The Askham Accusation

Lake District #12

by Rebecca Tope

Set in the picturesque town of Askham, near Ullswater, the story opens with the funeral of Humphrey Craig, the builder who converted Simmy's new house in Hartsop. The following day, when Simmy goes back to look at the grave and the flowers on it, she meets two women, Lindsay Wilson, an academic in her late twenties who is writing a thesis on Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son, and Pauline Parsons, a local matriarch aged 90. Just 24 hours later, Mrs Parsons is found dead on Askham Fell and Simmy is summoned to Penrith police station. She is told that she has been identified as the prime suspect ... will DI Moxon be able to help Simmy out of this unscathed?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Detective

292 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 19, 2023

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

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy going read but felt wasn't my type of read at the moment

[Jasmine Holliday · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry but this is the dullest book I've ever read. Was excited to read something so local to home. There was moments where I thought we might get tangled into a bit of a saucy local conspiracy but it didn't happen. I've forced myself to finish it because it was a present. Glad it's over.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one . This series is going back to its best .

[Denise Bonham · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best in this wonderful series so far.
Love all the main characters and the gorgeous setting.

[JenniferB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but not the best in this series. Story was far fetched, and too many people involved with solving the mystery.

[Lizzie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Florist Simmy Brown is now married to her childhood sweetheart Christopher Henderson, and they have a son Robin.

Attending the funeral of Humphrey Craig who had done a lot of work on their house in Hartsop, Simmy visits the grave admiring the flowers with her florist’s eye. While doing so she meets two women: Lindsay Wilson, an academic writing a thesis on Charles Dickens, and ninety-year-old matriarch Pauline Parsons.

Then twenty-four hours later Detective Inspector Moxon, with whom Simmy, Bonnie and Ben have an odd sort of working relationship, owing to having assisted him on earlier investigations, turns up to question her about the death of Mrs Parsons found dead on Askham Fell. It is clear that Moxon is uncomfortable with this, but why is Moxon asking her about it. Because we have an eyewitness, that when she was last seen you were with her, is his reply.

Knowing that that this can't be true, Simmy attempts to speak with her accuser who blanks her, and then she tries other avenues, but to no avail. It appears she has been judged guilty already by the village of Askham. Eventually the only recourse she has is to find the killer herself.
I found this one of the most fascinating in this series. Usually, Simmy and her two teenage pals Ben, the boy genius, and Bonnie his girlfriend are on hand to help in an investigation, but this time it is different, this time Simmy is the one in the frame.

This was a turnaround for this series, and one I wasn’t expecting, and how was Simmy going to extract herself out of this one?

I have loved all the books in this series, and this was another fascinating mystery, a real puzzle. Highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Coming into an established series for the first time at book number twelve is never a good idea, but the latest in Rebecca Tope’s Lake District mysteries is set in a part of Cumbria I know very well and I couldn’t resist the extra pleasure to be had from reading a book set in a familiar environment. Fortunately the author provides enough in the way of character back stories that the Johnny-come-lately reader isn’t entirely at sea. Askham is rather off the usual tourist beaten track, but the village and the neighbouring fell of the same name that leads over to the northern stretches of Ullswater are fascinating, full of historical and prehistorical interest, and an ideal location for a murder mystery. Unfortunately, the mystery at the heart of the book is rather mundane and its investigation dull and plodding. I think The Askham Accusation belongs in the popular ‘cosy crime’ genre; it certainly lacks excitement, which is a shame as Rebecca Tope writes well, and her characters have enough hinterland to be interesting in their own right.

[Sally Parker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm afraid that this turned out to be one of the dullest crime thrillers I've ever read. Very thin plot stretched out to over 3oo pages in which a small group of civilians ( apparently with the approval of the police !) set out to find the killer of an elderly woman found murdered on a hillside.
The group of amateur "detectives" is lead by Persimmon 'Simmy' Henderson, aided by her husband, her parents, one of her employees and the emplyee's boyfriend. They all bumbled about the Lake District questioning suspects and witnesses, who naturally resented their involvement. Simmy and her group of sleuths kept complaining that they were confused by the whole affair - so was I ! I kept hoping the action would speed up, but apart from the revelation of the killer in the last few pages it was a painfully slow read.

[Leeanne McHarg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 12 in the Lake District series was certainly a complex one. There were a lot of characters this time around—almost too many to comfortably keep track of! Still, the deeper dive into Bonnie and her history was really enjoyable and added a fresh layer to the ongoing story.

DI Moxon is back on the scene, which was great to see, especially with his relationship with Simmy settling back into place. Simmy’s mother Angie was her usual difficult, stubborn self, and it really highlighted why Simmy can sometimes be the same way.

The mystery itself was intricate and, at times, hard to follow, but in true Rebecca Tope fashion, the reveal was a complete shock. The killer was someone I hadn’t even remotely considered!

Another intriguing instalment—I’m already looking forward to the next book as usual!

[Helen Birkbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been looking forward to the latest story and it didn't disappoint. I know Askham quite well so enjoyed the locations, and had no idea who did it. The suspense was kept up well, though as usual I felt the reveal was a bit perfunctory. A few tiny niggles in that some of the local names are given wrongly and then correctly. But Simmy's relationships with Christopher, Ben and Bonnie seem to have matured. I like the subtle insights into marriage,
such as having a husband who finds it hard to support her when she's having a hard time. Very realistic... I also agree about dogs (I'm a cat lover!).

[Ellen Goggin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst a very cool concept writing the book all true to real life locations in the Lake District, sometimes it was all too on the nose. There was a gentle pace of revealing parts of the mystery but the writing heavily relied on the main character Simmy retelling all the events of her day over and over to each of the characters she interacts with and complaining about the logistics with her baby and dog.

Reading this book without context of the other books in this series also led to great confusion without any fleshing out of backstories.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading the other reviews, it’s clear that is a much admired and well-loved series. Just goes to show that there is a healthy variety of tastes. It certainly wasn’t for me, it read like a grown-up Famous Five or Secret Seven novel where a bunch of chums solve a mystery together with a helpful policeman. I found it slow and repetitive. But that’s just me. It’s good that so many enjoy the series.

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit rubbish.

I've not read anything else by the author - and this wasn't good enough to make me want to. Lots of thin exposition, little to no characterisation or sense of anything other than: This happened, then this happened, then this happened.

Looking at the list of other things she's published, good for her - clearly churning them out and hopefully making a good enough living at it. I won't be wasting any more of my time on them though.

[Cathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most happy written stories I've read for a while. The main character spends the whole book whinging about her dog and looking after her friends who have a broken arm and just found long lost family. Meant to about solving a murder but it's all speculation and no evidence. They solve it in the last 3 pages based on nothing. Not sure who this book would appeal to.

[Jan Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read. Simmy Brown-now-Henderson is embroiled in another murder in the wonderful setting of Cumbria. Her detective friend plus Bonnie, Ben and assorted family members all rally round when she is accused of murder. Between them they find the real culprit.

[Tracy Masters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca seems to be getting better ...

Rebecca Trope seems to be improving with each recent book in the series - entertaining characters .
They do seem to reach a sudden conclusion when her word count is reached.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was interested to read this as we had recently been through Askham and Lowther. Rather disappointed in the story, it seemed muddled and the characters were stringing together theories on wild suppositions. Still finding Christopher a drip..... prefered it when Simmy was single.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book rather hard to get into, and then harder to follow. I love a good mystery, so had high hopes for this one. Reading through it, I really didn’t get any sense of who could possibly have perpetrated the crime, and when the big reveal finally came - I was left just as puzzled.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The start of the book felt quite hard going, although it probably doesn’t help that I haven’t read any of the other books in the series. However, once it got going, I was eager to find out who the murderer was.

[Vicky Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting to get a bit boring now. Too much talk of the logistics of caring for a baby and a dog, and navigating the lake district roads.

[Jan Madden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice easy summer read

[Tandy Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

A guilty pleasure and a perfect autumn evening reading! Yes formulaic but great comfort reading with both familiar characters and setting.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really happened… too many uninteresting characters and the plot moved too slowly!

[Rowena Onions · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another murder for Simy and crew! Still, it is fiction..l and very enjoyable. I listened to this but may well read it sometime in the future.

[Stephen Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but maybe the series is becoming quite forced.