Pressed to Death

January 23, 2017
In Weiss’s engaging sequel to 2016’s A Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, Maddie Kosloski, who runs a struggling paranormal museum in her tiny hometown of San Benedetto in California wine country, is convinced that her newly acquired haunted grape press is a perfect draw for the big harvest festival. When the press’s previous owner, Romeo Paganini, accuses Maddie of stealing it, the police seize it as evidence and Maddie ends up with no entry to the festival. Maddie’s subsequent discovery of her accuser dead in a barrel of grapes leaves her a prime suspect. Another murder raises the stakes. San Benedetto residents start taking bets on if and when Maddie will solve the crimes after she turns amateur sleuth in her own defense, to the ire of local detective Laurel Hammer, her nemesis. Well-drawn characters and tantalizing wine talk help balance the quirky aspects of this paranormal mystery.