Grounds for Remorse by Misty Simon - Book Tour + Giveaway
Grounds For Remorse
A Tallie Graver Mystery #2
by Misty Simon
Genre:
Cozy Mystery
Cozy Mystery
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 con-tain 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.
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 con-tain 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 . . .
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 . . .
I
jolted awake and nearly knocked Max off the bed when the siren at the firehouse
next door blared in the middle of the night. I had trained myself to sleep
through it when I’d first moved over the funeral
home
my parents and brother owned. It also helped that my father had installed
soundproofing up here
at
my request.
Tonight,
though, I’d had a hard time falling asleep and had wandered to the window a few
times to soak up the moonlight and watch the few cars driving on Main Street. I
had been restless even with Max’s arms wrapped around me in the Murphy bed that
I’d lowered from the wall.
So,
it was no surprise that I heard it and shot straight up in bed. As softly as
possible I removed myself from under Max’s arm and went to the front windows of
my apartment, where I’d be able to see the direction the fire truck headed. The
lights could be mesmerizing as they strobed across the brick
buildings
of Main Street in our small town. Pennsylvania liked its sirens and its
volunteer firemen.
But
though the siren blared and the lights flashed, they didn’t get far. In fact,
they pulled across the
street
and stopped outside Gina’s.
What
on earth?
“Max.
Max!” I shook him, then ran to my closet for a hoodie to throw over my pajamas.
No time to waste on a bra, and the hoodie would cover up any sagging. Plus, the
dead of summer could still get a little chilly outside in the middle of the
night.
He
sat up, his hair going in all directions. “What’s going on?”
“The
fire truck is in front of Gina’s house. I have to go over there.”
Points
for him that he was out of bed and stepping into his jeans before I’d finished
my second sentence.
“See
if you can get a hold of her. She might not be able to answer, but maybe she
can. Just check.” He
went
to the window as he pulled a shirt on over his head. “I don’t see flames. But
an ambulance just
pulled
up.”
“Oh
no. That could mean anything.” They came out for all reasons, generally
anything that involved a
call
to the emergency line at the police station. What had happened? Was Gina hurt?
Had I left her alone and Craig had come for her? My stomach tried to claw its
way up my throat.
Stepping
into shoes, I hit my Gina speed dial as I flew down the two sets of stairs to the
main floor.
Max
was right on my heels. By the fourth ring, Gina still hadn’t answered, but then
it didn’t matter because I saw her standing on the sidewalk with her arms
wrapped around herself and a blanket over
her
shoulders.
At
least she was alive. While I’d booked it down the stairs, horrible visions had
flashed through my head of Craig getting in her house and killing her in her
sleep. Seeing her standing there alleviated that fear at least, but it didn’t
indicate what had happened. I didn’t even look for traffic as I ran across the
street
and jerked to a halt in front of her. I opened my arms and she stepped forward.
But Chief Burton
put
an arm out between us, keeping her from hugging me. The man was the bane of my
existence.
He
still held a grudge over the stuck-up, snobby bitch I had been for the past
five years. I’d thought helping him with a double murder a few months ago might
have softened him up, but that didn’t seem to be happening with the way his
eyes were flinty and his stance forbidding.
“What
are you doing?” I demanded.
“This
is a crime scene, Tallie.”
“A
what? What happened?” Quickly taking in the scene, I saw no blood and no broken
windows. Nothing out of the ordinary, except my friend standing on the street
with a blanket around her shoulders.
“Go
home. We’re taking care of it. I need you to step back. We don’t want to
contaminate anything
until
we have all the evidence we need.”
“Gina?”
I met her eyes. Max stepped up next to me and put a hand on my outstretched
arm.
“Don’t
leave me, Tallie. Please.” Her voice quavered with distress and I wanted to
punch Burton in his shiny badge.
Instead,
I glared at him and almost said the scathing words that were positively boiling
on my tongue. But I did not want to make anyone even madder. I settled for
taking a step back. “I’m not leaving. I won’t touch anything, but I’m not
leaving.”
Burton
sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Not my problem.
“Do
you want me to call your mom, Gina?” I asked. “God, no, please.”
“Can
you tell me what happened? Why are the police and the fire department and the
ambulance here?”
Burton
stepped between us again. “You can stay, but I’ll be asking the questions.
Right now, this is a
need-to-know
basis and you are not someone who needs to know anything.” Burton stood with
his back
to
Gina, fully blocking her from my sight. Kicking him would be a very bad idea, I
told myself several
times,
while I fought down the urge to do just that. I tried a different tactic with
the silvered-haired
man
who was the strong arm of the law around these parts. “Can you tell me what
happened then? I live in the neighborhood and would like to know what has
happened to bring everyone out before dawn.”
He
frowned at me, his bushy gray eyebrows pulling down to form a V. “There’s been
a death and that’s
all
you need to know.”
A
death? I reeled back into Max’s arms, my brain now going to the threats Gina
had made earlier
toward
Craig. No way would she have done that. I knew it in my heart. Plus, I didn’t
even know who was dead. I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions until I had more
facts.
And
then the gurney rolled past me and Max. A hand flopped out from under the
sheet, the manicured
fingernails
masculine and way too clean. It was Craig. To say this was not good was a gross
understatement.
Cremains of the Day
A Tallie Graver Mystery #1
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 . . .
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.
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.
“You’ll be cheering as the clues pileup in this creative cozy mystery.”
—New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon
—New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon
Misty Simon is the author of Cremains of the Day and Grounds
for Remorse in the Tallie Graver Mystery series. She loves a
good story and decided one day that she would try her hand at it.
Eventually she got it right. There’s nothing better in the world
than making someone laugh, and she hopes everyone at least snickers
in the right places when reading her books. She lives with her
husband, daughter and three insane dogs in Central Pennsylvania where
she is hard at work on her next novel or three.
for Remorse in the Tallie Graver Mystery series. She loves a
good story and decided one day that she would try her hand at it.
Eventually she got it right. There’s nothing better in the world
than making someone laugh, and she hopes everyone at least snickers
in the right places when reading her books. She lives with her
husband, daughter and three insane dogs in Central Pennsylvania where
she is hard at work on her next novel or three.
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