Can a haunted wine press be a pressing reason for murder
Pressed to Death
A Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mystery #2
by Kirsten Weiss
Midnight Ink
Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 08 Mar 2017
Review
Maddie Kosloski may run a paranormal museum, but ghostly happenings come second to a very modern murder. I greatly enjoyed this cozy, and along with the town (eagerly placing bets with Deiter) I was looking forward to her solving the murder. Despite the bad guy being obvious, there was more than enough action to keep the story interesting. I especially loved the ending, where Maddie's GD (ghost detecting) cat took action against his nemesis. That in itself made the book worthwhile.
Maddie's trouble starts when the former owner of her recently purchased Haunted wine press accuses her of theft. Things go from bad to worse when she discovers his body in a load of grapes ordered by Ladies Aid for their grape stomping competition. To clear her name, Maddie agrees to investigate for the Ladies Aid society. After all, no one in their right mind says no to Ladies Aid if they want to stay in business. Between solving a murder, preparing an exhibit for the Ladies Aid Haunted House, running her museum and wondering what is going on between her boyfriend and his ex, Maddie has her hands full. To top everything off, it looks like her wine press really is haunted.
Pressed to Death is a well written cozy with just the right dash of humor and paranormal activity. The romance aspect was a bit "meh" but didn't detract too much from an otherwise good story. GD definitely stole the show with his cattitude and I look forward to seeing him again in future installments. If you like cozies, Pressed to Death and its predecessor are a solid choice.
4/5
I received a copy of Pressed to Death from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
Description
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.