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Review: Deceased and Desist (Book #3: A Tallie Graver Mystery) by Misty Simon
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 . . .
Source: NetGalley and Purchase My Rating: 3½/5 stars
General Thoughts:
- I like Tallie, Max, Gina, and the fur babies, but I’ve about had it with all the other regular characters
- With regards to the above, all the other regular characters are still beating the same “You have to stop doing this/getting involved, Tallie” drum. Three books in and that same drum beat is getting very old and keeping me from really liking some of the regular characters.
- With regards to the above, if anyone would take the time to listen to Tallie, they would realize she has yet to go looking for trouble! Outside of solving crimes and cleaning houses, Tallie has a serious talent for stumbling into trouble and over dead bodies. It’s one of her finest talents 😊
- I’m still liking the general flow of each book and how Tallie goes about solving each crime. She isn’t a trained detective, but she is highly intelligent, organized, logical, personable enough that people open up to her, and highly determined. Tallie is one of my favorite character types which is part of the reason I keep coming back for more.
- I am liking the evolution being shown between Max and Tallie and Tallie and Sheriff Burton. Max is such a sweet and endearing man and I sincerely hope he will be around for a good long time. As to Sheriff Burton and Tallie, I’m very much liking what went down between them in this particular installment of the series. Burton may just be coming around to Tallie’s way of thinking and doing things 😊
The Bottom Line: While I am still liking this series in general, there is the quite annoying issue of some of the regular characters still harping on Tallie about her involvement in the various crimes she has stumbled upon. For myself, this is really becoming an issue and I sincerely feel it needs to change or I’m going to have to part ways with the series. Yeah, it bothers me that much. With that being said, there are still other aspects of this book and series I quite enjoy. I do like Tallie, Max, Gina, and the furries so much and the plot of all three books have kept me guessing and totally interested. I want to keep enjoying and reading this series, but I need to see some serious evolution in some of the other regular characters. I suspect, the fourth book will be the one that decides my fate on this issue once and for all.
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