Author: Kirsten Weiss
Synopsis:
Perfectly pressed. Perfectly proper. Perfectly deadly.
Paranormal museum owner Maddie Kosloski thinks she has the perfect paranormal exhibit for the harvest festival—a haunted grape press. But before she can open the exhibit, she’s accused of stealing the antique press. And when her accuser is found murdered, all eyes turn to Maddie.
Solving the crime is the last thing on Maddie’s mind, but her mother insists she investigate. Does her mother have a secret agenda? And why has the local charity, Ladies Aid, seemingly gone gangster?
In this light, cozy mystery, haunted houses, runaway wine barrels, and murder combine in a perfect storm of chaos. Facing down danger and her own over-active imagination, Maddie must unearth the killer before she becomes the next ghost to haunt her museum.
I've been eager to 'visit' San Benedetto again after reading the series opener of The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum this spring. I'd forgot how much I like small town crime/mystery stories and these cozy books reinitiated me into the genre.
Just like in the first novel our protagonist Maddie Kosloski plays detective after a vineyard owner is found dead in a grape vat. To the current-time crime joins a past mystery around a haunted grape press that Maddie acquires for her museum.
The double puzzle is always a joy in Kirsten Weiss's books and I also appreciate that Maddie has to investigate not only in the future but back into the past too. So far in both novels there was a haunted object through which San Benedetto's murder-ridden history was revealed and with each story you wonder less and less why the body count is growing in this sleepy rural town.
Again, I had a good time getting to know the new characters (there are a lot of them and Weiss still juggles them well): Leo, the weird teenage kid, who is suspicious but whom Maddie likes a lot, Elthia, who runs a Death Bistro and is pretty emotional all the time, the new tyrannical leader of Ladies Aid who acts like she is the Godfather... All of them were pretty entertaining.
After Maddie got together with Mason the motorbike shop owner viking in the first book I expected to see their relationship blossom, however the guy is pretty much absent most of the time and Maddie has to rethink their relationship while she deals with everything else that disrupts the peace in San Benedetto. I didn't mind that, because I ship Maddie hard with Detective Slate and as things are looking I might get my wish and see them together in the next book...
Until I get there, I cannot recommend this book series enough for people who are after a light, entertaining, fun read for a cozy weekend.
Read my review of The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum here.
Next in the series:
by Kirsten Weiss
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