[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Midnight Ink in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Wine and Chocolate Days are in full swing, even at Maddie Kosloski’s Paranormal Museum. She has a haunted molinillo for Mexican hot chocolate on display. And she also has a fortune teller coming in to do hot chocolate readings. Local chocolatiers are also providing chocolates for Maddie to sell.
That’s why she was at their shop, Reign, that day. Her delivery was late, so she walked down to pick it up. Finding one of the business partners dead in a pool of melted chocolate was enough to put Maddie off the sweet for years to come.
Maddie’s natural curiosity and local connections means she falls easily back into investigating the crime, but like before, her questions might put her in danger of being the next victim.
Review
This is the fourth Paranormal Museum mystery in the series, but the first book I have read in the line. The overall mystery was pretty typical of the cozy genre. The paranormal pieces for the series aren’t a great fit for me as a reader. The tarot cards and ouija board and such are a step too far for me which led me to rate this lower than I would have otherwise. It’s a matter of personal preference rather than quality of the book.
The characters in the series are interesting. I didn’t get a great feel for Maddie’s best friends. Harper didn’t get a lot of page time, and Adele’s wedding planning woes made her come off a little shrill. I didn’t like her. Maybe if I read other books in this series, I’d have a better feel for her.
In this book, Maddie seems out of step with everyone. This may be something that has been building through the series, and it’s headed toward resolution. But Maddie’s investigations put her at odds with everyone in this book – the cop boyfriend, her mom, her best friends, etc. But investigations seem like one of the few places in her life where Maddie is pretty direct. In her relationships, she sometimes lets stronger personalities bulldoze over her. And in other relationships, she hides from direct questions and conversations. I enjoyed trying to puzzle out this piece of her personality. If not for the occultish elements, I’d read more of these to see how those personality elements play out.
If you enjoy more of the paranormal elements than I do, by all means, check out this series. The mystery was solid and the characters have some intriguing dynamics to dig into!