Bøger af Rebecca Tope

When the body of herdsman Sean O'Farrell was discovered in one of the farm buildings, DS Den Cooper is more than happy to cast one of the local farmers, 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 Den's ex - fiancee Lilah and was actually the reason she dumped him only a few short months before their wedding. However, Den did not plan on Lilah's determination to protect her new lover. How far will she go to make sure that Den directs his suspicions elsewhere?

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING COTSWOLD MYSTERIES SERIES. When irascible farmer Guy Beardon meets a very dirty death in his own farmyard, at first it seems like an accident - 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. The difficulty lies in discovering who, among Guy's many enemies, hated him enough to want him dead - and who went on killing to conceal the truth. There is certainly no shortage of suspects and it falls to local policeman Den Cooper to investigate the mysterious deaths...

Thea Osborne and her faithful spaniel, Hepzie, have taken on a house - sitting assignment in the charming Cotswold village of Temple Guiting. But as always, an idyllic village can harbour a disquieting number of secrets and when a skeleton is discovered at the roots of an old beech tree, Thea is grateful for the presence of her partner DS Phil Hollis. There is no concrete evidence as to who the bones belonged to although it isn't long before theories and rumours abound. Thea soon finds herself drawn into a murder investigation - perhaps the countryside isn't that quiet after all.

Nina Cattermole had an unusual death: head - butted by a horse as she protested against the local Devon hunt. The official verdict? It was a freak accident. But when another hunt saboteur is found dead in a ditch on the day of Nina's funeral, local DC Den Cooper is sent to investigate. It soon becomes clear that this is not another accident. Charlie Gratton has been trampled to death by a horse, the blows struck with such precision that they could only have been delivered by an animal under the control of an experienced rider. It seems that Charlie, a practising Quaker, has been murdered. As Den tries to solve the case he finds himself drawn in to an insular Quaker community and a village divided by loyalties and past misdeeds...

'As Rebecca Tope tells it, every rural idyll is blighted by underlying menace. Such is her writing skill, I'm inclined to believe her' Daily Mail

 Once again, there's death on her doorstep - Thea throws herself into house - sitting for Babs and Cedric Angell in Lower Slaughter following her beloved father's death - anything to keep her busy and away from some of her rather difficult relatives. Although it's lonely, she has her spaniel Hepzie for company, and keeping the house in order and looking after the Angells' menagerie of animals does the trick for a short period of time. But when Thea's prickly older sister turns up, after witnessing a horrific killing, the timeless tranquillity of Lower Slaughter vanishes, replaced by the sinister connotations of the town's name.

?Rich in psychological insight . . . Tope is particularly skilled in creating interesting and unique characters.? ?Deadly Pleasures 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. As people pass through the shop they begin to hear rumors about a series of sinister dog-nappings occurring in nearby Troutbeck. Up in arms over the crimes, they begin to investigate. But it isn't until Simmy and her father are taking a walk up Wansfell Pike that it becomes apparent there is something even worse afoot and everyone's favorite florist must stop a killer before they strike again . . .

?Rich in psychological insight . . . Tope is particularly skilled in creating interesting and unique characters.? ?Deadly Pleasures Valentine's Day is fast approaching and business at Persimmon ?Simmy? Brown's flower shop is booming. But when Simmy fulfills a string of anonymous delivery orders, she is startled to realize that each contains a secretly menacing message for the recipients. When one of the people who receives a bouquet disappears, it seems that her worst fears have been confirmed. As if that isn't enough, Simmy's friend Kathy turns up, on the trail of her wayward daughter Joanna, who she fears has grown too close to one of her university tutors. When Kathy attempts to reason with her daughter she finds that Joanna's older lover may be even more dangerous than she had imagined. With both Kathy and Joanna in peril, Simmy and her friends find themselves caught up in a web of deception, blackmail and murder . . .

Spring has brought many new beginnings into the world of Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown but when a former acquaintance of Christopher's reminds him of an undertaking made a decade previously but failed to fulfil, their lives soon take a sinister - and deadly - turn.

Thea Slocombe is tired of having to entertain Drew's children through the long summer holiday while he works, so keenly accepts a commission to watch over a house in Barnsley. However, her return to house-sitting is far from relaxing as on her first night she finds a fugitive woman hiding among some bushes...

Following a personal tragedy, florist Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown has moved to the beautiful region of the Lake District to be nearer her charismatic parents. Things are going well, with her latest flower arrangements praised and Simmy content to lose herself in her work. But the peace she has found is shattered when, at the wedding of a millionaire's daughter, the bride's brother is found brutally murdered in the lake.As the florist of the wedding and one of the last people to talk to Mark Baxter alive, Simmy gradually becomes involved with the grief-ridden and angry relatives. All seem to have their fair share of secrets and scandals - an uncaring mother, a cheating father, and a husband twenty-five years older than his bride. When events take another sinister turn, Simmy becomes a prime witness and finds herself at the heart of a murder investigation. The chief suspects are the groom and his closely knit band of bachelor friends. They are all intimidating, volatile and secretive - but which one is a killer?

Thea Osborne is thanking her lucky stars. After two disastrous housesitting incidents in which she unwittingly became embroiled in murder and mayhem, she is only too happy to have a bit of time to concentrate on her blossoming releationship with DI Phil Hollis. The couple has retreated to Phil's late aunt's cottage in Cold Aston, and other than the odd interruption from his childhood acquaintance, the eccentric Ariadne, they look forward to some peace and quiet.But the bad luck that plagues the hapless Thea and her beloved spaniel Hepzibah is never far away. With autumn drawing in, preparations for Samhain, the pagan origin of Halloween, are well underway when Ariadne discovers a very tangible reminder of the season of death: a body laid out like a sacrificial victim on Notgrove Barrow.It soon becomes apparent that the cosy village has more than its share of secrets. But just how far will some go to keep them hidden?

Despite the catastrophic outcomes of her previous house-sitting commissions, Thea Osborne, accompanied by her trusty spaniel, Hepzie, is truly convinced nothing can go wrong on her next assignment in the charming village of Blockley. The Montgomerys have asked her to look after their house while they take a much needed holiday.But trouble seems to follow Thea and when a body is discovered in the house next door, she finds herself in the midst of village secrets.From mystical local legends to celebrity sightings, the erstwhile quiet area turns out to be a place of mysterious contradictions - with very sinister undertones.

Persimmon `Simmy' Brown is reminded that life in the Lake District is far from relaxing when her fiance Chris discovers the body of his friend brutally strangled in Grasmere. As old grudges against the dead man are revealed, and with Chris's increasingly odd behaviour, Simmy begins to wonder if he is more involved in the murder than he is saying.

Thea and Drew are settled in the village of Broad Campden, but Thea is bored of domestic routines, missing the adventures of house-sitting. When a burial exposes family secrets, Drew finds himself caught in a feud. As he struggles with a profound dilemma and Thea fights the charms of a new man, can their marriage survive this latest Cotswold drama?

Simmy Brown has a lot on her mind: not just keeping her florist business afloat, the challenge of developing a long-term relationship with Christopher, but also the approach of Mother's Day, a busy and painful day for her. But in taking an order for a retirement party in Staveley, she is pulled into her most challenging investigation.

Thea Slocombe, nee Osborne, is trying to settle into normal, domestic life with Drew and his two children in Broad Campden. But in the course of an attempt to make friends locally, she finds the body of a close neighbour and suddenly feels much less settled and secure

A brand-new collection of short stories, featuring the popular characters from Rebecca Tope's Cotswold mystery novels.

Thea Osborne's latest house-sitting assignment is a little different to the rest. She finds herself in the village of Chedworth. She is tasked with creating an inventory of Rita Wilshire's possessions, requested by her son, Richard Wilshire, after moving her into a care home. All goes to plan, until Thea finds Richard dead in a barn.

Winter has arrived in the town of Windermere, and has bought with it the death of Frances Henderson, the best friend of Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown's mother. Simmy must cope with the loss of an important figure from her childhood, as well as the confusion at being bequeathed something in Frances's will.

The isolated and somewhat unsettling village of Snowshill has Thea on edge as soon as she arrives, and Hyacinth House - her new, rather cluttered house-sitting assignment - does nothing to dispel such feelings. Soon enough, her intuition in this case proves to be right, and once again Thea becomes entangled in another mystery.

Thea Osborne is perhaps over-optimistic about the summertime and her latest assignment house-sitting for reptile breeder Harriet Young. The region's charms prove deceptive, as Thea soon finds that Harriet's beloved geckoes are not the only cold-blooded creatures at large in Cranham.

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...

Thea Osborne hopes to spend a quiet Christmas house-sitting in the picturesque village of Stanton. Walks in the local countryside with the dogs are all the excitement she wants. Her arrival at the village coincides with the funeral of Douglas Callender and the murder of his girlfriend the following day.

Thea Osborne and her spaniel Hepzibah embark on their second house-sitting commission with few worries. She arrives at idyllic Frampton Mansell with renewed enthusiasm. However it seems she is jinxed: within days of her arrival she finds a body hanging from the rafters of one of the barns. But was it suicide... or murder?

Thea Osborne and her faithful spaniel, Hepzie, have taken on another house-sitting assignment, this time in the very quiet village of Temple Guiting. Detective Superintendent Phil Hollis is looking forward to visiting and celebrating the couple's one year anniversary, but a slipped disk in Phil's back soon puts an end to their romantic weekend.

STILL WATERS RUN DEEP AND DARK IN THE LAKE DISTRICTSummer has come to Windermere, where Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown owns a florist shop. But business is hardly booming, so Simmy jumps at the chance of a contract to provide floral displays for a hotel in nearby Hawkshead. However, the association with the hotel turns sinister when a body is found in the lake. To make matters worse, her friend Ben is now missing and thought to be kidnapped. Caught up in both a murder and kidnapping investigation, Simmy begins chasing clues, watching suspicious characters and grappling with her own personal challenges, compelled to uncover the truth.A cracking good read' Mystery People