Showing results by author "Rebecca Tope" in All Categories

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's got far more to worry about when a body is discovered in the house next door.

Following a string of disastrous house-sitting assignments, and with recent troubles in her personal life, Thea Osborne is understandably apprehensive about her latest commission: a wintry month in an isolated farmhouse with only an assortment of animals for company. With the summer lushness of the Cotswolds turned icy grey, Thea spends her first few days exploring more of the surrounding area.

It’s Christmas, and things are looking good at the Slocombe house. Thea’s daughter Jessica has come to stay, much to her stepdaughter Stephanie’s delight. But then things take a turn for the worse. A local family, the Frowses, finds themselves increasingly harassed by an aggressive landlord. When Beverley Frowse goes missing, Thea and Stephanie both feel they should do their best to help her husband and son to solve the mystery.

Thea Osborne reconnects with her friend Emmy while on a visit to the church in Baunton, near Cirencester with her stepdaughter Stephanie. Emmy, now married to local farmer Nick Weaver, asks Thea to help them find their missing niece, Ginny. Before Thea can get started, she stumbles upon the recently killed body of Alice, a woman they had briefly seen in Cirencester the day before.

A huge funeral for Windermere’s popular resident, Barbara Dodge, is taking place, and florist Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown and her new assistant, Bonnie Lawson, are busy compiling wreaths in preparation. There’s word of a series of sinister dognappings occurring in nearby Troutbeck, and whilst taking a walk up Wansfell Pike, Simmy and her father, Russell, stumble on a dog strangled to death - it’s not long before Simmy reluctantly finds herself caught up in a murder investigation.

When irascible Farmer Guy Beardon meets a very dirty death in his own farmyard, it seems like an accident initially - despite the fact that he was widely disliked. Only his daughter, Lilah, is prepared to defend his memory. And when, slowly, Lilah begins to suspect foul play, no-one is eager to help her investigate. Suspicion becomes certainty when two more deaths occur - and both of them are unmistakably murder. There is certainly no shortage of suspects, and it falls to local Policeman Den Cooper to investigate the mysterious deaths.

Thea Osborne and her spaniel, Hepzie, are house-sitting in the quiet village of Temple Guiting. Detective Superintendent Phil Hollis is looking forward to visiting for a night or two and celebrating the couple's anniversary. A few days into their stay, a pile of human bones is discovered at the base of an uprooted tree. The locals all have their theories about their identity and rumours abound. Thea and Phil discover that the village turns out to have more than its fair share of secrets.

Thea Osborne sets off to Frampton Mansell with confidence. Despite her first disastrous house-sitting venture, which drew her into a murder investigation, Thea, and her spaniel Hepzibah, are sure of a wonderful stay at the relaxed country estate of the Philipses. But it seems that she’s jinxed. Busying herself with her duties, she finds a body hanging from the rafters of one of the barns. Detective Superintendent Phil Hollis oversees the subsequent investigation and is more than a little surprised to find Thea once again at the scene.

Following a personal tragedy, florist Persimmon “Simmy” Brown has moved to the Lake District to be nearer her parents. But her peace is shattered when, at a wedding, the bride's brother is found brutally murdered. As the florist of the wedding and one of the last people to talk to Mark Baxter alive, Simmy gradually becomes involved with the relatives. When events take another sinister turn, Simmy finds herself at the heart of a murder investigation.

Nestled in the hills of the Cotswolds, the village of Duntisbourne Abbots is a well-kept secret. When Joel Jennison is found slaughtered in the same field where his brother’s corpse had lain ten weeks previously, a whole community falls under suspicion. Was it a family feud? An act of revenge?

Thea Osbourne is only too happy to have a bit of peace and quiet. The only positive thing that came out of her recent house sitting disasters is her blossoming relationship with DI Phil Hollis and she relishes the thought of their spending some quality time together. Even meeting Phil’s childhood acquaintance, the eccentric Ariadne, cannot detract from Thea’s happiness. But the bad luck that plagues the hapless Thea and her beloved spaniel Hepzipah is never far away.

Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown's wedding day to Christopher Henderson has arrived on a glorious summer's day in the pretty Lake District village of Threlkeld. While the day passes off without undue calamity, later when most of the guests have departed, a young man is found nearby, possibly the victim of a vicious attack. The mystery of the attack is complicated by pressure on police resources. Was it an accident or something far more sinister? Speculation is rife as to what precisely happened, and a chilling suspicion develops into a theory that might be impossible to prove.

Two days before an auction of the contents of High Gates House in Borrowdale, Christopher Henderson bumps into Jennifer Reade, the heir to the entire estate, and the expected recipient of the proceeds of the house clearance sale. She discovers a dead man in the cellar of the house but threatens and cajoles Christopher into remaining silent about it until after the auction to avoid complications and delays. The auction begins but is soon halted by the police with the news that a murder has been committed.

Thea Osborne has just lost her beloved father and retreats to her next housesitting assignment in Lower Slaughter to deal with her grief. The tranquillity is a welcome backdrop and there's a whole host of animals to help stave off her loneliness. As Thea settles down to two weeks of solitude, her biggest challenges are jigsaw puzzles and fighting off bats in the bedroom - until reality catches up with her.

Fifty-five-year-old Jim Lapsford makes an unusually healthy-looking corpse. Having spent his life taking vitamin pills and herbal remedies, it seems almost ironic that he has succumbed to a heart attack. But ex-nurse and trainee undertaker Drew Slocombe is convinced that there is enough conflicting medical evidence to merit a coroner’s inquest though. Whilst Drew may have plenty of suspects, he has no proof. And Jim’s cremation is days away.

When Thea Osborne agrees at the last minute to house-sit for Oliver Meadows, she expects a few days of peace. Uncomfortable with her mother's sudden involvement with an old flame, and unsure of how to deal with her feelings for Drew Slocombe, Thea hopes that some time alone will help to clear her head. But with the disturbing discovery of a dead body in the gardens, she finds herself at the heart of a mystery.

Thea Osborne, Cotswold house-sitter with an infamous reputation for getting mixed up in crime, is determined to avoid trouble this time. Her latest commission in the village of Daglingworth seems straightforward, with most of her time spent looking after an old corgi and a hibernating tortoise. Thea is ready for a relaxing if rather boring two weeks, with phone calls to new boyfriend Drew Slocombe the highlight of her days. Until, that is, a dead body is discovered in a nearby quarry....

When the body of a herdsman is discovered in a farm building, Detective Sergeant Den Cooper is more than happy to cast local farmer Gordon Hillcock in the role of chief suspect. After all, it is a well-known fact that there was no love lost between Gordon and the victim. And besides, Den has a little grudge of his own - Gordon is currently dating his ex-fiancée, Lilah. However, Den did not plan on Lilah’s determination to protect her new lover....

Thea and Drew have been married for a year and are settled in the village of Broad Campden, but Thea is chafing at the domestic routines she is expected to devote herself to, missing the novelty and adventure that house-sitting used to bring. When a routine burial exposes the secrets of the deceased, Drew finds himself caught in the middle of a family feud, in which he feels he is on the wrong side, and Thea's inquisitiveness and penchant for solving crimes draws her in, too.

With Peaceful Repose Cemetery, Drew Slocombe is determined to revolutionise the entire death industry. Unfortunately, Drew’s Gravedigger has just discovered that their cemetery has one too many corpses when the body of an elderly woman is found. The police seem to think that the body is that of a vagrant, but for Drew things don’t add up. The mystery deepens when Genevieve Slater turns up at Drew’s door. As a man looking to escape both money worries and marriage problems, Genevieve proves impossible to resist.