A friend sent me this book. It's a cozy mystery. I didn't realize it was the first in the series until I came on to review it. I would read more in this series.

It may seem weird to say that a cozy mystery is charming but the characters in this one seemed so (except that so many start with the letter T that sometimes it is a bit hard to keep them straight once the book is done!) Tess is the mail carrier for a small Montana town. She's usually accompanied on her postal route by her dog, Tilly. I was a bit surprised at how welcoming most of the merchants were to having Tilly (and later Tang) in their establishments--I don't know if that is year round or just because it's the slow time of year (winter). I liked all the pets in this series. I liked how well Tilly got along with Tang (a kitten Tess adopts after finding it tangled in some fishing line), even carrying Tang on her back in a pack of some sort (I have trouble envisioning it, but it worked for them.)

I'm not sure if the author is trying to set up a sort of love triangle (sort of like the Hannah/Norman/Mike one in the Hannah Swensen series) where the single, female main character is friends with two single men, both of whom have good qualities that make us as readers root for the female to get together with one of them. We have Brady, the new veterinarian who owns a dog and is going to be part of the search and rescue team. We also have Tony, a long-time friend who has computer skills.

I would not recommend anyone follow Tess's example in doing illegal things or withholding information from the police (her brother is a police officer--so she should know better). ( )

Spoiler Free Review:
This is the first in a new series for Kathi Daley. Set in a small town in Montana and featuring the local mailman (Tess) and her dog (Tillie). Kathi understands he Cozy Genre and never fails to deliver an entertaining story. This series is intended to be holiday based with all of the future books holiday themed.
Kathi has a clean writing style and well drawn plots. She is adept at telling a story within a story. So with each book not only do you get the mystery but you get a clearer picture of the characters and their motivation. She populates her books with interesting people and as the series progresses you feel like you know them.
When I am looking at a review I don't want a summary of the story I want to know if the writer can tell a story. There is a difference between being able to write and being able to tell a story. It is rare to find both in one individual. Kathi's writing in technically clean, well edited and well plotted. However, beyond that she can tell a story. She will pull you in and make you care about the characters, her plots are timely and just to restate her stories are clean reads.
I found her books several years ago when she was just starting. I introduced my wife to her books (we have really different taste in reading) and she is a fan as well. Kathi's books are consistently well done. ( )