A Cotswold Mystery (The Cotswold Mysteries Book 4)

Cotswold Mystery Series

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Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. After three catastrophic housesitting commissions, filled with murder and intrigue, the Montgomery house in Blockley seems like a welcome break for fearless Thea and her trusty spaniel Hephzibah. The opportunity to explore the lost Cotswold villages, with only the minor hindrance of checking up on the client's mother, in the adjoining house, promises to be the perfect get After three catastrophic housesitting commissions, filled with murder and intrigue, the Montgomery house in Blockley seems like a welcome break for fearless Thea and her trusty spaniel Hephzibah.

The opportunity to explore the lost Cotswold villages, with only the minor hindrance of checking up on the client's mother, in the adjoining house, promises to be the perfect get away. But Granny Gladys Gardener, with her conveniently erratic memory and series of ailments that disappear as quickly as they arrive, is a force to be reckoned and is soon arousing Thea's suspicion.

After all, why do the Montgomery's lock her connecting door to the house?

And why do they set an alarm that goes off every time Granny goes out? Thea's concerns, however, soon turn to something more sinister when the arrival of her daughter, trainee policewoman Jessica, prompts the discovery of a body. Slowly the secrets of Blockley begin to unravel themselves to the Osborne women, but nothing in the village is quite what it seems.

Up against the clock to try and solve another murder, with the added complications of her elderly charge, her daughter's career troubles and her deepening relationship with DI Phil Hollis, Thea is beginning to feel well and truly lost in the Cotswolds. Hardcover , pages.

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To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about A Cotswold Mystery , please sign up. Lists with This Book. Apr 09, JulieLaLa rated it did not like it. The setting, the premise, it all sounded promising, but Too much time spent on the main character's conflicts feeling old - she's 42! And not just once in the book, but multiple pages devoted to this tripe and not to the murder "mystery". The suspects hardly enter the story, there is no cloak and dagger, no danger to anyone except the dead guy!

When the mystery is finally wrapped up, it's all a big The setting, the premise, it all sounded promising, but When the mystery is finally wrapped up, it's all a big let down. I'm not sure why I even finished reading this book. The main character, Thea, has to be THE most annoying character I've ever come across in any of the mysteries I've read, and I've read a lot of them. I suppose it was because I kept it in my locker and read it while on dinner break - didn't even bother to take it home to finish it.

Thea is 44 years old but acts like a peevish old woman. Her job is supposed to be keeping an eye on an old woman and house sitting. She keeps forgetting to set alarm I'm not sure why I even finished reading this book. She keeps forgetting to set alarms, lock doors, check on the old woman, etc. How can anyone be this unreliable? She constantly butts heads with her daughter, who acts much more mature than she does. This was my first story by Tope, and it will probably be my last. I was highly unimpressed. Even the ending was a let down somehow. If you like non-violent boring mysteries, this should be on your list.

A Cotswold Mystery is the fourth in Rebecca Tope's series of novels set in Cotswold villages, and to my mind thus far the weakest. Our heroine, year-old house-sitter Thea, is once again staying at the home of a couple while they go off to India; in this instance, the house has an attached cottage in which Gladys, the mother of one of the couple, lives. Gladys is 92 and getting forgetful and perhaps a bit demented - unless that's just an act, of course.

Cotswold Mysteries

Thea is wondering about her relationship A Cotswold Mystery is the fourth in Rebecca Tope's series of novels set in Cotswold villages, and to my mind thus far the weakest. Thea is wondering about her relationship with Chief Superintendent Phil Hollis, which has been going on for 8 months now but which is still not very well defined. She has her daughter, Jessica, come to stay with her during part of her assignment, and Jessica has her own troubles, including an incident during her police probationary training for which she expects at the very least a severe reprimand.

When Jessica finds the murdered body of next-door neighbour Julian Jolly, there seems to be little interest on the part of the villagers or the police in bringing the culprit to light, not least because everyone is pretty sure that Gladys did it and besides, nobody liked the old curmudgeon anyway. That leaves it up to Thea and Jessica to work it out on their own, while trying to resolve their own troubles and keep an eye on the old lady Once again the author does a good job of bringing the beautiful settings to life in this novel, and some of the characters are quite interesting, in particular Gladys.

But the portrayal of the other villagers seems quite one-dimensional, and I was extremely disappointed in the revelation of the murderer, a character who doesn't even show up until the final pages of the book. I'll continue reading the series at any rate, I already own two more of the books , but this one did little to further my liking for it.

Mar 08, Kimberly rated it really liked it Shelves: This is Book 4 in the Thea Osbourne mystery set. This series is written by my favorite author, Rebecca Tope and again she doesn't disappoint. I enjoyed the characters, the setting I love when the author takes us to real places in England and different towns in each book , the humor, the ups-and-downs, the "whodunit", all of it together had a great flavor. Thea seemed a bit grouchy, absent minded, not herself in this one. She wasn't even as protective of her dog "Hepzie". It seemed everything got This is Book 4 in the Thea Osbourne mystery set.

It seemed everything got on to Thea's nerves, which surprised me in not so good of a way. It ended quicker than I expected though this is a longer book. I expected to hear more about Thea finally sitting down with her boyfriend, who in this book hardly appears. I expected Thea to be a bit more Sherlock Holmes-ish but unexpectedly her daughter becomes the intelligent, mastermind figure-outer.

I took this book on vacation with me and surprisingly the book ended on my last day of vaca.. Ive enjoyed the previous books much more than this one, however it worked for me as the main character Thea has her daughter tagging along for the ride and in real life for me, my daughter and I were together too. There were lots of similarities between the book and my real life at that moment and it was a bit astonishing.

This is still my fav series ever! This book in the Cotswold series was just okay for me. The mystery ended up being solved with a late, out of the blue, killer. It was a bit disappointing to have worked through the entire book with the suspect in mind and have a dark horse show up.

I'll still be reading the next in the series and hoping this was just an anomaly. Feb 01, Jeannie and Louis Rigod rated it really liked it. Joining her in the lovely village of Blockley, U. Also, Thea's Dog, Hepzie is along. The first mystery is why the 'Granny' is almost locked up within her own home. Next comes along a murder of a nearby, and according to Granny, a beloved neighbor. Then is the mystery of Granny herself, is she 92 yrs old and has lost a portion of her brain strength or is she faking it? There is also an archeological dig nearby involving 'prophecies' and 'lost' towns and villagers along with local celebrities.

The location is artfully described and I do enjoy the fact of Thea seeming realistic to me.

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I look forward to the next book in the series. Jun 03, Ann rated it it was ok. I was really looking forward to reading this book but was disappointed. I don't find the main characters friendly or interesting, they were quite prickly. The whole murder mystery was not very well written and to my mind frankly a cheat!!! I won't say why as I don't want to spoil it for other readers.

I don't think I'll read any more of this series. Mar 25, Tracey rated it liked it. The ending felt a bit rushed and unimaginative. Feb 23, Ameya rated it it was ok. Fairly plodding rather than Mrs. Thea Osborne house-sits in rural England with her spaniel. By part demented and part capable, she is a force to be reckoned with. Gl Fairly plodding rather than Mrs. Gladys is kept under lock and key, with an alarm triggered off when she ventures out of the house.

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When Gladys escapes like about nine one morning, the flabbergasted Thea is sleeping on the job. Hardly makes the reader wish they could visit the Cotswolds. Finally, there is the dead body of a seventy-something man, not that Thea would ever have discovered it. She finds back gardens scary, for no reason other than that there are hedges or shrubs edging them.

Jessica is more of a sleuth than Thea could be. You plough through pages of sludge, with unlikable protagonists, an odd-ball selection of characters formed from stereotypes — a famous black rapper anyone? There is none of the psychological insight or deductive reasoning or even hawk-eyed observation the mystery reader has come to love in their murder mystery stories.

Instead, we have a squabbling mother and daughter, a doddery old woman, and a background less than desirable as a destination. Oh, and the mystery is solved, in a fairly unbelievable turn of events. Sep 06, Kb rated it liked it Shelves: This is the fourth book in the Thea Osborne series, and it's not one of the better ones so far. We do meet Thea's daughter, who is in the police just like Thea's brother-in-law, James, and Thea's love interest, Phil , but the mother-daughter relationship is fractious, as is Thea's charge on this house-sitting assignment, a senile but competent old woman who needs a responsible person close by, but does not need constant supervision.

In my opinion, middle-aged white female authors should probably This is the fourth book in the Thea Osborne series, and it's not one of the better ones so far. Icarus Binns aka "Ick" might have been a delightful person, but neither his storyline nor his manner of speech were written very effectively in this book. In fact the entire story is lacking.

Of course there is a murder, but the "whodunnit and why" aspect is less than compelling. The ending is especially disappointing, feeling rushed and leaving more questions than answers. Three stars is generous. If this were the only book in the series that I had read, I would not hesitate to give it a lower rating. Jul 30, Gail rated it it was ok. I've read the three Cotswold cozy mysteries that preceded this book, and have to say that the fourth was a letdown.

Thea house-sits in various parts of the Cotswolds for a living; this job was to look after not only a house but the surly senior whose home is adjacent. When the neighbour on the other side of Thea's temporary home is murdered, she is drawn into the drama. There was little suspense and no real climax to the narrative; rather, I was lulled to sleep by numerous dog walks in the count I've read the three Cotswold cozy mysteries that preceded this book, and have to say that the fourth was a letdown. There was little suspense and no real climax to the narrative; rather, I was lulled to sleep by numerous dog walks in the countryside and meetings with dull neighbours.

It's been 5 years since I read the first three books in this series, which I had enjoyed, but I was not so keen on this one. The Thea I remembered was not the one in this book. In this she is very grumpy and impatient, and hardly seems to take notice of her dog which has featured quite a bit in her stories, maybe because her daughter is a major character here.

I felt the ending was somewhat hurried I will probably read the next in the series, in the hope that she goes back to being the more lik It's been 5 years since I read the first three books in this series, which I had enjoyed, but I was not so keen on this one.

I felt the ending was somewhat hurried I will probably read the next in the series, in the hope that she goes back to being the more likable character she was before. Nov 20, Violet rated it liked it Shelves: Our public library has a shelf full of books by this writer but this is the first that I have read.

As my rating suggests, I liked it but it's rather "tame". I guess I'm uncomfortable with the relationship with the adult daughter I've read others where the mother is the prime mover. Deception in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. Thea Osbourne is perhaps over-optimistic about th… More. Shelve Deception in the Cotswolds. Malice in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. Thea Osborne and her canine companion Hepzie trav… More. Shelve Malice in the Cotswolds.

Shadows in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. When Thea Osborne agrees at the last minute to ho… More. Shelve Shadows in the Cotswolds. Trouble in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. Thea Osborne hopes to spend a quiet Christmas hou… More. Shelve Trouble in the Cotswolds. Revenge in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. Thea Osborne is determined to avoid trouble duri… More. Shelve Revenge in the Cotswolds. Guilt in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope.

Thea Osborne's latest house-sitting assignment is… More. Shelve Guilt in the Cotswolds. Peril in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. Thea Slocombe, nee Osborne, is trying to settle i… More. Shelve Peril in the Cotswolds. A Cotswold Casebook by Rebecca Tope. Set in the rolling hills and villages of the Cots… More. Shelve A Cotswold Casebook. Crisis in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. Thea and Drew have been married for a year and ar… More.

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