Greetings! I hope all of you are enjoying a beautiful Saturday. I am sharing Kirsten Weiss' Pressed to Death with you today. The first book in the series is The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum. You can find other novels written by Kirsten Weiss on Amazon.
Pressed to Death by Kirsten Weiss
is the second book A Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mystery series. Maddie Kosloski owns the Paranormal Museum in
San Benedetto, California. Maddie is getting ready to leave for the Harvest
Fair, but Detective Laurel Hammer has delayed her. Detective Hammer is accusing Maddie of
dealing in stolen property. Romeo
Paganini is claiming the grape press that Maddie purchased from Herb Linden was
stolen. Maddie has a copy of the signed
receipt from Romeo’s wife, Jocelyn. It
is only thanks to Frances Kosloski’s, Maddie’s mother, smooth talking, that
they finally get to leave for the fair (I am sure that we will be seeing the
good detective again soon). Maddie, with
help from her mother, finishes setting up her table, and then they go to check
the big vat for the wine stomping event. It is the biggest fundraiser for the Ladies
Aid Society. They arrive to find the
truck still in place, and the grapes were just dumped in the vat (they need to
be spread out). Frances asks Maddie to
jump in and spread out the grapes (and she does with her white tennis shoes
still on). As Maddie uses the rake to
spread out the grapes, she notices an arm sticking out. Upon closer inspection, she finds the body of
Romeo Paganini. Detective Hammer
immediately suspects Maddie of committing the crime. Frances wants Maddie to get involved in the
investigation which shocks Maddie (especially after the last time). Maddie is
not sure she wishes to be involved, but, after two close brushes with death,
she has no choice. Maddie must work in
her investigation in between working at the museum, setting up a haunted room
for the Ladies Aid Haunted House event, and discovering the history behind the
grape press. Maddie’s thoughts, however,
are a little scattered. Her boyfriend, Mason
Hjelm, is acting distant and unavailable.
But when a second person is murdered, Maddie will need to focus on the task
at hand.
Pressed to Death is easy to read
and it does have a decent tempo (I was tired of using the word pace). I had trouble getting into the book in the
beginning. Things do pick up in the
second part of the story. I found the paranormal
element to be nonexistent which was unfortunate (it is only hinted at subtlety).
The addition of a mystic element would
have greatly enhanced the story. I am
giving Pressed to Death 3 out of 5 stars (it is okay). I thought the romance element to be
overpowering and unappealing. There is
quite a bit of activity going on in the story.
I personally felt that there are too many elements. I am curious why authors feel the need to jam
a book full of activity (it is happening in more and more cozy mysteries). The author made Detective Hammer out to be a
nasty, vengeful harpy who is bent on destroying Maddie. It might have to do something with Maddie
setting the good detective’s hair on fire (going from long hair to a pixie cut)
in book one. The detective seizes so
called “evidence” from Maddie without a warrant (very unrealistic). The cops also seem to be spinning their
wheels regarding the case while Maddie put together the clues and solves it. The main mystery is uncomplicated and the
culprit easily identified (I believe even a novice mystery reader will be able
pinpoint the killer). The past mystery
relating to the grape press was interesting, but there was little investigation
into it. While I have not had the
pleasure of reading The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, I understood what
was going on in Pressed to Death. The
author provided the necessary information on the town and main characters as
well as what occurred in the first book in the series. I had been looking forward to reading this
particular book, and I ended up being letdown.
I really do appreciate you visiting and reading my blog. I do try to post honest reviews on each book that I read. I am currently reading For Whom the Bread Rolls by Sarah Fox. I will see you tomorrow when I return. Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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