Published by Allison &
Busby,
22 October 2020.
ISBN 978-0-7490-2632-5
Lovers of the cosy mystery will be delighted to find
that A Cotswold Christmas Mystery –
book 16 in Rebecca Tope’s Cotswold Mysteries series – fits all the criteria of
the genre. No gratuitous bad language, graphic sex or violence but lots of puzzles
to solve complete with plenty of red herrings to lead you in the wrong
direction.
This series
features Thea who is recently married to Drew Slocombe, a local undertaker she
cleared of murder in Book 8 in the series. Thea’s
daughter Jessica has joined the Slocombe family for Christmas, but their
preparations go awry when he receives news that his estranged father has died
and his mother requests that he travel to County Durham to arrange the funeral.
To complicate matters for Thea, her friends and neighbours the Frowse family
are having problems with their landlord. Their relationship with Rufus Blackwood
has never been easy but his new Russian wife and her daughters are anxious to
force the Frowses out of their tithe cottage, an untidy, ramshackle property in
the centre of their pristine estate. As part of their campaign of harassment,
the Blackwoods erect an electric fence around the cottage not only to prevent
the Frowses trespassing on their land but also making access difficult.
A
package of expensive jewellery delivered to the estate has gone missing and the
Blackwoods accuse Beverly Frowse of stealing it.
Beverly
goes missing and her son receives a phone call from his mother telling him she
cannot return home in time for Christmas. Thea is determined to help find out
what has happened to her.
To
complicate matters, a few days later, the dead body of Rufus Blackwood is
discovered in the woods alongside the electric fence. It seems the body has
lain there for some time, since the day Beverly disappeared.
Fast
moving, full of twists and turns to make you want to keep turning the page,
fascinating characters (Stephanie, Drew’s thirteen-year-old daughter is a pure
delight), with justice for all at the end, what’s not to like?
------
Reviewer: Judith Cranswick
Besides
"ghost writer" of the novels based on the ITV series Rosemary and
Thyme. Rebecca is also the proprietor of a small press - Praxis Books. This was
established in 1992.
Judith Cranswick was born and brought up in Norwich. She wrote her first novel (now languishing in the back of a drawer somewhere) when her two children were toddlers, but there was little time for writing when she returned to work teaching Geography in a large comprehensive. It was only after leaving her headship that she was able to take up writing again in earnest. Judith teaches Tai Chi, and line dancing, yoga, Pilates and Zumba. Her other hobbies include reading and travelling. She is lucky enough to be a cruise lecturer. You can read some of her adventures – the Ups and Downs of Being a Cruise Lecturer on her September 2014 blog on her home page.
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