Village Secrets

Tales from Turnham Malpas #5

by Rebecca Shaw

Mysterious goings-on in the village of Turnham Malpas...The village school is to get a new head, and the inhabitants of Turnham Malpas await her arrival with curiosity. At first sight, Kate Pascoe seems ideal. She's young, pretty and obviously loves her job. But when she introduces meditation classes for her ten-year-olds, and even tree-hugging, the villagers begin to think again. Then a strange malaise afflicts the whole village: lights are seen in Sykes Wood at night; a dog long dead appears to come to life and a sudden shocking death plunges the village into a state of superstitious dread. And always at the eye of the storm is Kate Pascoe...

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, British Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Sunday Times bestselling author Rebecca Shaw is known for her heartwarming tales of country life.
Rebecca grew up in Yorkshire and attended a Quaker boarding school before becoming a teacher of deaf children.
She wrote 28 novels. Her biggest series of 19 books set in a fictional English village called TURNHAM MALPAS chart the lives and loves of the village inhabitants.
A further six novels tell the stories of the vets, veterinary nurses and animals at a veterinary practice in the fictional English market town of BARLEYBRIDGE.
She also wrote three standalone novels.
Rebecca lived with her husband in a beautiful Dorset village where she found plenty of inspiration for her contemporary stories about rural life. Rebecca sadly passed away in 2015, but her stories continue to be enjoyed by readers across the globe.
Rebecca has been translated and sold in Denmark, Germany, Hungary and Norway. She is also published in the US.

Reviews

[Tracy Larner-Brown]

A bit of black magic, witchcraft and darkness added to this Turnham Malpas episode. Still enjoying these tales of village life.

[Norma]

I'm really enjoying this series of books. Living on an island I can relate to these descriptions of village life. People being nosey, wanting to know your business etc. I would recommend these books to anyone who fanices a light read as I seem to plough through them very quickly.

[Ruci Tukana]

Rebecca Shaw is a writer to be reckoned with. She says it as it is and her use of words blends well with her incidents.

Cat and Kate Pascoe are an apt backdrop for her storyline and the suspense is another level!

Too good!

[June]

In Village Secrets the quiet, countryside lifestyle is shaken up big style by the arrival of Kate Pascoe, the new Headteacher of Turnham Malpas School - as well as her moggie, unimaginatively given the name of "Cat". Aloof and independent, Kate and her "different" teaching methods and subjects, are not well received; especially when it came to teaching the school children meditation and tree-hugging. Not only that, but Kate is not all she seems; and neither are some of the other villagers. Spooky things start happening around the village - there is a strange re-incarnation of a close friend, an unexplained death, strange goings-on in the woods, amongst other things - all of which come to a dramatic end.

Meanwhile Craddock Fitch is being a little too overbearing as far as the village cricket team goes.....

There is a darker element to this story in comparison to previous books in this series, but yet it was very enjoyable and addictive. Another five star review for another five star book. Love this series!

[Sue]

This is fifth in the Turnham Malpas series and is rather more dramatic than the previous ones. Much of the plot concerns Kate (Ms Pascoe), the new tree-hugging vegan New Age headmistress of the village school. Clearly she's up to no good, but village life goes on amongst the increasingly large cast.

The conversations and character development were no better than in previous novels, and I was a bit disappointed with the caricature and melodrama that surrounds Kate and her new friends. A lot of assumptions are made about New Age people, and when Peter - the Rector - stands up for Christianity, his faith is very watered down. Not that I like fiction with evangelistic fervour and verbatim repentance prayers, but this goes rather in the opposite direction with too little said.

Moreover, people seem to change without much warming. While that might reflect real life, it doesn't really work in a novel.

Still, I found this quite gripping in places and could hardly put it down.

[Kate]

"The village school is to get a new Head and the inhabitants of Turnham Malpas await her arrival with avid curiosity. AT first sight Kate Pascoe seems ideal -- young, pretty, and she obviously loves her job -- but before long the villagers are beginning to think differently.

Mysterious lights are seen in Sykes Wood at night, a dog long dead comes to life, and a sudden shocking death plunges the village into a state of superstitious dread. And always at the heart of the storm is Kate Pascoe.

As May Day approaches, with its traditional celebrations, the rector Peter Harris makes it his job to discover the truth about the strange happenings in the village.
~~back cover

And Muriel -- Lady Templeton persuades Craddock Firth to give up his insistence of being president of the cricket club.

[Julie]

A decidedly darker tone to this volume of the Turnham Malpas Novels. It was a quick read and I really enjoyed reading this and the preceding volume back to back.
The village is unsettled following a spate of unusual and tragic events. Is Witchcraft really responsible or is there a more logical explanation? We get more insight into the regular characters as well as seeing some new ones arrive.

[Julie Dunnett]

An easy read filled with known characters. This story is focussed about a far fetched tale of witchcraft. As always in Turnham Malpas all ends well for our core characters and those who were acting out of character come to their senses. But this only comes after the shock of a death!

[Christina]

Great funny read

[Kim]

This one was a little too dark, I thought. Also, Peter wasn't himself - very dictatorial.

[Mikki]

A light, cozy mystery in a small village town in England

[Jean Walton]

Not such a cosy mystery IMHO. With a teacher at the local school apparently involved in black magic I found it quite creepy.

[Michael Morrison]

It was a strange story in some ways, but there were lots of interesting people.
Now I want to see the previous four entries.

[Carolyn Neal]

I enjoyed the book, but found the witchcraft scenes rather disturbing. Certainly not the usual relaxing read before bedtime!

[Madge]

I am starting to find Caroline most annoying, meting out punishments and being unforgiving, when she can't see past her own nose.

[Alice Leak]

This is the 5th book I have read in the series. For me it was not as enjoyable as the others but I would give it 3.5 stars

[Winnie]

do not know how to feel about it

[stephanie clark]

Turnham Malpas Series

Beautiful relaxing village life as it should be it makes you want to live there and the characters are amazing

[H F]

I cannot offer an opinion because if Amazon do not agree with it they may censure me without explanation / justification.

[Kathy]

While I definitely enjoyed this book, I found the subject matter a little odd for the tiny village of Turnham Malpas. New school head, Kate Pacoe, gets involved in some mysterious and dangerous happenings. After tragedy befalls humans and animals alike, the rector and villagers step in to stop matters. At least the ends meet satisfaction, and lead on to the next installment.

[Debra]

Normally Rebecca Shaw's books are feel good reading for me. I enjoy her gentle portraits of life in small town England.

This one had a mean spiritedness directed toward non-Anglicans that bothered me and distracted from my expected enjoyment.

[Zeta T.]

I was hoping for something like Miss Read's Fairacre, and at first it seemed a bit like it but then it turned into a crappy "mystery" story with violence and B.S. about "witchcraft". Very disappointing.

[Jen]

Books like this are almost as comforting as tea and toast, and that's not just because of the Milly-Molly-Mandy-esque village map at the start of the book. If you're looking for a calm, soothing read, look no further!

[Curlyhair]

Not a bad read.

[David]

I liked this book, I loved newcomer Kate Pascoe and her wee story she brought to the village. There is laughter, tragedy and a shock death in this latest novel someone I grew to like :(...

[Marie Bouteille]

A nice read with enough suspense to make you want to know the end.

[Jemma]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12274717

[Sarah]

Things are looking up in this series... the rustic soap is becoming cosy mystery again: 2 deaths and something decidedly evil going on in the woods at night! Much more enjoyable than the last one.

[Donna Boultwood]

Another lovely story about the villagers of Turnham Malpas. Quite a sinister storyline in this one. Great characters. As usual all turns out right in the end!

[Martha]

I like this series of books, enjoyable, well written, I always feel like I'm walking through the streets of the village when I read them.