If you love small towns, endearing relationships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you will love this new mystery series by Kathi Daley, author of the popular Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery Series.It’s Mother’s Day in White Eagle Montana and spring has come to the small foothills community. It’s the season for puppies and kittens to be born and rehomed, families to gather for an outdoor picnic and … picnic and a baseball game, friends to fall in love, and a shocking mystery to filter to the surface after so many years.
Join Tess and Tilly as they sleuth out the truth while delivering the daily mail.
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Kathi Daley has done it again! There’s nothing better than a cozy filled with interesting characters, intelligent animals, and a little intrigue sprinkled in to make everything interesting. It’s spring in Montana, with old and new mysteries being pursued, and I was happy to go along for the ride. I always expect to enjoy a book by Kathi Daley, and this new book in the Tilly Cozy Mystery series lived up to all my expectations–and then some!
The Mother’s Day Mishap
A Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery, Book #3
Kathi Daley
5 Stars
Synopsis:
If you love small towns, endearing relationships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you will love this new mystery series by Kathi Daley, author of the popular Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery Series.
It’s Mother’s Day in White Eagle Montana and spring has come to the small foothills community. It’s the season for puppies and kittens to be born and rehomed, families to gather for an outdoor picnic and a baseball game, friends to fall in love, and a shocking mystery to filter to the surface after so many years.
Join Tess and Tilly as they sleuth out the truth while delivering the daily mail. (Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well rounded and well developed, which is typical for this author. She always creates characters that you would like to be friends with and always wants to spend more time with. I think Tess is a smart woman but she is a little clueless when it come to her relationship with Tony, her long time “friend”. I cannot wait for Tony to get up the nerve to tell her exactly how he feels.
I really enjoyed the fact that no dead bodies were found in this book, I found that very refreshing. There is still a mystery to be solved and I thought it was a very heart wrenching mystery to solve. I am not sure where the author comes up with the storylines that she does, but as a reader, I am glad that she is so creative and enjoy her books very much.
The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. With her descriptive writing and her great character development, I am drawn into the worlds created right from the beginning and am happy to go along for the ride until the end of the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I enjoy all of the series written by this author and I really think you will too.
This was a touching story that I very much enjoyed. When Tess delivers a letter to her friend Bree who accidentally opens it and realizes that it was for the previous owner of the shop. It is from a son who hasn’t spoken to his mother in years and wants to patch thing up. Tess is pulled into finding out more about him since his mother has passed.
There is also a twist with Tess’ mother’s interest in a pen pal who comes to town with a suspicious past. Also there is the continuing search about Tess’ father. There is plenty of things going on in this book to keep you turning the pages. I will continue on with this series.
This is my first Tess and Tilly mystery and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are well-rounded and engaging. I find Tess and Tony’s relationship and interactions interesting and can’t wait to see what comes next. I love Tony’s interest in trying to help Tilly in this mystery too. I found all the animals charming and can’t wait to read more abut them and Tilly’s adventures.
The Mother’s Day Mishap is the third episode in the Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery series. This book is 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 and a shelter volunteer in the small town of White Eagle, Montana, near Glacier National Park. Tess finds herself in the middle of a mystery when her best friend, Bree Price, receives and accidentally opens a card meant for the recently deceased Edna Fairchild from someone estranged from her who wants to make amends and meet in their “special place at noon on Mother’s Day.” Since there is no return address, Tess and her longtime friend, Tony Marconi, scramble to figure out the identity and location of the sender and/or the “special place.” Tess’s job allows her the opportunity to talk to others while trying to solve this mystery, along with help from a few friends.
There are several side stories along with the main mystery including: Tess and Tony looking into the “death” of her father; Brady Baker, the local veterinarian, organizing a shelter event with a theme of “speed dating” – paring prospective doggy parents with the perfect shelter pet ready to be adopted; Tess and Brady training terriers Jagger and Bowie to swim; Tess’s mom continuing to spend time with the mysterious Italian, Romero Montenegro; Tess’s brother and best friend growing closer; and other exciting developments.
As always, Mrs. Daley’s writing flows smoothly, and her fabulous setting and relatable characters make for an extremely enjoyable and quick read. I absolutely loved the conversation between Tess and Tony in the last chapter and really look forward to reading the next book in this series.
The Mother’s Day Mishap is the third book in the Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery series. They have another mystery to solve, and I enjoyed reading as they worked to do just that. This story had parts of it that a reader can relate to. I definitely recommend this book.
What do you do when you come across a piece of mail that ends up belonging to someone who is no longer around? For Tess that is an easy answer, you look for the person who wrote the letter and let them know what is going on so they don’t end up feeling rejected. The only problem being no return address. Follow along as Tess searches for clues into finding the writer of the letter, pulling her friend Tony and brother Mike in as well. During the process they find a family hurt by a mad man and begin to understand the reasons a family could walk away from one another. Along the way Tess also has to deal with the man her mom is talking to and what might be going on between her best friend and her brother. This was such a touching read and shows that not all mysteries have to involve a whodunit, you just need a well put together mystery. This new book of the series will have you laughing, crying, and looking at your own relationships with family and friends.
This clean mystery is suitable for all ages. It can be read as a stand alone but is best understood if you have read the previous books in the series. This series is relationship driven and small town centered.
An ongoing search for Tess’s father, previously presumed dead, is set aside this time for the search for an unknown heir when a Mother’s Day card arrives. Hopes for a reunion must be disappointed but closure is still the goal. The training of puppies is a bright addition to this story, as well as hints of budding romance.
“The Mother’s Day Mishap” earns 4/5 Mysterious Messages!
Kathi Daley’s work is always packed full of several engaging character-driven storylines, and her easy-to-read style and entertaining dialogue makes it right for a page-turner weekend. There are two fascinating storylines that have been weaving through the three books, but unfortunately the storyline involving her father’s death, or maybe-not-death, is here just as a footnote…hopefully that will take center stage soon because it has seriously sparked my interest. Also Tess has been concerned about her mother’s Italian pen-pal friendship enlisting the skills and contacts of her good friend/tech wiz to get a background check. Originally there seemed nothing for Tess to use to abate her mother’s eagerness, but digging further has brought up some disturbing “red flags.” But, the resolution seemed to fall off. I think that this storyline just isn’t finished yet.
The main “Mishap” really pulls at the heart strings. A Mother’s Day card inadvertently was opened revealing the desire for “The Prodigal Child” to reconcile with his mother, long time resident Edna Fairchild. Sadly she passed away six months ago, and without a name or return address, Tess feels compelled to search for the offspring’s identity and deliver the news in person rather than sending it off to the dead letter office. It is an engaging story filled with family dysfunction, teenage bullying, and families falling out of touch, but (no spoilers) there was mention to a question in the young man’s father’s legal issue that never seemed to be resolved. I may have thought it more important than it really was.
The best part of Kathi Daley’s work is how she gives us a deep look into her characters and their connections to each other and their “fur-friends.” Tess has Tilly and two cats, Tang and Tinder, on whom she dotes with walks and swimming adventures. She also assists the handsome vet with his upcoming adoption event along with a training regiment to help make two inseparable terriers more adoptable. Relationships, friends or lovers, continue to progress raising an interesting issue: can long-time friends be more? But remember the treat fans always enjoy. Kathi includes easy-to-follow recipes submitted by fans in her Facebook Recipe Exchange Group. Here you just may have find a great entree for your Mother’s Day gathering (Italian Chicken, Chicken Tetrazzini, Chili Spaghetti Casserole), or make Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies as a treat for all the “mothers “ in your life.
Great Characters and Interesting Mysteries
The Mother’s Day Mishap is the third book in Kathi Daley’s Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery series and it’s a delightful read. This is an awesome series, with interesting mysteries (old and new) and wonderful well rounded characters. The writing style flows smoothly at a steady pace. Once again, Ms. Daley has provided readers with a fun, clean read, caring and compassionate characters. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys reading well-crafted cozy mysteries.
Tess Thomas works for the United States Postal Service and enjoys delivering the mail and visiting with the town’s residents and business owners on her route in the small community of White Eagle, Montana. She has a special relationship with her dog, Tilly, who accompanies her while she delivers the mail, and she’s recently adopted two kittens, Tangle and Tinder. Tess has one brother, Mike, who’s a member of the White Eagle Police, and her mom, Lucy Thomas, co-owns a café, Sisters’ Diner, with her aunt, Ruthie Turner. In addition to being a mail carrier, Tess is an animal shelter volunteer. She’s been working 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. Mother’s Day is approaching and Tess delivers mail to her best friend and owner of the Book Boutique, Bree Price, hands her a card in a pink envelope that she opened without realizing it’s for Edna Fairchild who passed away six months ago. The card is from Edna’s estranged child and they hadn’t spoken in almost a quarter of a century. Tess and Bree are determined to locate the card’s sender and Tess asks her good friend, Tony Marconi, to help them. Tony, who is extremely skilled at locating information and has contacts around the world, is also trying to help Tess solve the mystery surrounding her father who reportedly died in an accident when she was a teenager, but whom she believes may still be alive and is looking into Romero Montenegro, the younger man from Italy her mother is seeing.