If you love small towns, endearing relationships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you will love this cozy mystery series.Sixty years ago a man made a promise to the woman he loved to meet her on Saint Patrick’s Day. They were to meet in the park on the bench where they liked to sit and watch the world go by. The couple were deeply in love and planned to marry but he never showed up at the … up at the rendezvous point. Every Saint Patrick’s Day since then the woman has made a pilgrimage to the bench to wait for her one true love. Tess and Tilly see the woman sitting with her granddaughter on the bench and decide to stop and chat. During their conversation the granddaughter tells Tess the story of her grandmother and the man who professed his love and promised to return but never did. Tess is drawn in by her story and agrees to try to find the answers, the elderly woman has sought all her life. She enlists the help of Tony as well as the woman’s granddaughter.
Meanwhile, Bree is knee deep in wedding planning, there is a new murder in town, and Tony gets a lead on Tess’s father,
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Old love, new love, different sorts of love and relationships, all play a role in this, Kathi Daley’s 100th novel. It would not be a Kathi Daley story without great characters and interesting relationships, including some adorable animals.
From all the stress involved with wedding planning, to an arranged rendezvous sixty years in the past that did not materialize, yet annually hope remains, to mysterious family ties, this book will keep you guessing. How will it tie together? Who else has secrets and answers?
Of course it is not a cozy mystery without murder and intrigue. Life and death play their roles and make us all worry.
You will not be disappointed. Even when some answers that have kept us curious since the first book are revealed, we are not finished with the secrets and consequences.
The Saint Paddy’s Promise is the sixth 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. There are several heart-warming/heart-wrenching side stories within the mystery. Along with the suspense, there were moments that made me laugh, and moments that made me teary-eyed. As always, Ms. Daley’s writing flows smoothly, and her setting and relatable characters make for an extremely enjoyable read.
The Saint Paddy’s Promise is the sixth book in the Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery series. The mystery of what happened to the man who was supposed to meet at the bench had me intrigued from the start. This story has multiple things going on at once, and it was easy to keep reading until the end. I really enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it.
During her route Tess comes across an elderly woman and her granddaughter sitting on a bench in town. She comes to learn that sixty years ago the woman and her young man promised to meet each other at that bench and then they would begin their lives together. She comes every year to sit in that spot in hopes that one day they will meet again and she can learn why he has been gone for so long. Tess loves the story and hopes with the information given that she can help the woman find some much needed answers. Tess tells Tony about the woman and he agrees to help her look into the story. With Bree’s upcoming wedding Tess hopes that she will be able to spend time on this new mystery. Bree has turned into a bridezilla and has Tess hoping that she can get her to see that what is important is that she will be marrying the man she loves. Meanwhile a local bar owner has been killed and has everyone upset. He was a great guy who didn’t seem to have any real enemies, so who killed him and why? Tony thinks Tess should stay out of it and let her brother do his job and find the killer. Tess tries but she can’t help herself when it comes to wanting to find out the truth. Will Tess be of help in this new investigation or will she hinder her brother along the way. Follow along and see what comes of a sixty year old mystery, a new murder, and what new information has come to light about Tess’s dad. This was a great whodunit that had me jumping from suspect to suspect in hopes of landing on the truth. I look forward to diving into Tess’s next mystery.
The Saint Paddy’s Promise: A Cozy Mystery ( A Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery #6 )
By: Kathi Daley
The Saint Paddy’s Promise is book six in A Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery Series. Wow, Ms. Daley just keeps on penning cozy mysteries that will have you reading way in the night. This is a clean, fun cozy mystery. The story is well written and the characters are well developed. There is a sixty year old mystery that is still unsolved, a murder to be solved, and a wedding to be planned. I was grabbed at the start and did not want to put it down. Ms. Daley will keep you guessing till the end.
Congratulations on your 100th book! Amazing achievement and outstanding book. I was totally absorbed in this, as I have been with all of the Tess & Tilly books. The characters are so wonderful and work so well together. I love how involved and caring Tony is about everyone in Tess’ family and about strangers. And what a great cook he is. Everyone needs a Tony in their life. Great levels to multiple mysteries. When I got to the end of the book, I was absolutely ready for the next one. What a fantastic series!!!
“The Saint Paddy’s Promise” earns 5/5 Happy Endings & Justice…Clever!
Congratulations on the release of your 100th book! Exciting accomplishment…
Mystery and murder seems to have been delivered with first class postage! The mystery of true love has torn at Tess’s heart. Sixty years ago two people met, fell in love, promised to marry, and agreed to meet up on on St. Patrick’s Day to run away and start a new life together. However, the young man never returned, and for the last sixty years, now Nana, has made her annual St. Paddy pilgrimage hoping against hope he’d finally return. The murder has shocked residents of White Eagle. Brick Brannigan, owner the local bar, has been found…victim of a violent crime. Rumors fly about criminal activity and bad employees, but the curious clues of packages, letters, and and his interest in DNA results stump both the authorities and amateur sleuths.
Tess and Tilly Mystery, a favorite Kathi Daley series, and this sixth book is very engaging and hard to put down with more than one mystery, entertaining characters, close relationships, and several “fur” friends. Kathi’s writing style uses a first-person narrative from Tess’s perspective sharing her inner thought, laying out the clues, suggesting scenarios, and devising strategies to uncover the mystery. The realistic banter illustrates well the tone, emotion, and character personalities. And since no one investigates 24/7, Kathi always shares the lives and community connections with additional side stories: Tess and Tony grow in their relationship, dog training and adoptions continue, and BFF Bree and brother Mike find out it’s not easy to have the wedding of everyone’s dreams. Although newbies can easily join the series here, it has been compelling to follow the evolution of relationships and especially the mystery surrounding Tess’s father as they slowly unfolding throughout the books. However, I always want more about the mysteries and murder that Kathi creates. She often summarizes important phone calls or conversations or computer searches after the fact instead of real time, and when a mystery started in the past, she does not employ flashbacks that I’d find engaging. But it’s realism she captures! I still am totally entertained.
Cold Missing Person Case, Possible Sighting of Tess’s ‘Deceased’ Father, and a Murdered Friend
The Saint Paddy’s Promise is the sixth in Kathi Daley’s Tess and Tilly Cozy Mystery series. The smooth writing style flows at a steady pace, the characters are well rounded and affable, and the storyline well plotted and interesting. As with all her books, Ms. Daley has provided readers with a clean, fun read, with caring and compassionate characters, an intriguing mystery to try to solve, and adorable dogs and cats. I highly recommend this book 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. In addition to being a mail carrier, Tess is an animal shelter volunteer and works closely with Brady Baker, the local veterinarian and shelter owner, to train and place animals with people who are a perfect match for them. Tess’s brother, Mike, is a member of the White Eagle Police Department and is engaged to her best friend, Bree Price, the owner of the local bookstore, Book Boutique. Her mom and aunt co-own Sisters’ Diner. Her boyfriend, Tony Marconi, who is extremely skilled at locating information and has contacts around the world, is trying to help Tess solve the mystery surrounding her father who reportedly died in an accident when she was a teenager, but who they believe may still be alive.
Bree swore she wouldn’t turn into a Bridezilla, but as her June wedding day approaches and things aren’t going as she hoped, she’s driving Tess a little crazy. Tess is determined to be the best maid of honor and offers workable alternatives each time a problem arises. After working with Brady and the shelter dogs, Tess and her dog, Tilly, meet Jennifer Anne Claremont and her grandmother who are sitting on a park bench. After introducing themselves and chatting for a few minutes, Jennifer explained that her grandmother has made the trip to White Eagle on March 17 for the past sixty years. Intrigued, Tess asks why and Jennifer shares her grandmother’s love story: Elizabeth Bradford met Patrick O’Malley, and they fell in love but knew their families wouldn’t approve of their relationship. Patrick went back east to take care of some business and personal matters, promising to return on St. Patrick’s Day, and they agreed to meet at the bench in the park, but he never returned. When Jennifer is done, Tess is so moved that she volunteered Tony to try to find Patrick or at least figure out why he never returned. Tony, who has a facial recognition program that alerts him of possible sightings of Tess’s father, receives an image of a man he believes to be her dad at a truck stop in Billings, Montana. The news is exciting because this is the second time a real-time hit has been received and the first time it’s been in the US, but when two men claiming to be CIA agents arrive at Tony’s home looking for her dad, they become concerned. Tess not only struggles to try to decide if she should share the sighting with Mike but also if they should continue their search and possibly confront him or let it go. When Brick Brannigan, a local bar owner, is found murdered in his bar, Tess knows Mike wants her to stay away from the investigation, but Brick was a friend, and she just can’t stand back and do nothing even though she tells Tony she’d mind her own business this time.