86) Pressed to Death by Kirsten Weiss

The Blurb :

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.

My Thoughts :

Sorry for the silence.  I had to go on a business trip and it was all very short notice and not a lot of internet.  Also didn't get to read much either!  However I did finish this book before I left but I just didn't get a chance to write about it.  So after nearly two weeks I am finally able to write a little about the book. Not much though, because I realised now that this one doesn't release until next year!  For some reason I thought it released this month so I was a little premature with reading this and don't want to give anything away!

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, A Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, and was really looking forward to the next installment.  However I have to say straight away that this sequel, although good, wasn't as good as the debut.  I can't really put my finger on why but there was something that didn't sit right the whole time I was reading it.

Once again there was an interesting enough mystery.  It was a little far fetched but the plot was ok and kept me interested.  The whole Ladies Aid angle seemed a little unnecessary but it gave the reader a chance to get to know some of the characters better and added some strength to the story.  I really was annoyed with the Mason plot.  It may have added another mystery to the story but in my honest opinion it was too soon in the series to go that route already.

While the paranormal aspect of the series is still a little 'up in the air' I found that this time it wasn't as well written.  I liked the whole idea but there wasn't much of the paranormal to deal with and it was all circumstance.  The murder mystery was readable and nice and cozy but I expected something better after the debut book.  This one seemed like it was patch worked together from many ideas without having a clear decision on how it would look in the end.

I still want to keep reading this series.  There are some great cozies out there and there are always room for more.  Especially paranormal ones.  I look forward to seeing what the author comes up with for book three and hope that she finds another interesting story to base a murder mystery and paranormal mystery on.  Maybe less drama and more stability is needed but for now I am happy and will keep reading.