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Thea Osborne #5
Blood in the Cotswolds
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 for a night or two and celebrating the couple s one year anniversary, but a slipped disk in Phil s back soon puts an end to their romantic weekend. As it turns out, having a policeman on the scene is not entirely unnecessary in the little village. A few days into their stay, a pile of human bones are discovered in the base of an uprooted tree. There is no concrete evidence as to whom the bones belonged to though the locals all have their theories and rumors abound. Thea and Phil find there is a strong connection to the Knights Templar in the village with most locals claiming to be descendants of some or other lineage. Temple Guiting turns out to have more than its fair share of secrets and Thea and Phil find their relationship tested to the limits as they try to prevent another murder investigation from threatening the quiet solitude they hold so dear."
349 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2008
131 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Tope
81 books218 followersRebecca Tope is best known as the author of over twenty crime novels. She has also recently produced the e-book entitled 'The Indifference of Tumbleweed'. She has every intention of continuing with the murder stories, as well as a variety of other kinds of fiction.
She has experienced many different kinds of work in her time - running antenatal classes, counselling troubled couples and being an office girl for an undertaker, for example. There were also several years monitoring the output of dairy cows, as well as every sort of task associated with book publishing. In 1992, she founded Praxis Books, a small British press.
She lives surrounded by trees she has planted herself, tending her own sheep.
She has experienced many different kinds of work in her time - running antenatal classes, counselling troubled couples and being an office girl for an undertaker, for example. There were also several years monitoring the output of dairy cows, as well as every sort of task associated with book publishing. In 1992, she founded Praxis Books, a small British press.
She lives surrounded by trees she has planted herself, tending her own sheep.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
October 2, 2012
The interactions between the detective and his girlfriend were cringe-worthily awful. I couldn't work out why the 2 were together- there was no empathy between them. I read and re-read the end and still don't know why a hand and a foot were missing from the corpse. I didn't understand why the person had been killed either as the details of the will weren't explained adequately. This was my 1st Rebecca Tope and my last. I was hoping I would love them as there are so many in the charity shops around here. Unfortunately I now know why. A very disappointing read
May 26, 2021
Extremely difficult to read especially after the following: "The woman responded with a complicated smile, acknowledging her size, her
borderline claim to being fully human....". There is more of this type of vile fat-shaming. To say anyone is not really human simply because of their size is beyond the pale. While I believe the main characters are meant to be quaint and quirky, they come across as extremely unlikeable, the writing is plodding and the story is nonsensical. I won't be reading any more from this series.
borderline claim to being fully human....". There is more of this type of vile fat-shaming. To say anyone is not really human simply because of their size is beyond the pale. While I believe the main characters are meant to be quaint and quirky, they come across as extremely unlikeable, the writing is plodding and the story is nonsensical. I won't be reading any more from this series.
December 10, 2016
Unlikeable and unlikely characters (and an even more unlikely couple) in an improbable* storyline that never seems to get past the buildup until it's over in a predictable but again improbable* finish.
*ridiculous.
PS - Aside from the Cotswolds mention in the title there is NOTHING (save for a few locale names) in the story that in anyway makes it feel especially Cotswolds-like or anywhere else for that matter.
*ridiculous.
PS - Aside from the Cotswolds mention in the title there is NOTHING (save for a few locale names) in the story that in anyway makes it feel especially Cotswolds-like or anywhere else for that matter.
March 3, 2019
I have enjoyed the other books in this series but this one was difficult to get through. The main characters, Thea and Phil are out of sync in this read and I had a complete disconnect with them. That disconnect made the story move very slowly and my frustrations with the characters did not help in holding my interest.
October 28, 2019
Thea Osbourne is house sitting in the village of Temple Guiting and her partner DS Phil Hollins has arrived for a short stay. Unfortunately, any hope of a romantic weekend disappears when Phil suffers a slipped disc, and then human bones are found in the roots of a fallen tree. Although on sick leave, Phil finds himself (and Thea) being dragged into the mystery.
This was a disappointing read - I'd previously enjoyed some of the earlier books in the series with their village settings and intriguing plots. However, the plot here is weak and totally unconvincing, as well as slow moving. The relationship between Thea and Phil, which was quite sweet if slightly prickly in previous books, is all over the place - one minute he's madly in love, then irritated, he worries about her, then he leaves her alone with a killer on the loose...
Thea herself comes across as really unsympathetic - she is supposedly a competent woman in her 40s, yet she displays the attitudes and opinions of a particularly difficult teenager. She shows little respect or kindness towards Phil, and her attempts to intervene in the mystery are often headstrong and irresponsible.
2.5 stars, I might give the series another try sometime as this could just be a blip, but this one didn't work for me.
This was a disappointing read - I'd previously enjoyed some of the earlier books in the series with their village settings and intriguing plots. However, the plot here is weak and totally unconvincing, as well as slow moving. The relationship between Thea and Phil, which was quite sweet if slightly prickly in previous books, is all over the place - one minute he's madly in love, then irritated, he worries about her, then he leaves her alone with a killer on the loose...
Thea herself comes across as really unsympathetic - she is supposedly a competent woman in her 40s, yet she displays the attitudes and opinions of a particularly difficult teenager. She shows little respect or kindness towards Phil, and her attempts to intervene in the mystery are often headstrong and irresponsible.
2.5 stars, I might give the series another try sometime as this could just be a blip, but this one didn't work for me.
May 21, 2015
Yup. Definitely a problem with fat people. A few iffy agendas get promoted here under the guise of the male detective's first person POV. I realised I also don't know why the corpse was mutilated except as a red herring, although the denoument isn't as hurried as the previous book's. The scene is set for a break-up between the main characters.
December 28, 2015
About twelve pages in, the author describes a woman as having only a borderline claim to being human, based solely on her weight. I read the first for books and found them passable for quick-read cozy mysteries, but I just couldn't get past this level of fat-hate. I won't be reading any more by this author, she clearly doesn't need my only semi-human money.
August 16, 2020
Ugh. Just ugh. If this was the first of these I’d read, it would definitely be the last. I feel like the author just mailed this one in. Loads of unanswered questions, completely flat and unlikeable characters, questionably premise of a plot...really disappointing. Not to mention the fat-shaming and borderline racist commentary throughout. Two stars is me feeling generous...almost DNF’d this one.
February 16, 2023
"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."
~~back cover
A very convoluted plot, with a plethora of strange, dodgy characters. The additional story is Phil's sudden back injury, and the problems is brings to the fore in their relationship. Irresolvable problems?
"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."
~~back cover
A very convoluted plot, with a plethora of strange, dodgy characters. The additional story is Phil's sudden back injury, and the problems is brings to the fore in their relationship. Irresolvable problems?
March 12, 2015
Blood in the Cotswolds is the fifth book in the series by Rebecca Tope that features Thea Osborne, a 40-something widow who spends her days house-sitting for wealthy people in the Cotswolds while said wealthy people are off on holiday. Unfortunately, wherever Thea goes murder seems to follow, and this installment is no exception. She is staying in Temple Guiting, a charming ancient village with ties to the old Knights Templar organization; indeed, the leading family in the area is the Temple-Pritchett clan, who have as many secrets as their ancestors, it seems. Thea's boyfriend, Detective Superintendent Phil Hollis, comes for what's meant to be an overnight stay, but in the midst of amourous activity, his back goes out and he is forced to remain on the scene, primarily lying down or sitting at an odd angle, while waiting for his back to heal. When, out on a stroll, Phil comes across a cache of human bones, it doesn't take long for murder and its accompanying inquiries to put a further damper on Thea and Phil's plans for a cozy time together.... I'm actually getting pretty tired of Thea and her antics: what started out as endearing character traits are becoming more and more annoying as the series wears on. And there's a lot of sloppy writing on hand here, too. For example, the martyrdom of a saint is at one point cited as occurring at the hands of the man's uncle, and at another point as the work of his sister. When Thea expresses lack of interest in the identity of the dead man, Phil reminds her that every man's death diminishes other humans and Thea replies that normally she would feel that way too, but she feels no connection to this body and can't get excited about it - the annoying bit here is that in every single book so far, she has initially at least had exactly the same reaction when discovering a murdered victim. As with the second in the series, this narrative is told not by Thea but by another voice, in this case that of Phil Hollis, but he essentially comes across as whiny and needy, not a terribly attractive narrator for the tale. I've still got a couple of books in the series to get through, but I really can't recommend this series anymore at all. Too bad, as the settings are beautiful, but that's not enough to make a good story.
May 5, 2021
[CW: fatphobia] I read the first four books in the series and thought they were fine. I’m used to a bit of casual fat phobia in books, so when it cropped up in the previous instalments, I shrugged and moved on.
But this one... At the very start of the novel, the main character’s boyfriend sees a woman and describes her as “close to twenty stone in weight with... the oddly similar features of all fat people: small, half-buried eyes, rosebud mouth, multiple chins and long plump cheeks.”
The woman smiles at him when he says hello, “...acknowledging her size, her borderline claim to being fully human...” The ROMANTIC LEAD then, on the basis of no further interaction than her smile, “...felt the exasperation that he supposed most people felt, confronted with such an example of rampant lack of willpower, or perverse refusal to link food with body weight.”
Excuse me? This is the narrator of the story and someone I’m supposed to hope maintains a relationship with the main character, and the author’s tone is truly vile. No. Thank. You. Book in bin, will not be reading any further material from Rebecca Tope.
But this one... At the very start of the novel, the main character’s boyfriend sees a woman and describes her as “close to twenty stone in weight with... the oddly similar features of all fat people: small, half-buried eyes, rosebud mouth, multiple chins and long plump cheeks.”
The woman smiles at him when he says hello, “...acknowledging her size, her borderline claim to being fully human...” The ROMANTIC LEAD then, on the basis of no further interaction than her smile, “...felt the exasperation that he supposed most people felt, confronted with such an example of rampant lack of willpower, or perverse refusal to link food with body weight.”
Excuse me? This is the narrator of the story and someone I’m supposed to hope maintains a relationship with the main character, and the author’s tone is truly vile. No. Thank. You. Book in bin, will not be reading any further material from Rebecca Tope.
March 12, 2022
This series is like a train wreck…..I just can’t look away, no matter how bad….and with each book this series just slips down the hill.
Even the title has got it wrong! Blood??
While house sitting once again, Thea is joined by her policeman boyfriend Phil. She is only to be there a week, and she and Phil look forward to some romantic relaxing time together. Alas, whilst enjoying an “intimate” time together, Phil slips a disc in his back……unfortunately, that is about the most “action” in the book!
Shortly thereafter, a tree is uprooted and Phil, bad back and all, discovers skeleton remains among the tree roots. What follows is a most nonsensical and incoherent plot for murder.
I think I pursue this series just to see how low we can go. I keep thinking they must get better, there are so many of them, and evidently someone felt they were worthy of publishing and distributing!
Even the title has got it wrong! Blood??
While house sitting once again, Thea is joined by her policeman boyfriend Phil. She is only to be there a week, and she and Phil look forward to some romantic relaxing time together. Alas, whilst enjoying an “intimate” time together, Phil slips a disc in his back……unfortunately, that is about the most “action” in the book!
Shortly thereafter, a tree is uprooted and Phil, bad back and all, discovers skeleton remains among the tree roots. What follows is a most nonsensical and incoherent plot for murder.
I think I pursue this series just to see how low we can go. I keep thinking they must get better, there are so many of them, and evidently someone felt they were worthy of publishing and distributing!
June 3, 2018
Thea has undertaken another house-sitting assignment, and when her policeman boyfriend joins her for the weekend, an idyllic get-together is expected. Unfortunately, Phil slips a disc in his back and his visit is pain-filled and unhappy. Across the road from the property, a tree falls, unearthing a skeleton. Despite his invalid status, Phil feels the need to investigate this probable murder, with Thea assisting in ferreting out village relationships and secrets.
I can't say I enjoyed this book. Phil is in pain during the entire story, and his girlfriend Thea shows little empathy for his discomfort. The relationships amongst the villagers seemed bizarre, and I didn't get the feeling that they shared much affection or understanding. All in all, not a good read.
I can't say I enjoyed this book. Phil is in pain during the entire story, and his girlfriend Thea shows little empathy for his discomfort. The relationships amongst the villagers seemed bizarre, and I didn't get the feeling that they shared much affection or understanding. All in all, not a good read.
September 15, 2024
Unfortunately this book did not engage me and I couldn't finish it. It dragged on without anything happening and Thea, the main protagonist, seems belligerent and unhappy. 280 pages in there was no "blood" apart from a few minor incidents. The fact that a serving police officer failed to report an accident where someone was injured was so unlikely that that was about the end for me. I don't think I'll be reading any more in this series.
November 16, 2009
This book was pretty much a mess. Couldn't figure out why these two people were together; coukdn't understand why the book needed so many pages to get to whodunit (lots of not much happening) and still not sure what the motive was at all..won't be reading more of her books.
July 9, 2011
Not the best in this series.
I like the characters and the setting, the plots are usually OK but this one was very creaky indeed and came to one of those strange conclusions which was a long time coming then finally too abrupt
I like the characters and the setting, the plots are usually OK but this one was very creaky indeed and came to one of those strange conclusions which was a long time coming then finally too abrupt
October 5, 2022
Slow! Boring characters and towards the end MY back was hurting.
October 28, 2017
Ok. Normally I enjoy this series more, but I found this ne hard to like. The murder etc is ok, although a bit forced in plot/motive towards the end, I thought. What really annoyed me was Thea in this one. Its one thing to say you are a lousy nurse, quite another to show no care, sympathy or affection for the person you love, who is in pain. Her total lack of care for Phil rather put me off her as a character. She'd always seemed sensible, down to earth and capable before, not a cold -hearted cow!
August 13, 2025
Out of the Cotswolds series this one was disappointing. The end didn't clarify completely the mistery (which is the main goal of any detective novel). The main characters were constantly annoyed at each other, making their interactions tense, like it didn't make sense for them to be a couple, there was no empathy or care whatsoever.
The plot itself had a lot of potential but I do feel like it got wasted in unnecessary interactions between characters and details that distracted the reader from the main conflict.
The plot itself had a lot of potential but I do feel like it got wasted in unnecessary interactions between characters and details that distracted the reader from the main conflict.
May 31, 2017
First one of this series I've read but from reading other reviews it isn't the most popular. I completely agreed with other reviews. Too much reference to being fat. Also, a few items did not add anything to the story like the missing foot and hand. Also, never did clear up the situation regarding the trust, will etc. Seemed sloppily written and old fashioned. Main characters made a terrible couple, especially the female. No idea why they would even want to be together.
March 9, 2018
I liked this book but didn't think it was up to the author's usual standard. There were a lot of unanswered questions thrown in. Ok the foot and hand missing were connected to the saints myths, but why was the victim killed this way?
I do quite like the relationship between Thea and Hollis, as I think it fits their age better than having two love-stricken teenagers. They both see each others faults, but are prepared to live with them , and the occasional grumble seems more real.
I do quite like the relationship between Thea and Hollis, as I think it fits their age better than having two love-stricken teenagers. They both see each others faults, but are prepared to live with them , and the occasional grumble seems more real.
August 10, 2021
DS Phil Hollis takes centre stage in this fifth edition of the Cotswolds series.
The murder in this book is a cold case of sorts which was refreshing however aside from the occasional attack on Phil and Thea not a lot really happens and the first half of the book really drags as a result.
Also, Thea comes across rather unlikeable and I can't see her and Phil's relationship lasting past the next book - unless that's the point?
The murder in this book is a cold case of sorts which was refreshing however aside from the occasional attack on Phil and Thea not a lot really happens and the first half of the book really drags as a result.
Also, Thea comes across rather unlikeable and I can't see her and Phil's relationship lasting past the next book - unless that's the point?
October 22, 2017
Fairly standard murder-in-the-countryside tale that should appeal to fans of Ann Granger's Mitchell & Markby series (but nowhere near as good to my mind)
Nothing offensive but nothing to get excited about either. While I didn't particularly warm to Thea Osborne's character, it is the first time I've "met" her so might be prepared to give her a second chance.
Nothing offensive but nothing to get excited about either. While I didn't particularly warm to Thea Osborne's character, it is the first time I've "met" her so might be prepared to give her a second chance.
January 17, 2018
Halfway through the book and just can't bring myself to finish it. No not even to skim through and read to the end, which is what I do normally if I can't get into a book. This is just a bad book, poorly written and doesn't really seem to take off. Just don't care anymore about the murder or the main characters, who frankly are just plain annoying.
August 26, 2018
So this is the fifth in the series. I found myself wanting to read the book because of where the series is set. I have never been to the Cotswold's, but i love the sound of it. I like how each book is written from the POV of a different person, but found the plot to this book a bit silly. Think I will put the Cotwaolds on my to see list, but may not read the next book :)
April 12, 2020
This is the 3rd book I've read in the series, although not in order of publication. I enjoyed the description of place and the odd characters that inhabit this Cotswold village. Having the main detective hobbled with a bad back leads to a different approach when solving this mystery. It's a quick read and I enjoyed the author's ability to evoke the weather and quaint location.
May 9, 2021
Although I finished reading this book it disappointed me and I really can't get into the story lines of this author. I still don't particularly like her main character, Thea Osborne, so can't relate to the story through the characters. The writing to me is weak and doesn't draw me in as other mystery stories do.
May 12, 2017
OK I guess, I finished it. Always causes a smile to hear of English heatwaves with temps "pushing the 80s". Ouch, stay indoors. Few oddities - Phil, if you're listening, get out now, she's not in to you! And stop with the fat shaming.
June 2, 2017
In the fifth Thea Osborne house-sitting mystery the protagonist's romance with DS Phil Hollis is quite literally on a knife's edge of frustration and disappointment that remains unresolved at the story's end.
August 22, 2017
I don't read Thea's adventures in order but that's fine, each one is a fine stand-alone and can be read at will.
This tale is pretty typical of the series and not the sort of story that makes you afraid to go to bed without the light on.
This tale is pretty typical of the series and not the sort of story that makes you afraid to go to bed without the light on.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews