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 … 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 . . .
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Dollycas’s Thoughts
Gina Laudermilch is head over heels about her new boyfriend, sharing with best friend, Tallie Graver, he may be the one. Then the man’s wife shows up at her coffee shop to stake her claim and take the man home. But Mr. So Wrong doesn’t back down and still tries to see Gina even though she has threatened to “boil him in a vat of coffee”, he actually shows up at her door with flowers Max gets caught in the crossfire. Then the next day Gina finds the man at the bottom of her staircase dead behind a locked door she also finds herself the prime suspect. Tallie is ready to do anything to clear her friend’s name even going toe to toe with those high on her suspect list and against the police’s warnings to leave the case to them.
I really enjoyed this 2nd installment to this series because there was always something happening and the book had an excellent flow. Tallie’s boyfriend has come for a visit and gets totally involved in everything Tallie does from going to help her clean houses, helping out at the family funeral home, to investigating the murder of Casanova Craig. He truly is a special man and they make a great couple.
Tallie’s family continues to make me laugh. All the recurring characters continue to develop in meaningful ways. Tallie’s father is very serious about his business and its image and her mother butts into Tallie’s life as any normal mother would, okay she does get a little much at times but you have to love her for it. I just wish they would give Tallie a little more leeway and let her come into her own. Hopefully, that will happen soon. A new relationship is blooming between two characters as well that I find delightful even though it was also a complete surprise.
Ms. Simon also introduces some interesting characters for this story and puts them into some unique situations. Turns out Craig is a chronic cheater that opened the door to a vast number of suspects. There were plenty of twists and turns and while I thought I had everything all figured out before the big reveal I was only partially right. There was one last twist I didn’t see coming.
Grounds For Remorse is a well-crafted mystery with characters that are becoming more engaging as the series continues. I am looking forward to the next book in this series, Deceased and Desist is waiting on my To-Be-Read stack.
Synopsis:
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 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 . . .(Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well rounded and well developed. I really liked the friendship between Tallie and Gina, you can tell that they are besties. When Gina is a suspect in the murder of a guy she was dating, Tallie will do anything to clear Gina’s name. If I ever get accused of murder, I want Tallie in my corner!!!!!!
The mystery was well plotted and moved along at a steady pace. There were enough suspects to consider and clues to sift through. Throw in some red herrings and twists and turns and you have a mystery that is not easy to solve.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy. This is the second book in this series, and the second one that I have read, and I enjoyed them both.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.
Called it!!! I knew who the killer was kinda. Totally blindsided by the motive but I still call it a win. Hopefully no more online dating for Gina but we’ll see if the new guy works out. Very quick reads.
This is the second Tallie Graver mystery I read right after finishing the first one. And it’s every bit as good as Cremains Of The Day. I love Tallie’s smart mouth. It balances perfectly against the chief of police, Burton’s sour but wonderful personality. Tallie’s friend, Gina, is no-nonsense and says it like it is. Her boyfriend, the tall and hunky Taxinator Max, is sincere and caring. Together, they make for as delicious a brew as Gina stirs up in her coffee shop. Her father, who has strict standards for his funeral home, deserved a whack every once in a while, but he’s no match for his daughter who’s a whirlwind of energy and sleuthing. The pace is so fast, the book was over before I could catch my breath. A fun read.
I had not read Cremains of the Day, book #1, but had no problem reading Grounds. Perhaps if I had read the first book I may have been more invested in the characters, but I found Grounds to only be mildly engaging. It’s the day after and I’ve already forgotten whodunnit.
I didn’t find Tallie or her crew of family and friends very interesting, as a group they lacked the chemistry I usually find so appealing in cozies.
The mystery kept me guessing, Tallie was an active investigator and some of the town folk had interesting cameos so I was able to finish the book. Since I have Cremains (which I forgot about before I started Grounds), I will give it a try. Perhaps a more thorough (if there is one) introduction to the characters will add something to the series for me.
I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.