Category: Cozy Mystery

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday

The Christmas Clause by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Christmas Clause
  • Author: Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #8
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess, Tony, Bree, Mike
  • Other Characters: Brady, Hap, Hattie, Tess’ mom,
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

if you love a good cozy mystery, pets, and intriguing characters with a touch of Romance, you are going to love the Tess & Tilly series.

This is the 8th book in the series and it does not disappoint. Tess has found another clue into her dad’s past when a woman, who was somehow associated with her dad, is shot right in front of Tess. Now Tess wonders if somehow she lead the killer to this woman.

As Mike, Tess and Tony are investigating this murder, the town Santa is also murdered. So now they wonder if the two murders are connected. As they dig deeper, they aren’t sure if this involves her dad or if these two have another connection that got them killed.

Tess finds out a lot more about her dad’s past. If her dad one of the good guys or is he a killer?

As they are dealing with this,Tess & Mike’s relationship is suffering since he is mad at Tess for keeping secrets about their dad from him. Could this family drama destroy Bree and Tess’ friendship?

The plot thickens and takes lots of twist and turns to catch a killer before they kill again.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

The Wedding Plan by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Wedding Plan
  • Author: Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #10
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Characters: Tess, Tony, Bree, Mike
  • Other Characters: Brady, Hap, Hattie, Tess’ mom,
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

In book 10 of the Tess & Tilly mysteries, it starts off with a missing child. Tess knows the area so she is helping search for the child and they end up with more than the bargained for. When one of the search and rescue dogs heads off barking at something they think is the missing child, they stumble upon a dismembered body.

This is a cozy mystery but I felt like it was a little more graphic than most cozies. Talking about a dismembered body and how body parts are laying around but the head is missing was a bit too much of a visual for me. But even with this the book was very engaging and I loved the mystery.

So there is a dismembered body to identify and they find out it is actually the parts from 2 different people & the tattoo on the arm leads them back to Tess & Mike’s dad.

In the middle of all of this Tess’ & Tilly are planning a secret wedding with just close friends ando family. Tony’s grandmother Nona is even planning to come from Italy. And Bree & Mike are still trying to get pregnant. Tony & Tess take in a new family member. Then there is a secret meeting planned with Tess & Mike’s dad.

Will they find the Identity of the dismembered bodies? And what happened to them? What is Tess & Mike’s dad’s connection? Will Tess & Tony’s wedding happen on time without a hitch? Did they find the missing child in the woods? Will Bree finally get pregnant and have the baby she is praying for? Do they meet up with their dad?

Lots of mystery and twist and turns that keeps you guessing throughout the book. It is very well written, just like the previous books of the series. The author really knows how to keep the reader engaged throughout her books.

I loved this and recommend all of the Tess & Tilly series.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

The Puppy Project by Kathi Daily

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  • Title: The Puppy Project
  • Author: Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #9
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess, Tony, Bree, Mike
  • Other Characters: Brady, Hap, Hattie, Tess’ mom,
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

The author has done it again by writing another compelling story that just makes the reader want more. Once I finish one book in the series, I can’t wait to start the next one.

This is the 9th book in the series. Brady, the vet in White Eagle, has received a donation of a lifetime. Tony, Tess’ boyfriend, and his friend Shaggy developed a video game and Tony gave his portion to Brady to expand White Eagle Animal Shelter. Brady and Tess want to offer housing for the elderly and hard to place animals. The also want a service dog & search and rescue training facility. While they are breaking ground for the expansion, they find a skeleton that is several years old. Mike is investigating but, as usual, Tess and Tony are doing their own investigation.

In the mean time, there are more mysteries that surround Tess’ dad. If they aren’t careful, someone else could end up dead. The plot thickens involving Tess’ dad, Grant. Tony has been receiving some emails from Tess’ dad but is it really Tess dad or someone pertending to be him? It seems Tony and Tess just keeps getting pulled in deeper and deep? Are they risking their lives by researching what her dad is involved in? Will they find out what he is up to and who he really is?

Tess is making some major decisions that will affect her entire life.

Read this book to find out more about Tess’ dad and to see what major decisions she is making and how it will affect her and Tony?

I really love all the characters in this series and I always anticipate what is coming next one.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday, Romance

The Halloween Haunting by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Halloween Haunting
  • Author: Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #7
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess, Tony, Bree, Mike
  • Other Characters: Brady, Hap, Hattie, Tess’ mom, Star Moonwalker
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

It’s Halloween in White Eagle so we have a Haunted house, a skeleton, a dead body, a mystery surrounding Tess’ dad and a maybe sister. Lots of mysteries and lots of twists and turns.

I really love Tess, her dog Tilly and all the other characters we come to love in this series. This time Tess, Tilly and Brady are putting on a haunted house as a fundraiser to expand the shelter. While getting the house ready, they come across a skeleton hidden in the wall in the attic. Upon further investigation they also find a dead body in the clock tower. Even though Mike is investigating the skeleton and the murder, you know that Tess and Tony have to do their own investigation. So who is the skeleton and how long has it been hidden in the wall. Who killed the man in the clock tower. This takes us on quite a roller coaster ride before all is revealed.

On a side note, Tess discovers some disturbing information about her dad before he married her mom. This story is throughout the series and keeps us guessing.

This is another great read in the Tess & Tilly mystery. The author really knows how to keep the reader engaged throughout her books. If you like a good mystery with some romance thrown in, this series is for you.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday

The Saint Paddy’s Promise by Kathy Daley

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  • Title: The Saint Paddy’s Promise
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #6
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie, Tess’ mom
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

This is Book #6 in the Tess and Tilly mystery.

An old woman returns to a bench where she was supposed to meet her boyfriend over 50 years ago so they could run away and have a life together. He never showed so she returns to the bench every year on St Patricks day.

Then of course there is a murder at the local bar and Tess & Tony are doing their own investigation right along with Mike.

I loved this book and this series. These books are a fairly quick read. The author gets to the point to you stay engaged while reading. As will all of the Tess & Tilly books, the author takes you on a roller coaster ride. The victim isn’t organized and the bar is a mess so there weren’t a lot of clues. The few clues there are take you in different directions with several suspects and DNA tests. I really thought I had it figured out and was convinced I was right but I was wrong. I love it when a mystery isn’t obvious and takes a lot twist and turns.

There are several mysteries going on with the 50 year old mystery of the no show boyfriend, who killed Brick at the local bar, Where do the DNA tests lead, and what about the mystery surrounding Tess’ dad. On a good note, there are wedding plans.

Pick up this series or download it to your ereader, you won’t be disappointed.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday, Romance, Women's Fiction

The Thanksgiving Trip by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Thansgiving Trip
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #5
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie, Tess’ mom
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

This is the 5th book of the Tess & Tilly series and Tess’ mom wants to take a trip to the moutains where Tess’ dad used to go every yea tofish. So Tess’, her mom, Tony, Mike & Bree head to the lake for Thanksgiving week.

What should they find when they arrive but a dead body in the leak by their cabin. The local police is called but you know that Tess & Tony also have their own investigation to do.

The author takes on a roller coaster ride through some twist and turns to find out who the killer is. There are a lot of suspects but who really did it.

Then to top this off, Tess finds out some more info into the myster of her dad. What do you think that mystery couldl be? Has he been alive all these years or does someone just want Tess to think he has been? Read to find out.

I am really enjoying this series and when I finish one book, I can’t wait to read the next one. Even though there is a stand alone mystery in each book, the mystery of Tess’ dad is carried out throughout the series, at least so far.

Can’t wait to start the nest book.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday

The Halloween House by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Halloween House
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #4
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie, Jordan
  • Pets: a golden retriever named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s german sheppard Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

Halloween is approaching in White Eagle, Montana. With halloween you know there has to be a haunted house. There is a o mysterius old mansion that was built over 50 years ago. Noone has lived in it for a long time but it has a history. A millionaire built it as a vacation home for his wife and 5 kids. The family that lived there died mysterious deaths and are now buried about back. This is the house that kids sit around and tell ghost stories about and then dare there friends to go up to the front porch and ring the doorbell.

The history of this house is very disturbing. After the family died in the house, it was never sold and noone every lived in it till now! Jordan Westlake has inherited the house and decides to renovate it. During the renovation, he finds a skeleton in the closet.

Now of course Tess and Tony have to put on their amateur sleuth hats to find out who the skeleton is and find out what really happened to the Harrington family in that house.

Will they find people who are still alive that remembers what happened? Will the discover who that skeleton is and what happened?

Then of course there is still the mystery of what happened to Tess’ dad so many years ago and a mysterious picture of her mom that was emailed to Tony.

This is another great book by this author. She gives us some more twist and turns and edge of your seat writing to keep you intersted. It is another ‘can’t put down’ read.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday, Romance

The Mother’s Day Mishap by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Mother’s Day Mishap
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series: Tess & Tilly #3
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie,
  • Pets: a Dog named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder and Tony’s dog Titan plust lots of other shelter dogs that come and go.
  • Stars: 5

Review:

This is the 3rd book in the Tess & Tilly Series.

This is another great Cozy Mystery by Kathi Daley. Mother’s day is approaching and Bree receives a card at her bookstore. She opens it believing it is for her but it is actually for someone else. It was meant for the woman who used to own the shop next door but has unfortunately passed away about 6 months ago. This card is from the son noone knew she had. She and her son were estranged for a quarter of a century. This card is him trying to reconnect with her after 25 years. He ends the card by saying he would meet her at their special place at noon on Mother’s day.

The problem is, he evidently doesn’t know she has passed away. Also, there isn’t a name or a return address so noone knows how to reach him or who to return the card to.

Teess, her friends Tony & Bree and her brother are out to solve the mystery of where Edith’s son is because they want to notify him of her passing. They don’t even have a name and have no idea where the ‘special place’ is.

So they are racing against time to find the son before mother’s day. Will they find him?

This isn’t the only mystery they are trying to solve. Is Tess’s mom’s new Italian boyfried a murderer? Is the father that Tess believed was dead for years, really alive? And if he is, where has he been and why did he leave?

The author is great at twisting these mysterys to keep you guessing. This is a great cozy read in a beautiful small Montana town and of course there is a little romance thrown in.

Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Holiday

The Valentine Mystery by Kathi Daley

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  • Title: The Valentine Mystery
  • Author:Kathi Daley
  • Series:Tess & Tilly #2
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: White Eagle, Montana
  • Main Character: Tess
  • Other Characters: Tony, Bree, Mike, Brady, Hap, Hattie, Coby
  • Pets: a Dog named Tilly and a cat named Tangletoe (Tang for short) and a cat named Tinder
  • Stars: 5

Review:

This is the 2nd book in the Tess & Tilly series and I liked it even batter than the first one.

If you read the first book, The Christmas Story, then you are already familiar with Tess and know that she is mail carrier and seems to always be in the middle of some sort of mystery. This book isn’t any different. Once again, Tess finds herself in the middle of a mystery. There are a couple of side mysteries in this one

Tilly witnesses an accident and stops to help. She sees the first car and a man is stuck inside so she helps him get out. They see anther car down the embakement so they both go down there to get the man out. The first man, who we now know his name is Coby, gives the man CPR while Tess calls 911. The EMTs get there and take the man to the hospital but he is dead. He supposedly had a heart attack that caused the accident. But is everything as it seems!!

Once Tess talks to Cody, she finds out that he is in town to look for his biological mom, According to him his bio mom left him at a church right after he was born and all he has from her is a picture from when she was pregnant. Naturally Tess wants to help him find his bio mom so with the help of her friend Tony they do some research to track her down.

Whilel she is help Coby find his bio mom she is also involved in another mystery involving her dad who has been dead about 13 years at this point. But is he really dead or he is he living a secret life somewhere. We will have to keep reading to find this out.

Also Tess’ mom has a new young boyfriend that Tess is suspicious of. Tess has her friend, tony, run a background check on him and he seems to check out fine, but does he really? Hmmmm another mystery!

This story takes some twist and turns while they search for this mystery woman. Do they find her? What really happened? You will have to read it to find out.

I think you will love this story while you fall in love with Tess and the other characters in the book I especially love her kids (as she likes to call her dog and cats)

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Frozen in Motion by Lori Roberts Herbst

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  • Title: Frozen in Motion
  • Author: Lori Roberts Herbst
  • Series: Callie Cassidy Mysteries #3
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place: Rock Creek Village, CO
  • Main Character: Callie Cassidy
  • Other characters: boyfriend Sam, Bestfriend Tonya, Parents Butch & Maggie Cassidy, Detective Raul Sanchez, Ms Finney
  • Pets: Golden Retriever named Woody and a tabby cat named Carl
  • Stars: 5

Review:

Another great read by Lori Roberts Herbst and the 3rd book in the Callie Cassidy Mystery.

I really enjoyed this book. I tend to get lost in it and lose track of time.

Callie is a successful journalist/photographer turned photo gallery owner of Sundance Studio. Her dad calls her Sundance so that name is fitting.

Callie once again finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. She kinda just fell into this or should I say it fell on top of her, literally. She went to the local ice rink to do a photo shoot with the ice hockey team when a body just fell on top of her, injuring Callie. The body that fell on her happened to be dead. So was he pushed? Did he fall or jump? or was he already dead and thrown over the railing? You will have to read the book to find out.

What makes this complicated is the dead man, Jeffrey just happens to be the ex husband of Renata. Renata is Callie’s friend and the sister of the police detective Raul Sanchez. Renata and Jeffery and a huge confrontation earlier outside Sundance studio which the police dective ended up having to get involved.

Of course Renata becomes the prime suspect. Jeffery is arrogant and self absorbed so he is very unliked, The cast of suspects could be just about anyone. Callie is determined to prove her friend didn’t commit this crime. But if not Renata then who?

This book takes you on some twists and turns along the way to find a killer.

Of course we also see Callie’s golden retriever Wood and her tabby cat Carl along with her boyfriend, Sam, her best friend Tanya and the other quirky characters who live in Rock Creek Village, including Ms Finney.

This is a great read and I highly recommend all the books in the Callie Cassidy Mystery series. Can’t wait for the next one.