Today I’m doing something a bit different. Below is an excerpt from Murder Can Haunt Your Handiwork to introduce you to the latest novel in the Haunted Craft Fair Mysteries by Rose Pressey.

Let’s start with a bit about the novel: Rising up against the beautiful backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Biltmore Estate is a magnificent mansion in Asheville, North Carolina, built as a summer home for George Washington Vanderbilt II—yes, of those Vanderbilts—during the Gilded Age. Nowadays, it’s the site of an annual craft fair. Unfortunately, it’s also about to become a crime scene . . .

Celeste is hard to miss as she pulls up with her pink and white Shasta trailer and adorable Chihuahua, Van Gogh—Van for short. But before she can show off her artwork at the fair, a tour guide is found strangled by a velvet rope barrier and a valuable painting goes missing. With a rogues’ gallery of sketchy suspects, Celeste welcomes the help of a pair of handsome detectives—and a ghost with a special interest in the case . . .

And here’s the excerpt:

“Caleb and Pierce were here for the arts and crafts fair.

Caleb and I had met at another craft fair in Gatlinburg. He’d been working undercover, but he was quite a good artist, too. Pierce had mysteriously taken up art recently. I was suspicious that he might have done it so that he could come to the craft fair, too; then Caleb and I wouldn’t be alone here. If that were true, it was awfully sweet.

Caleb and I had gone on several dates. We had quite a good amount in common, since we both were into art and both of us had dogs. Caleb had an adorable German Shepherd named Gum Shoe. But Pierce was smart and handsome, and surprisingly, he had a sense of humor when he wasn’t being the tough cop.

“What happens next?” I asked. “Will they drag me away to the slammer?”

“As far as I know, you’re not going to the slammer.”

Caleb used air quotes. “What do you mean by ‘what happens next’?”

“How will they find who did this to her? Will the fair continue?”

“First, they have to confirm that it was a homicide. Second, I assume the fair will continue. They’ll probably try to act as if nothing happened,” Caleb said.

A photographer from the police department was snapping photos, making flashes of bright light in rapid succession. Occupancy in the room had swollen, and now I was feeling claustrophobic. I had to get out of here soon.

“I think we can safely assume that it was murder,” I said as I pulled at the neck of my T-shirt. With every passing second, I found it harder to breathe.

“Oh no. I can see the amateur sleuth wheels turning in your head. Maybe it would be a good idea if you didn’t get involved,” Caleb said.

“Not get involved? Not get involved?” I gestured widely with my hand. “I have to get involved now. I’m practically a detective on the case now. After all, I was the first one on the scene. That means I have to get involved.”

Readers can learn more about Rose Pressey by visiting her website, her blog and her Facebook page. You can also follow her on Twitter.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

 Amazon  – B&N  – Kobo – Google Play  – IndieBound 

About Rose Pressey: Rose Pressey is the USA Today bestselling author of the Haunted Craft Fair Mysteries and the Haunted Vintage Mystery Series. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.

When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires, and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties. Yeah, she loves Elvis. She can’t help myself. Rose lives in the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky with her husband, son, and three sassy Chihuahuas.