A Cotswold Mystery

By: Rebecca Tope

Narrated by: Caroline Lennon

Thea Osborne and her trusty spaniel, Hepzie, have been asked by the Montgomerys to look after their house in Blockley while they take a much-needed holiday. Their elderly mother, Granny Gardner, shouldn't be any trouble - although she is slightly forgetful.

Thea settles in easily enough, and the arrival of Jessica, Thea's daughter, is a welcome surprise. Granny's behaviour is a little peculiar, but so too are the Montgomerys' instructions to keep her trapped in the house.

But Thea's got far more to worry about when a body is discovered in the house next door. It isn't long before Thea and Jessica find themselves involved in trying to solve the murder.

©2007 Rebecca Tope (P)2008 Soundings

Critic reviews

"Tope is one of the most intelligent and thought provoking of today's crime writers" ( Mystery Women)

Love the Cotswolds! Love the mystery!

Narration was great. Dialogue between characters in the book was realistic and animated. I loved the plot and descriptions of all the Cotswald towns...that we got to visit on holiday!

A Good Listen

This is a fun mystery. Not Tope's finest work, the story nevertheless held my interest and the mystery kept me guessing. Like most of this author's mysteries, the main themes running through the novel center on family and interpersonal relationships. In this book Ms. Tope looks at how moments of careless passion can guide events and bring about tragedy immediately and for decades down the line. Given these strong thematic elements, I must respectfully disagree with another reviewer who found (what I thought to be fairly tame) sexual references superfluous. In this book a moment's unguarded passion whether sexual or angry can have profound and unintended consequences: the frivolity of a sex toy party is contrasted with a young doctor foregoing a medical career to stay home with her children. In another case a new police officer slaps a small child -- a potentially career ending act. Worth a listen!

Disappointing ending.

The majority of the story line was really good but the ending was disappointing. Thea should’ve let the person off the hook!

Engrossing with unacceptable sexual matter

My family recently listened to this entire book during a cross country trip. We found the story line to be most interesting and intriguing. However, there are unnecessary passages which refer to sexual misconduct and/or sexual toy parties that are absolutely unnecessary to the story line and which truly take away from the joy of "reading" this otherwise engrossing novel. Because of these inappropriate passages, I cannot recommend this book.

Not worth a credit

I'm very sorry I spent a credit on this book. It was slow moving, repetitive, and predictable.