Thursday, October 24, 2019

Book Review: Murder Can Mess Up Your Masterpiece by Rose Pressey

Artist Celeste Cabot welcomes the chance to show her paintings at a craft fair in her hometown of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where she and her Chihuahua, Van Gogh, can park her vintage Shasta trailer and sell her creations, too.

Unfortunately, her sales take a hit when a customer returns a painting, claiming it’s haunted. When a fellow vendor discovers images hidden in Celeste’s artwork—and a ghost pays her a late-night visit—she’s shocked to realize she has psychic abilities. After the grumpy manager of the craft fair is found with a knife in his neck, Celeste’s brushes with the paranormal may help fill in the picture—and make sure the wrong person doesn’t get framed . . .[summary via Amazon]

Look out cozy world! There is a new four-legged cozy pet here and he's ready to steal your hearts! Meet Van (named after Vincent Van Gogh) and he's the cutest chihuahua in the cozy world, and he's ready to help his owner, Celeste Cabot, solve a crime!

Celeste Cabot is an artist with a a lot of talent and she's the newest vendor at a local fair. However, she's about to discover she has a hidden talent for painting with her psychic abilities. Furthermore, when the organizer of the fair turns up dead, Celeste is going to need to use those talents and her inquisitive nature to find a killer! 

Wow! It's been a while since I've read a paranormal mystery, and I'd forgotten how wonderful they are!! Rose Pressey pulled me back into the world of paranormal mysteries with a delightful tale that includes a ghost and an artist's ability to paint hidden images within paintings. It was both of these elements that had me head over heels for the first Haunted Craft Fair Mystery!

Celeste doesn't realize she has psychic abilities until a customer returns a painting, claiming it is haunted. From there, she goes down a road of discovery, and it definitely turns into a tantalizing tale for paranormal enthusiasts. I really liked the paranormal elements, especially the hidden images within the paintings, and her ability to paint "haunted" images. These are elements that are new-to-me within a cozy mystery, and I absolutely love when I find something unique and interesting.

The mystery surrounding Evan's death kept me on the edge of my seat. The mystery is coupled with a second, and smaller, mystery of missing money amongst the vendors. I had a hard trying to find the culprit on both mysteries, and piece everything together.

By the end of Murder Can Mess Up Your Masterpiece I was happy to have a read a well-crafted, spooky mystery, but it left me with lots of questions about the characters and what is going to happen next. Celeste seems to have her hands full with painting, a ghost and her crazy family. I absolutely can't wait to see what they all have in store for her in the next book!

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