Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum (Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mystery, #1)

by Kirsten Weiss

[Mystereity Reviews]

I've been looking forward to curling up with this book for awhile; with a cute premise (a paranormal museum? Sign me up!) an interesting plot and a beautiful northern California setting, I just wanted to sink right in to it.

And it was pretty good, there was a lot to like about it: a twisty plot that kept me guessing, a likeable main character, a historical mystery subplot and a way cool paranormal museum (did I mention what an awesome idea I think this is?) Unfortunately, a few things bogged it down. In fact, this book nearly ended up on the Did Not Finish pile because (and this is one of my pet peeves) there always seems to be a catty woman who hates the MC over something trivial, and in this book it was one of the police detectives. After finding the murder victim, Maddie and her friend Adele are hauled down to the station for questioning. The detective bursts into the room and declares, "ok, which one of you idiots killed her?" What, seriously? Maybe it was supposed to be funny or something, but I just found it really annoying.

My favorite part of the book was the historical mystery subplot, it added just a touch of paranormal to the story. In the 1890s, Cora McBride was convicted of killing her husband and Maddie sets out to prove Cora's innocence. I enjoyed watching Maddie dig up new evidence and the idea of staging a mock trial was a novel and interesting idea. Wish I could've seen it!

Overall, a good start to a new series and I recommend it to cozy mystery fans who enjoy a touch of paranormal.