Betrayal in the Cotswolds

Thea Osborne #20

by Rebecca Tope

A handsome, if slightly shabby, stone house in Upper Oddington is home to Umberto Kingley as well as his three dogs and will be Thea Slocombe's latest house-sitting assignment. Without even a local shop, Thea expects the location to be one of her quietest, until the serene atmosphere is shattered by a fatal hit-and-run. The ensuing high-profile police investigation plunges Thea deep into the victim's complicated family dynamics and the rift that had already torn it apart. And she cannot help wondering if the reverberations of scandal have led to a deliberate and murderous assault.

Genres: Amateur Sleuth, British Literature

289 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 21, 2022

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

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as others in the series. The storyline seemed quite drawn out and to be honest got rather boring. I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the last page. Maybe it's time to put an end to this series?

[John Hardy]

Stupid concept - professional housesitter solves murders, boring read, DNF. At #20 in a series, obviously the author is scratching to find material.
I won't be looking for any more of these.

[Bridey · Rating 3 out of 5]

borrowed this book from my mom, filled that need to read some british murder mystery childhood nostalgia (iykyk). solid 3 stars–good but nothing blew me away

[Theresa Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best one of hers i have read. Loved it

[Kerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read two in this series before.

Thea Slocombe generally does house sitting, but this time she is taking on looking after 3 dogs as well, for 5 days, while their owner makes a visit to Europe selling antique clocks.

On the first day she looks out of an upstairs window to see a car pulling up outside in the street. A youngish woman gets out and is almost immediately mown down by a speeding car which not only seems to aim for her but also doesn't stop. Stunned by what she has seen, and convinced that the victim knew the driver of the car, Thea contacts a policewoman whom she knows well from earlier cases that she has been involved.

When it turns out that the victim is the niece of the man she is doing the house sitting for, Thea cooperates with the police to try to discover the reason for the murder. And what a dysfunctional family is revealed!

The plot eventually becomes very complex, and to my mind the author was struggling to hold it all together.

[Jan Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok-ish book, along similar lines to the early ones but I felt the story never really took off. Characters felt quite shallow and one dimensional. The setting was one house with incarcerated dogs. The lead character ( Thea ) never really ventured far and spent a lot of time phoning her police friends. I do find her very unsympathetic and self centred but then again I’m glad she’s not the sugary do-gooder of most mystery stories.

[Ellie Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better than other book. Good story line of whodunnit, piecing bits together as she meets characters. However, continues to drag out her daily motions of house sitting duties, as she describes them disdainfully.

[Judith · Rating 1 out of 5]

My first book by the author. Quite boring.

Not to mention the "fact" that civilian has a long history of solving crimes. Maybe I need to read the first books to understand...

If you loved this book, please don't butcher me :-)

[Hayley R · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slight twist on the usual format in this book in the series. We meet another group of unpleasant characters, who are now the suspects in a hot and run killing. Thea and Stephanie team up again to solve the crime.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay but very similar to previous ones .

[JenniferB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a good addition to the series, but plot very convoluted. Characters not sympathetic, and not sure why a younger character has to get involved with solving the crime.

[Jan Madden · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you enjoy an easy read with a daft storyline then this is for you. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it for a read in the sun

[Joy Dutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite like Rebecca Tope, but I really do have to start this series from the beginning, so far I've just read a few odd ones out of order. I was actually in the Cotswolds when I read this and at one point the main character was having lunch in the pub I was going to that day to have my lunch, I love that. These are what I consider a modern day Agatha Christie and are very easy to read and a very relaxing read. I love them, just need to start at the beginning.

[Rowena Onions · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book seemed to refresh a somewhat ailing series... I'd nearly given up on it, but this seemed a better read.