I loved the previous books in this series and this one did not disappoint! The author chose a unique profession for her main character and it really sets the series apart from other cozies. Another plus is that it is a Christmas cozy which is one of my favorite times of year. There was also a secondary mystery regarding mistaken identity that added to the twists and turns leading to a satisfying conclusion.
I can't wait to read more in this series.

An absolutely rip roaring good time to be had by all! This is my first book by Misty Simons. Wow is all I can say. I had an absolute blast reading this book.

So many mysteries all wrapped up in big shiny bow. Amazingly well written. I loved the characters. Especially Max and Tallie. They're absolutely perfect for each other.

I love the small home town feel and how everyone knows everyone else and even with all if that there are still plenty of secrets and lies to sort through.

The funeral home aspect is unique and very interesting. Bot at all creepy like I thought it might be. I love how her family bickers back and forth. It warms my heart how they fight yet love each other so very much.

The mysteries were exciting and not all easy to figure out. I absolutely loved it and had a great time.

The characters are wonderfully fleshed out and I have absolutely no problem imagining the world in which they exist.

What a fun book! This is a series that I can see myself getting absolutely addicted to.

Yes, I absolutely love and recommend this book!

Thanks to Net Galley, publishers, and author for the ability to read and review. All opinions are my own and are completely honest.

Varnished Without a Trace by Misty Simon is the fifth book in the cozy A Tallie Graver Mystery series. Each book in the series features it’s own mystery to be solved so they can be read and understood as a standalone if choosing to do so or in any order. Of course though there are details to the story and characters that carry over book to book so it’s always best to enjoy the series from the beginning.

The A Tallie Graver Mystery series introduced readers to Tallulah Graver who had never wanted to go into the family business of running the Graver Funeral Home. Instead Tallie chose to marry a wealthy man and was living rather well until her marriage fell apart. Tallie picked herself up after the divorce and moved into the apartment above the funeral home and found in order to avoid working full time in the family business and still pay her bills she started a business cleaning the homes of the same wealthy people that she once called friends.

Tallie’s plans of spending the holiday with her boyfriend and taking a break from her business don’t exactly go as planned when she gets roped into Christmas Eve bingo. Just when Tallie thought things couldn’t get any worse than overseeing the bingo madness with her crazy family the night takes a horrible turn when Tallie’s Aunt Ronda is found murdered. When the police begin to suspect Tallie’s Uncle of murder Tallie knows she’s got to find out what happened quick.

I have followed the A Tallie Graver Mystery series from the beginning and always enjoy coming back with each new book. This is another series that has that quirky, humorous vibe to it that I enjoy along with likable characters. Of course the mysteries are always fun to follow too with plenty of suspects along the way and this was yet another great addition to the series.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

What Tallie wants to do for Christmas and what actually happens are two different things. Family plays a big part in this story, with a dead aunt and an uncle the main suspect.

This was a fun read for meA great read I could not put down until I was finished my only complaint is I wish the settings had a little more detail

Princess Fuzzypants here: Tallie, in her previous outings, seemed to be batting heads with many of the men in her life, Her father wants her to step up and take a more active role in his funeral business. The chief of police, whom she has helped many times, bridles each time she hands him the solution to a murder. Only her uncle, the fire chief and her boyfriend, seem to give her credit for her intelligence and observational skills. That is until this book. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, as did Tallie, as her two nemesis seemed to see her finally for her talents and openly support her. Wow! Talk about a turnaround.

They are going to need her and she is going to need them and they four men and Tallie make an awesome team when they are all working together. When Tallie’s aunt, a thoroughly unpleasant woman, is beaned by a can of varnish after a bingo game and killed, her uncle disappears. He seems like the kindest most gentle man and Tallie cannot believe he would murder his wife no matter how provoked. Then another body turns up and the merry-go-round goes into overdrive. To say people are not what they seem would be an understatement of epic proportion.

It is going to take the five of them to unravel the lies and secrets of the past forty years to learn what happened both in the murder and a spate of arsons that have been breaking out in the town. Great characters abound with complex family dynamics. As usual, Tallie makes a great heroine and the story moves along at a fast and entertaining pace.

Five purrs and two paws up.

No 5 (?) in this series which is still one of my favourites in the cosy mystery world. Although I had my suspicions (eventually) of WHAT was going on with Hoagie, I didn't figure out WHO did it (and not sure it would have been easy to anyway). Also, I felt the resolution of the arsonist was tied up at the end without ever really giving you an opportunity to figure it out.

But Tallie and her family are still some of my favourite characters, and I thoroughly enjoyed being back with them. They are clever and funny, and each person is well drawn and has an independent voice. Tallie also, hands down, has the best cat name in fiction: Mr Fleefers.

I am eagerly awaiting the next in the series.

This is such a fun series, and I had a great time with this cozy mystery. I loved the plot, the twists and turns, and the characters!

Varnished Without a Trace by Misty Simon is the fifth book in the Tallie Graver Mystery series. Tallie is taking some time off from her cleaning business to enjoy the Christmas season with her boyfriend, Max. She finds herself playing referee between her mother and grandmother though. That leads to Tallie discovering the body of her Aunt Ronda and in the middle of another mystery. The mystery is a bit on the lighter side, but I do like the series. While not my favorite in the series, it is a good holiday themed mystery.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Christmas, Bingo, and Bodies! Yes, it is another fun book from Misty Simon!

Tallie and Max are turning her little apartment above the funeral home into their own little penthouse just in time for the holidays. Max is trying to get his accountant practice up and running but he could be making a career change. Tallie is trying to take a little break from her cleaning business to run interference between her mother and grandmother who has come to town for the holidays. Her plans go a little awry when she is separated from her elders at the annual Christmas Eve bingo event at the fire station. She ends up sitting next to her Aunt Ronda, a bingo regular who is upset by all the holiday interlopers winning the prizes.

When Tallie wins the final game Ronda leaves in a huff. Tallie notices Ronda has left her bag behind tries to catch up with her outside. She does find her but Ronda won’t be playing bingo ever again as she is very dead with a can of varnish by her side. Boy, that happened quick.

Seeing that her Uncle Hoagie owns the local hardware store where the varnish came from the police want to talk to him immediately. One problem, Uncle Hoagie is nowhere to be found. Add to that, someone is setting fires around town. No one has been hurt yet but it appears the firebug is escalating.

Tallie isn’t sure if it’s the holiday spirit or if Police Chief Burton facing the inevitable but he asks for Tallie’s help in solving the murder case. Equally surprising, her Uncle Sherman, the fire chief, asks for Tallie’s assistance in solving the firebug case too. If Tallie wants to ring in a bright and shining new year she needs to wrap up both mysteries as soon as possible.

Wow, Ms. Simon packs a lot into these pages along with a generous supply of giggles.

I am so happy Max has moved in with Tallie. They compliment each other nicely and he has a way of handling her family in a way she never could. Tallie is getting stronger but hasn’t left behind all her insecurities.

We are introduced to two new characters in this story. Tallie’s grandmother and Burton’s father. Both strong characters and meeting them shines a light on the other characters they have touched over a lifetime. The author continues to allow her characters to grow in a realistic way.

The story has a nice twist in that not one but two people ask Tallie for her help realizing she has a talent for solving mysteries. She proves it when her observations turn the story in a different direction. Due to the murder, we meet Ronda and Hoagie’s children and again it prompts Tallie to ask key questions. Ms. Simon’s writing style takes her readers right into the ebbs and flows are Tallie’s life, like we are looking right over her shoulder as she follows the clues wherever they lead. This new partnership between Tallie and Burton gives a different dimension. I wonder if it will last.

I have enjoyed every book in this series but I feel Varnished without a Trace is the best one yet. I just can’t get enough of these characters. I strived this year to get caught up on this series and I am a little sad that I now have to wait for the next installment. Until next year, Tallie! I am not tapping my foot or anything. Okay, I am, but I know writing and publishing great stories take time. 🙂

Varnished without a Trace by Misty Simon
Book #1: A Tallie Graver Mystery Series
Source: NetGalley and Kensington
Rating: 4½/5 stars

Tallie Graver spent a lot of years away from her family while she was married to her now ex-husband and until this Christmas, she has regretted that choice greatly. This Christmas, however, Tallie’s battle axe of a grandmother is visiting and Tallie is meant to be running interference for her mother. On tonight’s agenda, Bingo at the local civic center and Tallie isn’t at all prepared for the fireworks that event normally brings.

Although, Bingo doesn’t normally bring a dead woman out the back door. Even for Tallie, a dead woman at Bingo is a first. As if the situation weren’t bad enough, the dead woman is the meanest old broad in town and there aren’t many mourning her passing. For Tallie, it isn’t so much the death of the old broad that has her upset, it’s the fact her uncle has been accused of the murder and he seems to have pulled a runner.

Though Tallie has somewhat vowed to keep her nose out of police business and spend as much time as possible with her delightful beau, she simply can’t ignore a couple things 1) the police chief is actually being nice and asking for her help, and 2) there are far too many unanswered questions for Tallie to let go.

As Tallie begins to dig around into the murder, she discovers one glaring problem, no one seems to know how her “uncle” is actually related to the family. With all her usual avenues of investigation exhausted, Tallie has no choice but to ask the battle axe herself. With a bit of bribery and a lot of cheek, Tallie finally gets the old broad to spill the beans and wowsa is it a monster of a tale. Armed with her new and stunning information, Tallie sets about righting a lifetime worth of wrongs for a load of people. As always, Tallie gets more than a bit in over her head and by the end of it all, her folks are once again telling her, “I told you so!”

The Bottom Line: I really like this installment of the Tallie Graver Mystery Series. In fact, I read this one in no time flat and regret nothing. As you well know, I am a huge fan of backstory and history and this book had quite a bit of each. As Tallie uncovers clues, she also uncovers more about her family, their history, and how her family is more entrenched in the town she calls home than she could have ever imagined. Tallie even discovers, that when push comes to shove, her family may actually understand her a bit more than she has previously gave them credit for. I think this last bit is the bit I liked the best about this book; there is a great deal of personal evolution in Tallie’s story/life and that gives me great hope for the future of this series.

Varnished Without a Trace is an odd story. The main character is the daughter of a funeral-home director, but she doesn’t want to work in the family business. She prefers cleaning people’s homes over taking care of the dead. Tallie comes off as a bit immature. She is almost thirty but allows her mother, father, and grandmother to tell her how to act, live her life, even what food to eat. Understandably, she wants to keep the peace, especially during the Christmas holiday. Still, a thirty-year-old woman should be able to be herself, eat the food she likes, and not worry about her family getting upset if she refuses cranberry sauce with dinner. For me, this made it challenging to like Tallie too much.

The investigation into the murder of Tallie’s cousin is slightly confusing. The local detective wants her help, as does the fire chief, but neither seems to do their job without Tallie by their side. Even though it’s the Christmas holiday, and the murder of a family member has taken place, yet no one is overly upset or grieving. The victim’s husband is missing and could be the killer, and it doesn’t look like anyone cares except Tallie. It’s just odd that so many crazy things happen, and no one bats an eye.

My biggest complaint about this book is that it was extremely predictable, from the suspects to the motives; even the twists were easily anticipated. Unfortunately, this Christmas holiday story was so easy to predict that I knew what would happen pages before it did. The premise of a funeral director/house cleaner for a cozy is great but wasn’t as good as it could have been. I love odd stories with characters that enhance a series, and this was the only book in the series that I read, so I may not be seeing the entire picture, but I didn’t have any empathy for any of the characters. All of this said, there were some fun and humorous parts in Varnished Without a Trace. It had a fair amount of interest and was a quick read.

Great read. The author really draws the reader into the story. Will definitely read another book by this author. I felt like I was part of the story.

I had the best time reading this book! I was laughing in the first chapter. This is the 5th book in the series and the 1st I've read. It was easy for me to follow along and I will be reading the others. The book takes place at Christmas time and involves murder and arson. The characters are definitely well developed and quirky. This is just a great cozy.

A captivating and intriguing mystery all the way further enhanced with a little romance thrown in between. Max and Tallie found themselves entwined in a puzzling murder mystery where their investigations of the clues lead them on a trail to the past and back to the future. As the pieces of the puzzle began fitting together, Tallie also realized that she and Max fit well together, so his mentioning of the dreaded M-word marriage got her thinking very hard. An exciting intriguing mystery that captivates through its every page.

This is such a fun read. Its the perfect read for these pandemic times to take your mind off of the news and make you laugh out loud I loved this next in series as a fun Christmas time theme mystery. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley. My review opinions are my own. This is a funny series you will always enjoy returning to with each new release..

Varnished Without a Trace by Misty Simon is the 5th book in A Tallie Graver Mystery series.
Tallie, Graver's family owns the Graver Funeral Home. Tallie does not want to work there but is stuck working for them part time. She started her own cleaning business to get out from under her overbearing family and away from the family business as soon as she can. She lives above the funeral home with her boyfriend and is busy renovating her apartment. Her family is very fun and always present in her business. The author portrays this family perfectly as a close knit family that are funny and caring for each other.
When Tallie finds her aunt dead she is determined to return to her talent of sleuthing to determine the true facts of her Aunt's death. The sleuth kept me guessing to conclusion and the author kept me laughing throughout this fun read. I look forward to the next in series.

This story puts a new spin on the word "family." It's Christmas time and the Bingo game is hot or at least fast paced and slight scary when you play with Tallie's family. This time the game turns deadly when cleaning queen Tallie finds her Aunt Roda dead right outside of the Bingo hall. To make this mystery even stranger, her Uncle Hoagy, Roda's husband goes missing and a look alike is found at his hardware store, dead. With the exception of Tallie's boyfriend, Max it seems that everyone is relatd to everyone else in . That is until Tallie starts asking just how are they related to Hoagie and his family. In addition to that mystery, Uncle Sherman head of the fire department wants no needs Tallie to try and figure out who the fire bug might be that is creating havoc around town. Mysterious fires that do just enough damage but not complete destruction. Lots of secrets and Tallie just cannot leave well enough alone and it seems that she has garned some respect from Police Chief Burton who wants her thinking skills but not her getting into trouble as a result of what she thinks" skills to help him discover the murderer, locate Hoagie, and relocate the look alike corpse. Good think Tallie is a well developed character who can multitask with just enough snark to added in to get the job done, and done right. She might not want to be in the family mortuary business but she sure does know how to clean up a murder mystery.

Varnished Without a Trace by Misty Simon is the 5th book in A Tallie Graver Mystery series, and another great addition. Tallulah, Tallie, Graver's family owns the Graver Funeral Home. Tallie does not want to work there, so she started a cleaning business. This book had me laughing from the beginning, It's Christmas time, and Tallie's relatives and friends were so funny. After the Bingo game, Tallie finds her aunt dead, from a can of varnish thrown at her head, and her uncle missing. Determined to get to the bottom of how and why she was killer, Tallie starts sleuthing. I started this book, I could not stop reading it until I was done. Not only is this book an exciting mystery but also very refreshing funny, and a quick read. If you love fun cozy mysteries, which are my favorite, I strongly recommend this book and the whole series. 
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love this series! It’s always fun. It’s a quick, light read and I recommend it to anyone who likes cozies. Great addition

I've been a fan of the Tallie Graver Mystery series from the beginning and they've never disappointed. This one is no exception. A truly enjoyable read and time well spent with some of my favorite characters. You won't want to put it down.

When Tallie's mean Aunt Ronda is killed at the town's annual Christmas Eve bingo game and her beloved Uncle Hoagie is the prime suspect, it's up to Tallie to clear his name.

This Christmas mystery will keep you entertained while trying to figure out who the real killer is.

Note: I was given an advance copy of this book by the publisher but all opinions and reviews are my own.