Rebecca Tope

It’s Christmas, and things are looking good at the Slocombe house. Thea’s daughter Jessica has come to stay, much to her stepdaughter Stephanie’s delight. But then things take a turn for the worse. A local family, the Frowses, find themselves...

When the body of a herdsman is discovered in a farm building, Detective Sergeant Den Cooper is more than happy to cast local farmer Gordon Hillcock in the role of chief suspect. After all, it is a well-known fact that there was no love lost between...

When irascible farmer Guy Beardon meets a very dirty death in his own farmyard, it seems like an accident initially – despite the fact that he was widely disliked. Only his daughter Lilah is prepared to defend his memory. And when, slowly, Lilah...

Thea 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. Before Thea can...

Karen Slocombe isn’t sure why she visited SuperFare that day – as a committed member of the Food Chain group and a regular stallholder at local farmers’ markets, it’s a place she would normally avoid. Luckily for Karen, she leaves moments before a...

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...

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...

Fifty-five-year-old Jim Lapsford makes an unusually healthy-looking corpse. Having spent his life taking vitamin pills and herbal remedies, it seems almost ironic that he has succumbed to a heart attack. But ex-nurse and trainee undertaker Drew...

Nina Cattermole had an unusual death: headbutted by a horse as she protested against the local hunt. The official verdict is that it was a freak accident. But for the Cattermoles it is merely the start of their troubles. On the day of the funeral a...

Thea Osborne agrees to do a second spell of house-sitting for Lucy Sinclair, in her new home in Northleach. Lucy is scheduled for an operation on her back in Oxford and needs Thea to look after things for a few days. Thea is glad of the change of...

With Peaceful Repose Cemetery, Drew Slocombe is determined to revolutionise the entire death industry. Unfortunately, Drew’s gravedigger has just discovered that their cemetery has one too many corpses when the body of an elderly woman is found. The...

Thea Osborne's latest house-sitting assignment is a little different to the rest. Along with her spaniel, Hepzie, Thea finds herself in the village of Chedworth. She is tasked with creating an inventory of Rita Wilshire's possessions, requested by her...

Thea Slocombe, nee Osborne, is trying to settle into normal, domestic life with Drew and his two children in Broad Campden. But in the course of an attempt to make friends locally, she finds the body of a close neighbour and suddenly feels much less...

Thea Osborne, Cotswold house-sitter with an infamous reputation for getting mixed up in crime, is determined to avoid trouble this time. Her latest commission in the village of Daglingworth seems straightforward, with most of her time spent looking...

Thea is tired of having to entertain Drew's children during the summer holidays 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...

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...

Two days before an auction of the contents of High Gates House in Borrowdale, Christopher Henderson bumps into Jennifer Reade, the heir to the entire estate, and the expected recipient of the proceeds of the house clearance sale. She discovers a dead...

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. Simmy must cope with the loss of an important figure from her childhood, as well as the confusion...

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, Persimmon “Simmy” Brown's flower shop near Lake Windermere receives a string of anonymous delivery orders. But each one causes their recipient great distress, and Simmy suspects that the messages they contain...

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,...

Summer has come to Windermere, where Persimmon “Simmy” Brown runs her own florist shop. But the shop is 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...

Simmy Brown had hoped that her autumn would be less frantic than usual to give her a chance to enjoy her pregnancy, her upcoming nuptials, and some time looking for a new house in the Patterdale area of the Lake District. But it is not to be… When one...

Simmy Brown has a lot on her mind. Not just keeping her florist business afloat, her father’s failing health, the challenge of developing a long-term relationship with Christopher, but also the approach of Mother’s Day, a busy and painful day for her....

It’s with mixed motives that Karen Slocombe’s cousin Penn pays her a visit. Not only does Penn want to renew contact with a relative, but she is also looking for help with the disappearance of Justine, another cousin. Drew Slocombe’s reputation for...