Chocolate a la Murder by Kirsten Weiss

Maddie Kosloski has acquired another haunted object for her Paranormal Museum, a  (whisk) that rattles any time someone tells a lie. And it rattles a lot in this story - a lot of people in Maddie's life have stuff going on. Her ex, Mason, keeps trying to talk to her, her one best friend is deep into wedding planning and the other one seems to be hiding something.
And then there's the whole stumbling over another dead body thing. This time it's one of the new choclatiers in town. And it seems that the murderer believes Maddie might know who they are and they're after her next.
There was a LOT of telling Maddie not to investigate murders in this book. And people know now that she does it so the murderer was after her pretty fast. This makes it harder and harder to read the series because now she's just looking sort of... foolish for continuing to do things that put her in death's way.

Three stars
This book comes out March 8
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Follows Deja Moo

Deja Moo by Kirsten Weiss

San Benedetto has an interesting tradition, they build a thirty-foot star cow in the middle of the town square for Christmas. And for many years, the cow has gone down in a fire blaze. Maddie Kosloski would like to get to the cow to help her mother guard it, but her usually reliable truck has suddenly decided not to run. And that turns out to be a problem when one of the guards, a dairy farmer who has been pissing a number of people off, turns up dead, an arrow in his chest.
It's up to Maddie to find out what is going on. Mostly because her mother seems to be in danger even though she saw nothing the night of the murder.
I liked that Maddie doesn't seem to be one of those cozy-heroines who is perpetually caught up in a love triangle. There was a lot of wackiness in this book like Weiss felt like she had to make zanier and zanier characters. It was sort of overwhelming at points but I think this book would hit the spot for most contemporary mystery fans and all Kirsten Weiss readers.

Three stars
This books comes out February 27
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Followed by Chocolate a la Murder

Pressed to Death by Kirsten Weiss

With the Harvest Festival under way, Maddie Kosloski is shocked when her arch-nemesis Laurel wants to take away her main attraction, a haunted wine press. It seems that the previous owner has called it in as stolen and Laurel is only too happy to confiscate it, even though Maddie has the receipts to prove that she is the rightful owner. Too bad Maddie is later the one to discover the previous owner, Romeo, dead in the grapes that were supposed to be used in her mother's grape pressing contest. But she's not as serious a suspect as the man's wife, his estranged son, and even some of the people who are part of his Death Cafe group (where they discuss aging).
Not only does Maddie's mother get her involved in solving the case in order to help the Ladies' Aid group, but Maddie also gets roped in to helping set up a room in the annual Haunted House and she's working to keep her assistant, the dead man's estranged son, out of jail. Oh, and something is going on with her sweetie, Mason.
And the Mason storyline was just annoying. It's maybe not a plotline used in cozies much but I've read it over and over in romance novels. Maddie is fairly adult about the whole thing (she actually TALKS to Mason) but I just wish that this particular plot point hadn't been used. And there were some other plots that got short shrift since there was so much going on. But over all a good story that I quite enjoyed.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 8
Follows The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum

The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum by Kirsten Weiss

What a charming novel! I've been reading a lot of "niche" mysteries with quirky, young heroines and this is one that actually steps out (if only a little) from what seems to be the blueprint of these stories. First, Maddie actually seems to have a brain in her head. And she's not driven to solve the murders but she's not dragged into either. The paranormal aspects are a light touch and the characters are interesting. There is a hint, just a hint, of the inevitable love triangle but I really hope Ms. Weiss doesn't fall into that trap.
Maddie Kosloski has been, ahem, "downsized," from her most recent job after she refused to bribe a government official. She comes, by her own words, from a family of overachievers so she's not in a rush to explain why she's in between jobs. That's why her friend finds it so easy to push Maddie into taking over the town's second best tourist attraction, the paranormal museum. But that's before Maddie and her friend find the woman who was schtupping the friend's fiance dead in the museum. And the race is on.

Four stars
Book will be published March 8, 2016
Followed by Pressed to Death