There’s a killer in the picture . . .
Celeste Cabot has a flair for painting–and a touch of paranormal talent too. She’s just arrived to sell her artwork at a big craft fair in North Carolina, complete with rides, games, and deep-fried everything. But the sunny landscape takes on a darker hue when her Chihuahua, Van Gogh, leads her to the riverbank–and to a body that was definitely not part of her design.
With help from a handsome fellow artist, Celeste sets out to draw the brazen killer onto her canvas. She’ll need to balance the victim’s past, a suspected love triangle, and a long-ago accident–and also consult with a medium and a spirit–to try to paint a murderous fiend into a corner . . .
Titles in the Haunted Craft Fair Mystery series include — Murder Can Mess Up Your Masterpiece – Murder Can Confuse Your Chihuahua – Murder Can Haunt Your Handiwork –
Title: Murder Can Confuse Your Chihuahua
Series: Haunted Craft Fair Mystery #2
Author: Rose Pressey
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Published: April 28, 2020
Publisher: Kensington Books
My Rating: 4 stars
Murder Can Confuse Your Chihuahua is the second story in the Haunted Craft Fair Mystery series and is full of everything I enjoy most about Paranormal Cozy Mysteries – quirky main characters, the touch of the supernatural, fun sidekicks/love interests… and murder most foul with lots of twists and turns.
Celeste is on the road in her pink truck and trailer headed to a last-minute entry into a well-known craft fair. She’s determined to have her paintings sell and save her from working in the diner (although she loves her aunt she’d rather paint), and who knows what kind of adventure she may find this time around. Drawing ghosts into and through her paintings is a rather new thing but it’s also fascinating with unexpected results for both her and the ghosts. Along with her pup Van (Gogh), Celeste is about to stumble upon – or be lead to by Van – yet another murder scene that will take her down a path of danger that, as always, she’s going to ignore.
I enjoyed Murder Can Confuse Your Chihuahua, it’s full of surprises, a few red herrings, and is moving toward a possible love triangle (which probably won’t last long before a choice is made). In any Paranormal Cozy Mystery, I’m along for the ride and the experience so I wasn’t trying to figure out whodunit. Celeste, as a character, can be frustrating since she’d never, ever get away with half the things she inserts herself into in a true crime scene – but as a Jessica Fletcher wannabe, she’s fun if flighty. I had fun with this one, and that’s the entire point. If you love Paranormal Cozy Mysteries then give this series a try, you may find a new favorite series.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from Kensington Books via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
Available in paperback and for your favorite e-reader (mine is the Kindle)
