It's nearing Christmas and Tallie's unlikable grandmother is visiting. All she does is argue, and no one wants to spend time with her. But Tallie has agreed to be a buffer between her and Tallie's mother, so they go to bingo together. But when Tallie is shifted from her seat by a bingo regular, she finds herself sitting between a nice woman and her Aunt Ronda, who also has problems being nice to people. After an uncomfortable night, Ronda leaves in a huff and forgets her purse. Tallie runs out the back to give it to her, and finds Ronda -- dead from a blow to the head. When Ronda's husband, Tallie's Uncle Hoagie, disappears the same night, he's suspected of murdering her.

But more than this is happening to Tallie: her uncle Sherman, who's the fire chief, has asked for her help in locating an arsonist that no one is able to catch. He's depending on Tallie's being able to notice details and her instincts to help him, if she can. To top it off, her boyfriend Max has announced at the dinner table that he'd be happy to help her father run the mortuary, leaving Tallie free to run her cleaning company, but stunning her at the same time. Now Tallie's trying to find an arsonist, locate her uncle Hoagie, and decide what to do about Max. If she can stay alive - again - she might be able to figure it all out...

This is the fifth book in the series and probably the best. While I figured out what was going on with Hoagie early on in the book, it was still a lot of fun to watch everyone else figure it out along the way. I loved the fact that Tallie isn't afraid to speak her mind, and she's not an bumbling idiot running into problems because she didn't think them out first. She's intelligent, and I like that above all things. I also like the new direction in the friendship between Tallie and Burton; and in this book we learn more about his past and why he is the way he is. It's bringing more life to the characters involved, and pulling you deeper into their own lives. It's highly enjoyable.

The story line was one of the best so far, and I loved the fact that Tallie is finding out her own strengths and knows what she wants out of life. She's able to run a business and still have time for her family and friends, and solve a murder or two along the way. I also like the fact that she gets her ducks in a row before blindly heading out and getting caught up in bad situations. It makes the entire book a real pleasure to read.

I also love to read any books about Christmas, and while this one doesn't center on the holiday, it still has enough touches where you know it's there. There is a presence of family around the table, and conversations much as all families have, along with the siblings arguing over one thing or another. Days gone by in my household (I live far from my own family); but remembrances live on.

When we get closer to the end of the story everything starts to come together, with surprises still at hand that I don't think anyone could have seen coming. The ending itself was done wonderfully, giving us a tale that ended satisfactorily and also things to look forward to in the next book. Highly recommended. ( )

family-dynamics, family, friendship, situational-humor, verbal-humor, cozy-mystery, murder, holiday-themed, missing-persons, small-business, small-town, arson****

Let's see, there's extreme bingo, a murdered curmudgeon whose husband goes missing, a look-alike embalmed body found outside his business, a looney family who wants daughter to stop mucking about as an amateur sleuth and get into the family (funeral home) business against her will. Oh, and an arsonist. Sounds like fun, and it really is. Kept me up reading to find out what's next! Great characters!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Press via NetGalley. ( )