Scrapbook of Murder

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery 6

De: Lois Winston

Narrado por: Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

Crafts and murder don’t normally go hand-in-hand, but "normal" deserted craft editor Anastasia Pollack’s world nearly a year ago. Now, tripping over dead bodies seems to be the “new normal” for this reluctant amateur sleuth.

When the daughter of a murdered neighbor asks Anastasia to create a family scrapbook from old photographs and memorabilia discovered in a battered suitcase, she agrees—not only out of friendship but also from a sense of guilt over the older woman’s death. However, as Anastasia begins sorting through the contents of the suitcase, she discovers a letter revealing a 50-year-old secret, one that unearths a long-buried scandal and unleashes a killer. Suddenly, Anastasia is back in sleuthing mode as she races to prevent a suitcase full of trouble from leading to more deaths.

Scrapbooking tips included.

©2017 Lois Winston (P)2023 Lois Winston

A Cozy Mystery Cold Case

I found the sixth book in the "An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery" series intriguing. Lupe, a neighbor's daughter, asked Anastasia to arrange her family's photos and letters into a scrapbook. While going through the memorabilia, Anastasia found a 50-year-old letter which revealed a long-held family secret. Anastasia had to put her sleuthing skills to work. I missed some of the humor found in the first five books, but this story introduced some ideas which were thought provoking. Alexandra Bitton-Bailey's narration was a pleasure to hear as her performance reflected the characters well. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

Anastasia must dig deep into the past in this cozy

Anastasia is a suburban widow. She’s also deep in debt from her late husband’s escapades. Lucille, her “Communist mother-in-law from Hades” lives with her, and Anastasia is in love with Zack, the tenant living above her garage.

Zack is a sweetie. I liked him. The mother-in-law from Hades is hilarious (without meaning to be, of course; she has no sense of humor). I also enjoyed Anastasia’s teen sons. They are teenagery (in the not-so-good sense), but they can be polite and sweet, too. Lupe is a young friend on a mission, and her passion leapt off the page (or through my earbuds in this case because I listened to the audiobook).

Poor Lupe, her mother died. Anastasia helps Lupe go through her family’s old photos and mementos from Cuba. Fortunately, Zack is fluent in Spanish. A big secret is uncovered from the mementos, and Anastasia must dig deep into the past to unravel the mystery.

There’s a dog in the book. Every cozy is better with a dog! His name is Manifesto (the Communist mother-in-law’s dog), and he’s much sweeter than his owner.

In listening to this book, I did my typical “read a series out of order” adventure. Scrapbook of Murder works well as a standalone. You won’t know Anastasia’s histories with particular characters, but Winston hints at enough of their backstories so you don’t get lost.

More sensitive readers may struggle with the nature of crimes described in this book (rape, disturbing child psychopathy violence). But the actual acts are not detailed, and Winston handles the events with tact.

The narrator did an excellent job. Her Spanish accent (for a certain character’s voice, not for the whole book) is convincing. It was a pleasure to listen to the book.

I won an Audible audiobook through the author’s promotion, and I’m happy to share my opinion on this story.

Good Book

I love this series, but this book isn't as lighthearted as other books in this series. This story takes on some very serious issues, but it also has the antics of the supporting cast of characters. The narrator did an ok job, but her accents were way off base. Though not one of my favorite books in this series, I will definitely continue to read about Anastasia's and her family's/friends antics happening in NJ!

Anastasia Crafting Mystery

Interesting characters, humorous dialog, and non-stop action. Enjoyed story very much! Recommend following this series in chronological order, but not necessary. This audiobook was provided by the author and I am providing an honest review.

Great cozy!

I really enjoyed listening to the story. Beautifully narrated. I like the characters and storyline. This is the perfect cozy!

The darkest one yet.

I love the character of Anastasia and her crazy family. I have read all of the books in order, so it has been an interesting progression to see the family dynamics. This went to a dark side that I was not expecting. I confess that something is a bit difficult to get through, being very sensitive in nature. However, I also found the humor, again of a dark nature, which I love made the book more enjoyable. I really enjoyed the fact that the characters are now more fleshed out and less cartoony. Definitely recommend this latest in the series. I was lucky to win an audiobook and this is my personal recommendation.

Trigger warning-sexual assault

"Scrapbook of Murder" by Lois Winston and narrated by Alexandra Bitton-Bailey is the 6th book of the "Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries" series. I have to say I'm glad that the Mama character was barely in this one. We get enough crazy, annoying relatives with the mother-in-law from hell. Seriously, send her to live with the rich brother-in-law. He can afford her and wants to help in some way. She hates living with anyone she has to, at least that way she's not a drain on Anastasia who can't afford it. Plus, Anastasia has her own crazy mother to deal with, I know it's not his mother but still. Get rid of her, she's more annoying than interesting.

The mystery was good, but trigger warning, it revolves around a sexual assault of underage girls. So, if that's something that you're want nothing to do with don't read. I will say it was done in a way to bring awareness without going into details. It did bring the book a smidge out of the cozy genre feel. However, I would still leave the series overall in cozy territory.

Anastasia Pollack solves again!

I've read a number of books in this series, and just won this one, so a "listen" this time around.
This could be read as a stand-alone, as sufficient back story was given, but it would help to read book 5 first (which fortunately I had done). Otherwise, you can dip in and out of the series as I've been doing. (Book 9 is my favorite so far!)
I love this series because of Anastasia's motley crew of a family,: her communist mother-in-law, much married mother, the devil dog, and the Shakespearean African Gray Parrot. They all add humor, and sometimes exasperation, to each book.
This book had a more serious topic, secrets found when a friend wants Anastasia to make albums of a suitcase of photographs. (and some good comments on how photos can degrade without proper preservation). So there was less humor than usual. But still enough to give me some good chuckles,
The secondary characters, and Anastasia herself, are the best reasons to keep coming back to see what she's gotten them all into this time.

A close call

I found this book delightful. It is the sixth book in the series.
I really enjoyed this story as it did not have Momma or anti-social mother-in-law, Lucille, playing major parts. I would make sure once these women were extricated from my home that they could not return on a permanent basis. They walk all over Anastasia.

I liked the story; it was well-crafted and plotted. The fifty-year-old secret was appalling. I was surprised that the reveal exposed the killer I had on tap for the job.

The book stirred many conflicting emotions for me but I was happy when the killer was caught. Too bad so many people’s lives were ruined in the course of the killer getting revenge. Plenty of red herrings and plot twists kept me tuned in.

I highly recommend this book. I have not read or listened to them in order but you may want to consider doing that as to keep the character’s developments and stories straight. Ms. Winston does a terrific job of keeping the reader in the loop, in case you have missed a few of the previous books.