A Market for Murder

Drew Slocombe #4

by Rebecca Tope

The peace of a small West Country village is rudely shattered when a bomb explodes in the local supermarket. Karen Slocombe, a member of the Food Chain Group and staunch supporter of local produce, would not normally care for the loss of a supermarket, but she does take offence to such violence and that fact that she and her daughter were very nearly caught up in the explosion. When, a few days later, Karen witnesses the horrifying murder of an adjacent stallholder at the local farmer's market, she begins to wonder just who is committing these seemingly motiveless crimes and why does she keep finding herself in the middle of the crime scene?

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Rebecca 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.

Reviews

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.

[Lisa Arnold · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason the Drew Slocombe novels are not as engaging as the Thea Osbourne series not sure if these were written earlier or just had to be put out in a hurry but not as well thought out, wont be keeping this one.

[Kirsty Darbyshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I should have waited to get this series read in order rather than grabbing what I found in the library because two series seem to have joined into one and I need to go back and find out how that happened now. That didn't confuse me as much as a couple of details of the plot did though, everything seemed fine when I finished the book but then things came to pieces while I was thinking about it and I need to go back and reread some of the details. Good stuff all the same though. I hope there is plenty more to read about this lot.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Curiously simple storyline mixing friendships with the politics of food miles and the organics of alternative burials in a villagey atmosphere where hostility erupts when one fresh grower/supplier is seen to be advancing too far and possibly selling out.
This should have been a bright quick read. However, it is short but seems too full of words.
The constant repetition of names and regrouping of the plot seems to take more space and time than the story. Pity.

[Karen Keane · Rating 1 out of 5]

A cosy murder but with far too many similar characters for me, I had to keep looking back to remind myself who was who. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters and found the plot quite boring and unbelievable.

[Janet H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stumbled on this author of Book 9 Cotswolds murders which presented with Drew and Thea which I enjoyed, bought a kindle & read all the Cotswolds and almost all the Lake Districts mysteries (with Simmy) however now trying to read a few of the West County murders it's just not doing it for me. This book in particular seemed jumbled up and rushed, especially the ending as if she crammed in a whole mess of relationships which seemed unnecessary. I wont bother with anymore W.C. murders in the series, disappointing.

[Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to start this book and that's because the first few chapters were just confusing. I didn't understand the fair trade / organic market and that the protagonist sells her greens that were grown next to an organic burial plot. Sounds morbid, but fascinating.

The plot and characters were quite decent but that's only after going through half way.

[Jean Walton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An average murder mystery though one that concerned me more than usual because of the involvement of children. I had a fair idea who the perpetrator was though at one time I thought there were two or even three of them.

[Joann Beattie]

One of the worst crime stories I have ever read. There is too much padding it out. It centres around an undertakers and puts in far too much extraneous information. The whole book coukd have vern contained in one chapter.

[Gwyn Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book by Rebecca Tope.

[Dot Powell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get into this and gave up/

[Janey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story, mostly well told though some was far-fetched and a bit was repetitive. Still enjoyed it.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

[Bob Hiscocks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I'm glad I read them all in order as this one pulled them all together. I hope there are more to come.

[Kel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brill

[Pam Keevil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this as much as her Cotswold series but for fans of this genre, it will delight with its array of different characters and twist and turns of plot.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first time I have read a book by Rebecca Tope. I found this particular book pleasant and entertaining and it certainly gave me some insight into organic farming and people who are deeply - perhaps almost fanatically - concerned with how the land is managed and how food is grown and produced.

It was meant to be a murder mystery, as one murder and an attempted murder take place during the course of the book. One finds out who the murderer is in the end, but where this book falls short (in comparison to an Agatha Christie, for instance) is that although there is an eventual explanation for the crimes, there seemed to be very little development in the plot as far as the murder is concerned.

[Cliff · Rating 1 out of 5]

I haven't finished this book and don't intend to try. I have struggled through 200 pages of turgid prose about totally uninteresting characters. I couldn't face another 244 of snails pace writing and have no interest in discovering who or why dunnit. The theme is important - why is our food supply in the hands of four enormous conglomerates, why does that food have to travel hundreds of miles - and even more important now than when the book was first published. But the author cannot make those points as part of an interesting novel.

[Patricia Wilcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read a bit slow some parts but worth reading

[Raine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weird.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable a good mystery story with interesting characters.

[jeanette jakob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okbook

Slow to get to the point but better as you continued reading ! I'd like another episode let them decide what they want to be when they grow uo!