‘The Eskdale Episode’ by Rebecca Tope

Published by Allison & Busby,
22 January 2026.
ISBN: ‎ 978-074903317-1(HB)

Simmy is still in the throes of moving her floristry business from Windermere to Keswick and time is fast running out with only a couple more weeks before her second baby is due. Because her assistant Bonnie can’t drive, and Simmy has yet to find a new assistant to help out in the shop, Simmy has no choice but to deliver all the out-of-town orders herself. 

One morning an envelope is left in the shop requesting a bouquet of a dozen yellow roses with sprays of gypsophila to be delivered as soon as possible to a Miss Jenna Jones who lives on a farm in Eskdale which will involve almost a three-hour journey. It seems an odd request as the sender insists that no message is included with the flowers, but as the money has been left to cover the costs, Simmy sets out for Eskdale. She discovers that Jenna lives with her mother and elderly grandmother on a remote rundown farm. The following day, Jemma’s mother is discovered murdered at the farm. Intrigued by the mystery of what appears to be a divided family that communicate by flowers, Simmy, urged on by Bonnie and her boyfriend Ben, sets out to find answers.   

A Rebecca Tope novel always delivers a complex plot full of twists and turns that leaves the reader turning the page to find answers only to find more questions. In addition to a cast of familiar characters, we are introduced to an array of strangers, but credible though they seem, can they all be trusted? The Eskdale Episode is no exception to the rule. It will keep the reader on tenterhooks until the final satisfying ending.
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Reviewer: Judith Cranswick

Rebecca Tope is the author of four popular murder mystery series, featuring Den Cooper, Devon police detective, Drew Slocombe, Undertaker, Thea Osborne, house sitter in the Cotswolds, and more recently Persimmon (Simmy) Brown, a florist. Rebecca grew up on farms, first in Cheshire then in Devon, and now lives in rural Herefordshire on a smallholding situated close to the beautiful Black Mountains.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.  

www.rebeccatope.com  

Judith Cranswick was born and brought up in Norwich. Apart from writing, Judith’s great passions are travel and history. Both have influenced her two series of mystery novels. Tour Manager, Fiona Mason takes coach parties throughout Europe, and historian Aunt Jessica is the guest lecturer accompanying tour groups visiting more exotic destinations aided by her nephew Harry. Her published novels also include several award-winning standalone psychological thrillers. 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 her teaching career. Now retired, she is able to indulge her love of writing and has begun a life of crime! ‘Writers are told to write what they know about, but I can assure you, I've never committed a murder.
I'm an ex-convent school headmistress for goodness sake!’
Her most recent book is Passage to Greenland  

http://judithcranswick.co.uk/