If you love small towns, endearing relationships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you will love this cozy mystery series.In book 7, Tess and Brady are planning a haunted house fundraiser so they can expand the shelter to include a top of the art training facility as well as a permanent residence for hard to place animals. During the decorating party they find a skeleton – a real skeleton – … skeleton – hidden behind a false wall in the attic. They turn the skeleton over to Mike but once they do everything starts going wrong and Tess wonders if they haven’t somehow managed to awaken an angry spirit. Mike thinks Tess is letting her imagination run away with her but she trusts her instinct so, with Tony’s help, she begins to dig around on her own. The deeper they dig the more they find including a second more recent body hidden within the creepy old house.
Meanwhile, Bree and Mike are adjusting to married life, Tess finds out something alarming about her father’s life before he met her mother, and plans are underway for another Thomas Thanksgiving.
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The Halloween Haunting
A Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery, Book #7
Kathi Daley
5 Stars
Synopsis:
If you love small towns, endearing relationships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you will love this cozy mystery series.
In book 7, Tess and Brady are planning a haunted house fundraiser so they can expand the shelter to include a top of the art training facility as well as a permanent residence for hard to place animals. During the decorating party they find a skeleton – a real skeleton – hidden behind a false wall in the attic. They turn the skeleton over to Mike but once they do everything starts going wrong and Tess wonders if they haven’t somehow managed to awaken an angry spirit. Mike thinks Tess is letting her imagination run away with her but she trusts her instinct so, with Tony’s help, she begins to dig around on her own. The deeper they dig the more they find including a second more recent body hidden within the creepy old house.
Meanwhile, Bree and Mike are adjusting to married life, Tess finds out something alarming about her father’s life before he met her mother, and plans are underway for another Thomas Thanksgiving. (Goodreads)
Review:
The writing style flows smoothly and defines the characters very clearly by their actions and words. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and her descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. One of these days I would like to go through a haunted house from one of the cozies that I read, that would be awesome.
The characters are well developed and well rounded. I really like the way that Tess and her family and friends get along and how much they love each other. And the animals added a lot to the story, as they usually do.
There are two mysteries in this book, which is very typical for this author. There were plenty of clues to sift through for the recent murder and supects to consider and it was not easily solved.
I would recommend this book and series to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. If you want to lose yourself into a good mystery, grab this book.
In this next book of the series Tess is excited to be helping out Brady with a Haunted House Fundraiser. They are trying to earn money to build a bigger facility so that Brady can add an area for training and somewhere for animals that can’t be placed. Tess finds the perfect home to turn into their haunted house but soon learns that their is more behind the story of the abandoned home they plan to use. While fixing some issues to get the place ready for use they find not only a skeleton but the dead body of one of their volunteers. The skeleton was in a hidden room but how did the other body get in there with him? The room had been closed off and seeing no other possible entrances Tess knows that, that is a mystery they need to figure out. Meanwhile it seems as if the house is actually haunted, the electricity although it has been checked out acts up at weird times, walls have been changed from one color to the next, and objects have been moved. Tess wants the fundraiser to go off without a hitch and to be a success at the same time but with everything that is happening it has her worried. Follow along as she steps up to investigate all the strange goings on and not only looks for a killer for the body but one for the skeleton too. Will she be able to answer all the questions that keep popping up or will she be left with a puzzle that can be solved. When she thinks she is figuring things out a curve ball is thrown her way that has to do with her father. This was a great read with several twists and turns and I also enjoy the continuing mystery surrounding Tess’s father. I can’t wait to see what she gets into next and how she will deal with what is thrown her way.
Having a haunted house attraction fundraiser for a very worthy cause inside a reportedly authentic haunted house, and having it documented by a popular television ghost hunting show, seems like a brilliant idea. In fact, ticket sales are so popular they have to figure out how to accommodate more people each night. When, during the construction of the haunted features, a secret room and an actual skeleton is discovered, the organizers find themselves with a real mystery to investigate. Add to that rumors of a never recovered hidden treasure, strange happenings overnight, such as color changing walls, and the death of a volunteer and this will be a Halloween season unlike any other.
If you have been following this series from the start you’ll notice that Tess and Tony are getting more comfortable together, while Mike and Bree must make adjustments in their newly wed status. This also involves figuring out holidays and who gets to host and where.
Tess had been coming to terms with her father not really being dead, and his warnings never to search for him, when new developments on that front may once again put her family in danger.
You can read and enjoy this book as a stand alone, but each new book in the series builds upon the previous ones.
I enjoyed this 7th in the series. A haunted house fundraiser is being set up when a real skeleton is found. Things get more chaotic when a newer dead body is found.
I enjoy these characters and can easily get involved in the story. I loved the back story of the skeleton, it kept me turning the pages. The newer dead body mystery was good, and unexpected. I will continue on with this series.
Another wonderful book from this author. Nice and clean with lots of pets. I love how they are trying to help the shelter dogs and the hard to place dogs because we have a lot like that, too, at ours.
“The Halloween Haunting” earns 5/5 Haunted Houses…Entertaining Fun!
Trick or treat? It’s a big TREAT! Kathi Daley has once again penned another great book filled with true Halloween spirit. This seventh book of her Tess and Tilly Mystery series, with a delightful writing style, has a well-written, clever mystery, or more, with descriptive language, another set of great family and friends to support an admirable and strong female lead, and dialogue that best illustrates the tone and personalities. Arranging a fundraiser to facilitate upgrades and expansion plans is a no-brainer and choosing to have a haunted house event in October seems a great idea. Even Haunting America is set to film the purportedly haunted house in an upcoming episode hopefully sparking interest and making for a successful fund-raiser. However, the century-old house with its particularly curious electrical issues, fake wall, secret room, and suspicious noises may be more problematic…but not as problematic as discovering a skeleton or finding a more recently deceased. Fascinating history. Cemetery relocation. Suspicious accidents. Mysterious deaths. Pranks. And a skeleton and a body. Just another Halloween! Along with the intriguing mysteries one would like to attribute to the supernatural, the more traditional motives like business rivals, competition, and just plain revenge seem easier to investigate. As I’ve pointed out before, Kathi always does well incorporating the holidays into her work with festivities, pumpkins, and haunted houses, but the focus is always on family with newlywed angst, relationship woes, and intriguing family revelations. All in all a delightful story no matter the time of the year…I highly recommend the series, and starting with book seven is a great way to herald in the holidays!
Tess and Tony are planning a haunted house fundraiser to get funds to expand the shelter and build a training facility. They find a skeleton hidden in a wall and later find the body of a murdered man. Can they along with Mike solve the mysteries. Mike and Bree are settling down in married life and working through some things.
I really enjoyed this book. Kathi Daley is one of my favorite authors and this book just confirms that for me. I was hooked from beginning to end and highly recommend this book and the series. I do recommend reading the series in order.
I love the Tess and Tilly series and book 7 did not disappoint — a cozy mystery that includes murder, mayhem, and a family tragedy. Following and sleuthing along with Tess and her friends will keep you turning those pages as you become totally immersed in the fundraiser event and all the strange occurrences that pop up at the house being used for the Halloween event. Add a skeleton and dead body in the mix and you will be on the edge of your seat. Well developed and intriguing plot with great characters make this a story worth reading.
The Halloween Haunting (A Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery) is the seventh in this series. It is the Halloween Season. A time for pumpkins, witches, ghosts and Haunted Houses. Tess along with her boyfriend Tony Marconi are working with Barry Baker to prepare an empty house that has been rumored to be haunted and built on an old graveyard. It is meant to be used for a fund raiser for the expansion of the animal shelter so they could house animals who are not able to be placed in forever homes. With Tony’s electronic knowledge and the help from the community volunteers, a skeleton is found and another body is found on the widow’s walk. Tess and Tony work with Tess’s brother Mike, Chief of the Police Department to determine who the skeleton is and find out the killer of the body on the Widow’s Walk. All the while there are strange happenings at the house that need to be explained. You will not be able to put this book down because of the desire to find out the answers.
The Halloween Haunting is book seven in the Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery series. This series is one of my favorites. The story hooked me from the start, and I couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it.
The Halloween Haunting is the seventh book in Kathi Daley’s Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery series. This book is another great story filled with the elements of a cozy mystery including suspense, romance, humor, love, friends and family, and a sense of community.
Tess Thomas is a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service in the small town of White Eagle, Montana. In this story, Tess and the local veterinarian, Dr. Brady Baker, sponsor a fundraiser to raise money for the local animal shelter. The fundraiser takes place in an old, dilapidated, possibly real haunted house which was built on a former cemetery. They are helped along with advertising when a television show called Haunted America features this house prior to the fundraiser. While volunteers are preparing and decorating the house to be a haunted house, a skeleton is found in a hidden room located behind a wall. A thorough search of the premises also uncovers a fresh corpse. Tess’s job delivering mail allows her the opportunity to talk to others, along with help from her resourceful boyfriend Tony and her brother Mike, who is a police officer, to discover the identity of the killer and to learn the truth about the tragic events that occurred in the past at this house.
This book is filled with the sights and sounds of Halloween. The fall season and upcoming fall activities, the fabulous Halloween decorations and sound effects, an old haunted house, and strange occurrences make for a festive and spooky atmosphere. As always, Mrs. Daley’s writing flows smoothly, and her setting and relatable characters make for an extremely enjoyable and quick read. I really look forward to reading the next book in this series.
A Kathi Daley book never disappoints – and I have read them all. She is a master at keeping multiple storylines in play in her books…and in a way you can understand and follow easily. With the common thread in the series so far being Tess’s search for her father, I was momentarily disappointed when it appeared she was not going to continue that search and the storyline would be dropped. Boy was I wrong! That subject came back with a twist and a half – very interesting! With the discovery of an old skeleton and the death of a volunteer at the haunted house fundraiser Tess is trying to conduct for an animal facility in town, this book always had something going on. I would always highly recommend a Kathi Daley book.
The Halloween Haunting: A Tess And Tilly Cozy Mystery Book 7 )
By: Kathi Daley
The Halloween Haunting is book seven in A Tess Cozy Mystery Series. A House is being checked out and set up for a Halloween Haunted House. Tess and her friends have their hands full on this one. Is the house really haunted? Flickering lights, a skeleton, a body, and the history of the house..You will love this one . Hang onto your seat as you read to find out what is going to happen next. Loved the story it flowed smoothly and the characters were well developed.
The Halloween Haunting is the seventh book in Kathi Daley’s awesome Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery series. I love all of the wonderful, well-developed characters as well as the charming setting. As with all her books, Ms. Daley has provided readers with a clean, fun read, caring and compassionate characters, intriguing mysteries to try to solve, and lots of adorable dogs and cats. The mysteries are well-plotted and interesting. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading well-crafted cozy mysteries.
Tess Thomas delivers mail for the USPS along with her dog, Tilly, who accompanies her on her route. Tess enjoys delivering the mail and visiting with the town’s residents and business owners in the small community of White Eagle, Montana. She has one brother, Mike, who’s a member of the White Eagle Police and who recently married her best friend, Bree Price. Her mom, Lucy Thomas, co-owns a café, Sisters’ Diner, with her aunt, Ruthie Turner. Tess is dating her other best friend, Tony Marconi, a computer genius. In addition to being a mail carrier, Tess is an animal shelter volunteer. She works closely with Brady Baker, the local veterinarian and shelter owner, to train and place animals with people who are a perfect match for each other. With Halloween approaching, Tess decides sponsoring a haunted house will be the perfect event to raise money for the shelter to provide extended training as well as a permanent home for hard to place animals. The house Tess has chosen requires some repairs, and she has lined up lots of volunteers to provide the materials and labor needed. The electrical system is giving them fits, and as Tony tries to narrow down the problem, he notices an oddity in the house and discovers a skeleton hidden behind a false wall in the attic, which leads to another shocking discovery.