Deceased and Desist (A Tallie Graver Mystery #3) by Misty Simon

Window of opportunity . . .

 Most housecleaners don’t do windows, but Tallie Graver loves leaving a pane of glass streak-free and sparkling. After a dirty divorce from a filthy-rich jerk, she's started her own cleaning business to make ends meet. On her latest job, prepping a renovated bed and breakfast for a grand re-opening, she's standing outside on a ladder, wiping off a grimy pane, when she spies a man on a bed through the glass. But the B&B isn't open for business yet—and the man's not sleeping. Her family owns the Graver Funeral Home, so Tallie knows a corpse when she sees one.
 
The victim is a shady building inspector with a reputation for handing out passing grades for a greased palm.With the local police resistant, Tallie launches her own investigation, before she gets a rep as a town crank. But it's going to take more than a squirt bottle and a squeegee to clean up this mess. With the help of her gal pal Gina, Tallie searches for a killer's motive. But she'd better be careful, or it'll be curtains for this window cleaner . . .
 
“An amusing new series with an engaging, spirited sleuth.”—Library Journal  (Summary via Goodreads)

The Tallie Graver Mystery series by Misty Simon is a MUST READ !!  The main story line is enough of a story but when there is a new murder in every book and with the story behind that murder, readers cannot help but love it !!

Tallie Graver has a pretty good life.  She lives above the family business that her father keeps trying to get her to commit to full time.  She doesn't want to work at the Graver's Funeral Home for the rest of her life, she is happy with her small cleaning business.....and solving murders.  She has her boyfriend, Max, who lives in Washington D.C. currently and her best friend, Gina, who lives across the street.  She is pretty contend with her life and readers would totally enjoy reading about all of that without Tallie getting involved when there is a murder in her town......but it does add speed to our page turning !!

In Deceased and Desist, the third book in the series, Max is in Hawaii for work and he did ask Tallie to go with him but because of her cleaning business, she was unable to go.....but once she sees a dead body laying on a bed in the inn that she is cleaning windows for, I'm sure she regretted that decision.  When the coroner rules the death a heart attack but Tallie remembers clearly that the head looked wrong and the neck had to have been broken, she knows that she has to investigate.  And to make matters worse or better (depends on the readers idea of it) Police Chief Burton is out on medical leave due to an injury so he has a replacement, Hammond, that dislikes Tallie from the very beginning.  Those two butt heads worse that Tallie and Burton !!  And when Burton calls Tallie and asks her to look into things, she can not believe it !!!

With Max out of town Tallie looks to Gina to be her side kick and Gina couldn't be happier until her new boyfriend, Tallie's brother, gets upset with her !!  Readers will love that Gina and Jeremy are dating and we can only hope that maybe there will be a double wedding in the series ??  

Deceased and Desist is an explosive story !!  Blackmailing, secrets, murder, love, commitment, lies, family.....this story has it all and more !!  And Tallie and Gina are right there in the middle of it !!  I really like the Tallie and Max duo but Tallie and Gina working together is also a good fit !!  

There is no way that readers will not love this series and with every book they read they fall deeper and deeper in love with Tallie and her life !!  I cannot wait to see what trouble she gets into next....how about you ??

Review by Missi M.

  

Grounds for Remorse (A Tallie Graver Mystery #2) by Misty Simon

No more cheating . . .

Best friends Tallie Graver and Gina Laudermilch both seem to spend a lot of time around urns. For Tallie, they're part and parcel of the family business, Graver's Funeral Home. Even though she's traded ashes for dusting with her own cleaning business, she still works part-time for her folks and lives above the funeral parlor. For Gina, they're the vessels that contain her heavenly brew at her coffee shop, Bean There, Done That. And both women are learning that owning a business can make finding time for romance challenging.

But when Gina's new beau turns out to have a wife, who barges into the coffee shop to take him home, she can't contain her bitterness and loudly threatens to poison his cup or boil him in a vat of coffee. So when Mr. Wrong turns up dead at the bottom of a staircase inside Gina's locked home, she finds herself at the top of the police's suspect list. Tallie needs to sweep in to save her friend. But she'll need to watch her step, or she may go from being a funeral home employee to becoming their next client . . . (Summary via Goodreads)

Grounds for Remorse by Misty Simon is the second book in the Tallie Graver Mystery series and I LOVED it !!

Tallie Gravers is a very busy woman.  She is trying to rebuild her life after her marriage fell apart.  She is also trying to rebuild friendships that she damaged while she was a snob in her married life.  She is living on the thrid floor of the family business, Graver's Funeral Home, working for the family business part time as well as running her own cleaning business.  She is cleaning houses for the rich people that she thought were friends during her marriage.  And she has reconnected with Max, a childhood friend of her brother and they are taking it to the next level.

Max lives 3 hours away currently but in Grounds for Remorse he is back in town for a 10 day vacation.  Max and Tallie are looking forward to spending time together.  Unfortunately when Gina, Tallie's best friend ends up in trouble, they drop everything to help her.  Gina had been seeing Craig who is a guy that she thought was amazing....until his wife storms into the cafe and practically drags him out !!  Early the next morning when Gina is heading downstairs to open up the cafe, she stumbles across Craig's body.  Things do not look good for Gina seeing as the staircase that he is found in is locked and only she could have let him in.  She was also overheard by everyone in the cafe threatening what she would do to him if she saw him again and it wasn't pretty !!!

Tallie and Max put their alone time aside to help prove Gina's innocence.  Unfortunately doing that may be impossible when they find out Craig had 2 wives, numerous girlfriends and possibly one of them is pregnant.

Readers cannot help but fall in love with everything about this series.  You cannot help but love the relationship and tension between Tallie and Chief of Police James Burton.  The family dynamic, business and relationships will tug on your heartstrings....especially the growing relationship between Tallie and Max.  The way that Tallie puts herself out there and in the middle of the investigations and how she helps solves the murders will keep you turning the pages and looking forward to the next installment in this series.  I know I cannot wait to open up Deceased and Desist to see what trouble Tallie gets into......

Review by Missi M.

Cremains of the Day (A Tallie Graver Mystery #1) by Misty Simon

There's no reverse on the hearse . . .

For Tallulah Graver, marrying wealthy Waldo Phillips seemed like the best way out of the family business, the Graver Funeral Home. But when her marriage falls apart and Tallie is left with next to nothing, she turns to cleaning houses to make ends meet. As humbling as it is to tidy the mansions of the snobby socialites she used to call friends, at least she doesn't have to be around dead bodies. Until . . . 
She discovers one of her employers lying in a closet with a knife sticking out of her chest. This unpleasant shock seems to be part of a web of weird experiences: Tallie's friend Gina's shop is broken into, her ex is stun-gunned where it hurts the most, and now she's receiving flowers from the dead woman. Granted the deliveryman is handsome, but seriously, that's enough to cast a pall over anyone's day. Now Tallie needs to dig deep to clean up this mess--before she finds herself in a grave situation.   (Summary via Goodreads)

In Cremains of the Day by Misty Simon there is no way that readers will not be drawn to main character Tallulah "Tallie" Graver and cannot help but feel sorry for her.  Tallie is recently divorced and is living above the family business which is a funeral parlor.  When she was married she was in the "rich, stuck up crowd", now she is cleaning the houses of those so called friends.  She is also rebuilding her friendship with her best friend Gina who she wasn't very nice to when she was married.

In Cremains of the Day Tallie is helping Gina with the food for after a funeral and stumbles upon Gina's cousin Katie tied up in Gina's shop and her ex-husband unresponsive in the alley behind the shop.  Luckily he is not dead, just stun gunned.  While Tallie is trying to wrap her head around all that, she goes to the house of one of her ex-friends who has become unbearable to clean for and finds her dead body in a closet !!

All Tallie wants to do is rebuild her life and open up a tea shop next door to her friend's cafe so that she can stop cleaning houses and helping out at her family's funeral parlor.  Unfortunately that is not going to happen when Max, an old friend of her brother returns to town and tells her that her life is in danger and that her ex-husband hasn't been completely honest with a lot of things.  While Tallie tries to figure things out, she finds it harder and harder to trust anyone....especially Max.

Cremains of the Day is the first book in the Tallie Graver Mystery series and it is full of page turning excitement.  Like I said readers cannot help but want to root for Tallie and hope that she can get out of the trouble that her ex put her in.  Simon's writing will have you captivated in the story and not want to leave....even when it gets scary !!!

Review by Missi M.

Hanging By a Thread (Second Treasures Mysteries #3) by Margaret Evans

 

The evidence hangs on threads from a garment in Laura Keene’s thrift shop, a suit less than a year old but belonging to a young man who has left town, or so everyone thinks. During the town’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, a terrible discovery is made, and a story of blackmail, jealousy and greed are brought to light in the third installment of Margaret Evans's thrilling Second Treasures Mysteries, “Hanging By a Thread.”   (Summary via Goodreads)

There is no way readers cannot be fans of the Second Treasures Mystery series by Margaret Evans.  Once you read the first book, Twice Sold Murder, she leaves readers with unanswered questions that make it a must to return to the series with Priced to Kill, the second book and so on.  And Hanging By a Thread, the third book in this series will leave readers with main character Laura Keene coming to a realization with the last line of the book......but the answer to that realization will not be revealed until the fourth book......we hope !!

In the Second Treasures Mystery series Laura Keene has moved back to her hometown of Raging Ford in Minnesota after she left 11 years ago when her parents were murdered and she moved to live with her great-aunt Rose.  After her great-aunt died she decided to move back home where she opened up Second Treasures, a thrift shop.  She also lives above the store and has reconnected with some close friends and has taken one of those friendships to the next level.  Laura and Sergeant Connor Fitzpatrick had been best buds growing up and now that she has moved back home and they are adults, they have decided to start dating and see where that leads.....if only Laura can stay out of murder investigations.

In Hanging By a Thread the town is getting ready to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and Laura is doing a lot inside the store to promote the holiday.  She is also still preparing taxes for some people as well as being on the St. Patrick's Day celebration committee.  She always has a lot on her plate but when a sports jacket appears in a bag for donation at her front door and the jacket is a custom made jacket with the owner's name being that of a local man that worked at the bank but disappeared 2 years ago, you know Laura is going to have to find answers.  And, of course, Connor cannot help her because it is an open investigation.  When another employee from the bank is reported missing and the supervisor looks into the employees work log, she finds some very questionable activity.

Even when Laura tries to stay out of things, it seems she has a magnetic pull and she can't seem to turn her brain off from thinking about things and trying to find answers to questions......no matter how many times Connor begs her to stop.

No only is Laura continuing to find out what happened to her parents and who killed them with every book, there is also a "new" case to help solve and when the police make her a police consultant, the door is wide open for her to help the police.  

I love this series and the fact that Evans always leaves readers with a cliff hanging finish guaranteeing that you will be back to read the next book and with Hanging By a Thread the last 3 sentences will leave you speechless and shocked !!!  I cannot get to A Dress to Die For fast enough !!!

Review by Missi M.

 

Saddled with Murder (Dr. Kate Vet Mysteries #1) by Eileen Brady

 

Veterinarian and amateur sleuth Kate Turner has her hands full trying to juggle two boyfriends, a thriving practice, and a criminal investigation

It's the Christmas season and veterinarian Kate Turner is not feeling very jolly. She's overworked, unappreciated, and dealing with two dissatisfied clients. Throw in a very complicated personal life and Kate's definitely got a case of the holiday blues.

To make matters worse, Kate's ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, is mugged and robbed after they have a heated argument in the hospital parking lot. Then, two of her dissatisfied clients turn up dead (which really gets Kate's tinsel in a tangle). All of these events seem like coincidences, but they add up to something much more venomous.

Saddled with Murder is a cozy holiday mystery from beloved author Eileen Brady that explores the fragility and resiliency of animals and humans whose trust has been broken, and will keep animal-loving readers riveted until the last page.   (Summary via Goodreads)

 

In Saddled with Murder by Eileen Brady Dr. Kate Turner has her hands full.  She has taken on a one-year job commitment working at the Oak Falls Animal Hospital while the current veterinarian takes a year long vacation traveling the world.  Her days are full dealing with in house appointments as well as doing house calls.  She is also in the process of trying to figure out her personal life.....her father, who she hasn't spoken to in years has asked her and her grandfather to his house for Christmas and she might have two boyfriends.  Good thing her year long job commitment provided an apartment above the garage at the animal hospital.

While the staff is enjoying an early Christmas celebration, Kate is video recorded as making a Christmas wish....wishing two unhappy clients would go away.  This recording which clearly shows Kate wishing this and another employee, Mari, providing the names of the clients and Pinky, the grounds keeper for the hospital adding a name of his own goes viral.  And when these people turn up dead, the suspect list is longer than Santa's naughty list.  Lucky for Kate one of her relationship interests, Luke, is a police officer taking time out to attend law school so they decide to put their heads together and look into these deaths.  Unfortunately when Kate's other love interest, Jeremy, is mugged, she is put in a very awkward situation.

Readers will love how the balance in Saddled with Murder devotes time for Kate's personal and professional lives and allows her to overthink the Christmas wish and what happened after......  Kate cannot stop looking at the number of views and reading the comments.  Readers will love the relationships she has with her co-workers and Luke and Jeremy.  Readers may end up leaning more towards Luke over Jeremy for obvious reasons....which I won't indulge here.  You will have to read it and decide for yourself....even though Kate will be the one making that decision, or rather Brady will.

If you are an animal lover, murder mystery lover with a hint of romance Saddle with Murder is the perfect fit for you !!  I highly recommend obtaining your copy and getting lost in the story......

Review by Missi M.

Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings (Mrs. Claus #1) by Liz Ireland

 

It's the first Christmas in Santaland for April Claus--but it may also be her last unless she can uncover a villain with a killer Christmas wish. . . 

Love is full of surprises--though few compare to realizing that you're marrying the real-life Santa. April Claus dearly loves her new husband, Nick, but adjusting to life in the North Pole is not all sugarplums and candy canes. Especially when a cantankerous elf named Giblet Hollyberry is killed--felled by a black widow spider in his stocking--shortly after publicly arguing with Nick.

Christmastown is hardly a hotbed of crime, aside from mishaps caused by too much eggnog, but April disagrees with Constable Crinkle's verdict of accidental death. As April sets out to find the culprit, it'll mean putting the future of Christmas on the line--and hoping her own name isn't on a lethal naughty list . . .  (Summary via Goodreads)

I did NOT want to finish reading Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings by Liz Ireland.  This book was so fun to read and the way Ireland writes and describes things, your imagination will explode !!  You will feel like you can clearly see everything and feel the cold !!

Main character April is newly married to Santa Claus.  Yes that is what I said and it's true !!  She met him when he was on vacation and staying at her inn, The Coast Inn, in Cloudberry Bay in Oregon.  They had a whirlwind romance that turned into a marriage and April moving to Santaland and taking on some responsibilities as the new Mrs. Claus.  This is going to also be Nick's first Christmas as Santa Claus.  Nick's brother Chris was the last Santa but was killed during a hunting excursion a few months back.

April and Nick live in Castle Kringle in Christmastown with Nick's mother who is the dowager Mrs. Claus and still handles most of the household responsibilities.  Also living in the Castle are Martin and Lucia, Nicks's brother and sister, Tiffany, Chris' widow, and their son Christopher.  In Santaland not only are humans living there but there are elves, reindeers that talk as well as talking, moving snowmen !!!  It is definitely a place I want to visit !!

It is the week before Christmas and there is a lot for the family to do to prepare for the big day as well as a lot of festivities in town.  Unfortunately when Nick is told that an elf has been killed, he rushes to find out what happened.  Later that day one of the snowmen is found murdered, blow torched to just a puddle.  

Sadly everything points to Nick as the main suspect and when the town calls on Detective Jake, not Jack, Frost to come to town to investigate, everyone knows that things are serious !!  Even April is suspicious of Nick......

Christmas is doomed  !!!  Unless April can find out what happened to the elf and snowman and clear Nicks name.

Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings is like a Hallmark movie that took a wrong turn.  Or like a Lifetime movie with a kick !

Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings is a must read !!  Not only will it attract the mystery lover part of your brain but it will attract the Christmas spirit in you.  With talking reindeer, elves and Santa how can you not want to make a cup of cocoa and settle in ?  There is a lot to love with this book and I am very,very glad that it says that it is Mrs. Claus #1 which means that there will be more books in this series and I cannot wait !!!  I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to show up.......

Review by Missi M.

Jeopardy in High Heels (High Heels #12) by Gemma Halliday & Catherine Bruns

 

When death hits a contestant on America's favorite game show, fashion designer turned amateur sleuth is on the case!

I'll take "What is Murder" for $200 please, Alex?

Maddie Springer may know more about fabulous heels than tough trivia, but she's thrilled when her hairdresser-to-the-stars stepfather, Fernando, earns a spot on a celebrity edition of American's favorite game show. But she's not so thrilled when, after taping ends, one of the other contestants dies, the media are suddenly everywhere, and one reporter in particular is threatening to not only point the finger at Fernando, but also expose his biggest secrets to the world!

The victim was Doggy Z, a famous rap artist turned recreational marijuana supporter turned cooking show co-host. And it seems everyone in his life had a reason to want him dead—from the 4 ex-wives he was serially unfaithful to, to his deceptively wholesome looking cooking show co-host, to the network executive seen arguing with Dog just before his death, and even the soap opera star who competed against him on the trivia show. Now it's up to Maddie to sift through the suspects and figure out just which person the rapper may have wronged enough to want him dead. With the help of her Hollywood BFF, her hot homicide detective husband, and her endearingly meddling mom, can Maddie track down a cold blooded killer... before she finds herself in final jeopardy?  (Summary via Goodreads)

A book written by Gemma Halliday AND Catherine Bruns.....well reading that is a no brainer !!! These two authors are amazing by themselves but when put together their writing talent is explosive !!!!

Jeopardy in High Heels is the twelfth book in the High Heels Mystery series and you are going to be in love !!  There is so much within this book to capture readers attention and continue its firm grasp on it until you finish the book.  

Main character Maddie has a busy life.  She is married to a police detective, has twins in preschool, is a fashion shoe designer, has a best friend, Dana, who is an actress and family that she will do anything for !!  

In Jeopardy in High Heels Maddie's step-father who is the owner of Fernando's which is a hair salon that caters to the famous and rich is a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy.  Maddie and Dana are in the audience with Maddie's mom and her best friend to cheer him on.  The other two contestants are an actress on a soap opera and a rapper by the name of Doggy Z.  During the taping of the show it appears that Doggy Z is more out of it than he usually is.  It is rumored that he is always high but during the taping he looks like he is completely out of it.

That evening Maddie's husband, Ramirez, is called into work.  It isn't until later that evening that she learns that the case that he was called into was for Doggy Z.  He was found dead at him home that evening.  Of course Maddie cannot stop thinking about his performance during the taping of Jeopardy and when a gossip reporter finds out that her husband is working on the case, she wants insider information.  Maddie refuses to give in to her until she threatens to out Fernando for the fraud that he is which could destroy his business.  So Maddie, Dana and gossip reporter Tina "work together" to solve the case keeping Fernando's secret safe.

There is a LONG list of suspects regarding Doggy Z's murder...... and 4 of them are his ex-wives !!  Maddie and Dana take it upon themselves to look into his death and though Maddie has a lot on her plate and her husband is the detective assigned to the case and they should really just let him do his job, they are pulled into it.....

Jeopardy in High Heels is such a fun story to read with the characters and the storyline.  Readers cannot help but enjoy it....who doesn't like Jeopardy ?  We may not know the answers or who killed Doggy Z but what's the harm of riding along with Maddie while she looks into it ??

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and knowing it was written by a dynamic duo made it that much better.  Halliday and Bruns alone are magnificient in their storytelling abilities but when paired together, it is a masterpiece !!!

Review by Missi M.