A Cotswold Ordeal [Hardcover]

Rebecca Tope (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2005

Thea Osborne embarks on her second house-sitting commission with very few worries. The Phillipses are obviously a laid back family, and there is little to do but tend an ailing old pony and feed various furry pets and farmyard birds. But it seems she is jinxed. An apparent suicide takes place in one of the barns. Set in the most southern part of the Cotswolds, known for its woollen mills active in the 19th century, the canal locks lie buried in woodland, along with many of the dreams and secrets of the local people. Thea is interviewed by Detective Superintendent Hollis and finds herself in the very center of the action. But confusion and conflict reign as investigations develop into the death in the barn, with divided loyalties and many frustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The classic English village mystery is alive and well and living in Gloucestershire' Sherlock Magazine 'Exciting, humorous and topical, this is one of her best novels yet' --Crime Time --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Rebecca Tope has led a varied career working as an antenatal teacher, a Relate counsellor and an assistant funeral director. She currently lives on a small holding in rural Herefordshire where she works as a milk recorder for local dairy farms. She is the author of five previous crime novels including Market for Murder and The Sting of Death.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby (October 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749083492
• ISBN-13: 978-0749083496
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,111,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars one of the worst of a bad genre, January 8, 2011

By 

hilltown reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cotswold Ordeal (Cotswold Mysteries) (Paperback)

While searching for a new author after having read (multiple times as my wife likes to point out) the classic British mysteries, I ordered this book. The new "recipe" mystery genre suffers from the obvious limitation: everything has to fit into the recipe. This author fails miserably to produce a book with any coherence, decent writing style, believable characters, or compelling human interest. The protagonist is a ditzy 40-something who seems to fall in love at the drop of a proverbial hat. Her policeman hero is staggeringly stupid as a policeman and unbelievable as a man. Ancillary characters float into view apparently out of cliche heaven: the overbearing mistress of the manse, evil locals intent on covering up murder, strange sexual perversions from a completely normal person, etc.

Having lived in the Cotswolds for 10 years, I was at least hoping for something that would excite in me the beauty and interest of the area. Canals seem to run through the story, but other than some pedantic comments on the benefits to wildlife there is little evocation of the fantasy of a canal. And, of course, this canal is abandoned and dry, much like the book.

I usually donate books which I am not keeping for my library to the local hospital. I will spare the patients this one.

5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars British Cozies Rule!!, May 27, 2010

By 

Toni S. Bibliophile "Toni S. Bibliophile" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Cotswold Ordeal (Cotswold Mysteries) (Paperback)

A well written British Cozy. Intriguing characters and nicely developed plot. Tope is one of my favorites.