The Bowness Bequest


Book Description

Winter has arrived in the town of Windermere, and has bought with it the death of Frances Henderson, the best friend of Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown's mother. Having known the Henderson family all of her life, Simmy must cope with the loss of an important figure from her childhood, as well as the confusion at being bequeathed something in Frances's will. When Frances's husband is violently murdered in his home, Simmy must face the fact that the family she was once so close to as a child, holds some dark and sinister secrets.







The Hawkshead Hostage


Book Description

Summer has come to the Lake District town of Windermere, where Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown runs her own florist shop. But there's no time for her to stop and smell the roses with the shop struggling for money, so a contract to provide floral displays for a hotel in Hawkshead couldn't have arrived at a better moment. However, Simmy's association with the hotel soon turns sinister when she finds a body in the lake. To make matters worse, her friend, Ben Harkness - responsible for calling and alerting her of the discovered body - is now missing and thought to be kidnapped. Caught up in both a murder and kidnapping investigation, Simmy begins chasing clues left by the missing Ben. With many suspicious characters bustling in and out of the hotel, while simultaneously trying to cope with her father's encroaching dementia, solving the puzzle seems a grueling challenge, but Simmy is compelled to uncover the truth...




Crisis in the Cotswolds


Book Description

Thea and Drew have been married for a year and are settled in the village of Broad Campden, but Thea is chafing at the domestic routines she is expected to devote herself to, missing the novelty and adventure that house-sitting used to bring. When a routine burial exposes the secrets of the deceased, Drew finds himself caught in the middle of a family feud, in which he feels he is on the wrong side, and Thea's inquisitiveness and penchant for solving crimes draws her in too. With another crisis at Drew's other business leaving him with a profound dilemma and Thea struggling against the charismatic charms of a new man, can their marriage survive this latest Cotswold drama?




Peril in the Cotswolds


Book Description

Thea Slocombe is trying to settle into normal family domestic life with Drew and his two children in Broad Campden. But any sense of cosy domesticity is shattered when Thea finds the body of a neighbour. No longer a house-sitter, Thea has no choice but to stay in the village and deal with whatever happens next, even when this risks damage to her marriage.Unconvinced that the swift conclusion made about the death by the police is the right one, Thea is compelled to follow her nature and investigate herself. But what repercussions might there be for her, Drew and those with whom they share this corner of the Cotswolds?




A Discovery in the Cotswolds


Book Description

Thea Osborne reconnects with her friend Emmy while on a visit to the church in Baunton, near Cirencester with her stepdaughter Stephanie. Emmy, now married to local farmer Nick Weaver, asks Thea to, help them find their missing niece, Ginny. But before Thea can get started, she stumbles upon the recently killed body of Alice, a woman they had briefly seen in Cirencester the day before. Stephanie concentrates on searching for Ginny via social media while Thea is diverted into helping the police with the murder investigation. It soon becomes clear that Ginny and Alice are linked in a sinister way.




The Askham Accusation


Book Description

Autumn clouds are drawing in over the village of Askham, at the edge of the picturesque Lake District, and mourners, including Simmy Henderson, are heading to the funeral of Humphrey Craig. Taking a quiet moment later to visit the grave and admire the flowers with her florist's eye, Simmy meets two women: academic Lindsay Wilson and ninety-year-old matriarch Pauline Parsons. Just twenty-four hours later, Mrs Parsons is found dead on Askham Fell, and Simmy faces questioning at Penrith police station. An accusation has been made, but if Simmy is to avoid arrest for a murder she did not commit, she will have to uncover the killer herself.




The Grasmere Grudge


Book Description

Returning from a much-needed holiday, Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown discovers that life in the Lake District is, as ever, far from relaxing. Before she can enjoy the idea of being the future Mrs Chris Henderson, her fiancé discovers the body of his friend, antique dealer Jonathan Woolley, brutally strangled in a house in Grasmere. Enlisting the help of her friends and amateur detectives Ben and Bonnie, the investigation appears to ask more questions than it answers as historical grudges against the dead man are revealed. It seems that many people had a reason for wanting him dead. But with Chris's increasingly evasive and odd behaviour, Simmy begins to wonder if he is more involved in the murder than he is saying. How can she put her trust in a man with something to hide?




Betrayal in the Cotswolds


Book Description

'As Rebecca Tope tells it, every rural idyll is blighted by underlying menace. Such is her writing skill, I'm inclined to believe her 'Daily MailA 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 with 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.




Secrets in the Cotswolds


Book Description

August, and Thea is tired of having to entertain Drew's children so she accepts a commission to watch over a house in Barnsley. On her first day there, she rescues a fugitive woman she finds hiding under some bushes. The woman's story is thin and incoherent, but Thea gives her sanctuary for the night only to find her dead the next morning. The police are impossibly busy with a big investigation into the trafficking of rare animals and Thea is effectively on her own, trying to make sense of the murder. As she digs deeper into the woman's background, she discovers a tangled web of lies, secrets and at least three very likely suspects .