Deja Moo is the third book in the Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum series by Kirsten Weiss. While each mystery stands well on its own, the characters and their relationships are built up through the series. To really understand some of the relationships and issues it is best to read this series in order.
Maddie Kosloski is no fan of San Benedetto's Christmas Cow, a thirty-foot straw bovine that graces the town square every December. For one thing, the cow displaces her paranormal museum as the number one tourist attraction. Plus, every year, despite around-the-clock surveillance, the cow goes up in flames. But this year, there's more than just a fire blazing in Maddie's wine-country hometown. One of the Christmas Cow guards has been found with an arrow in his chest, and Maddie's new haunted cowbell exhibit is fueling a panic. Are the spirits in her museum getting too hot to handle? If Maddie can't stop the hysteria—and the murderous archer—her holiday plans might not be the only thing full of holes.
Deja Moo is a solid addition to the series, with quirky conversations and interactions to entertain through out the book. I liked the continued relationships and how they change and grow, particularly with Maddie and her friends. I like seeing Maddie and her mother interact and how their relationship and respect for each other is always growing and evolving. I found the the mystery of the archer, flaming cow, and town politics to be multilayers and just complicated enough to keep readers guessing, but not so complicated that it got over the top or boring. One of my favorite things about the story is the use of paranormal activity and skepticism that leaves it up to the reader to decide what is real, and what really happened. While maddie is firmly a skeptic she accepting of other beliefs and willing to keep an open mind. I do like the slow burn of Maddie's current romance, but could have enjoyed the book just as much without any romance written in.
Since I was reading an uncorrected proof from Netgalley, I am hoping that the one thing that bothered be through the read was fixed by the release. There was a small even that the characters started referring to about a third of the way through the book. I figured I had been interrupted or distracted when it happened and missed it- but after going back three times I could not find it. It distracted me through the rest of the read. I would also love to read a book with no love triangle, or even hints or references to one. Maybe a mystery without a current romance would be okay, I know I would still read it.
Deja Moo is a quick, enjoyable read with layered story lines and well developed characters. I look forward to this series continuing.
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