watching a stand on the market something goes on in the tent behind the stand, and a man, stabbed by a fork, dies in front of their eyes. They found out this man is Martin Lash, a notorious restaurant critic, whose critics have made that some new restaurants had to close down soon after opening because of his sour reviews.

The main suspect is their friend, the restaurant owner Quigg Brevard, who was seen having a fit with Martin minutes before he was killed. He asks for Carmela's help to prove he is innocent. Something which Carmela's current flame, detective Edgar Babcock is anything but happy with.Before her relationship is the next victim, Carmela needs to find a murderer who had no reservations about punishing the culinary critic, which leads her to a shady and fishy business in the middle of the bayou..

This book is so good and so much fun!! It is a while ago I have read a mystery novel, and I had a very bad craving for a good one, and this one really did the trick! Crepe Factor is very well written, the plot was very good and the ending had a very unexpected and great twist. As a reader I didn't expect it to end like this, it really topped my expectations!
Without revealing too many spoilers, I can only add that this is a must read for all cozy mystery fans Highly recommend it and looking forward to read more books by this author!