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Frill Kill    by Laura Childs Amazon.com order for
Frill Kill
by Laura Childs
Order:  USA  Can
Berkley, 2007 (2007)
Hardcover
* *   Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth

Having read Laura Childs' Bound for Murder, I opened another of her Scrapbooking mysteries, Frill Kill, with anticipation. If you're a fan of cozies, as I am, you're in for a treat. If not, this one will change your mind and bring you aboard.

Carmela Bertrand runs a scapbooking shop in the New Orleans French Quarter. Her good friend and fellow entrepreneur Ava owns and manages a voodoo shop. With Halloween looming, both women are busy with preparations for a holiday that is important to the citizenry of New Orleans. The atmosphere is tainted, however, by the savage murder of a model for a local fashion house.

As Carmela heard the sounds of the murder, she feels she is the one to find the person responsible for the death of a beautiful young woman. Tracing clues, Carmela and Ava end up running from wolves in a bayou, donning glamorous clothing for a stroll down a runway, and finding the brother of the gypsy who works for Ava. All of this and more seems contrary to the purview of the two shops, but Childs manages not to lose a thread of her fast-paced story as she weaves her ribbons between the shop and the investigation.

The denouement comes as a surprise. Scrapbooking tips and luscious New Orleans recipes top off a satisfying read from a delightful series with likeable, in-depth characters whom I would have no trouble calling friends.

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