Helpful Score: 4
#1 Thea Osborne mystery, set in (duh!) the Cotswolds. Thea is a forty-something year-old recently widowed house sitter--a brand new house sitter on her first job minding the home of Clive and Jennifer Reynolds while they are on a Caribbean holiday. On the first full day of her occupation, she discovers a dead body in the pond on the Reynolds' property, which considerably livens up what promised to be a rather dull three weeks following Clive's extensive "do this and that" lists.
Thea's brother-in-law is a Chief Inspector in another area but has apparently been "looking into" some sort of fishy business in that area and although he won't elaborate, Thea wonders if this death has something to do with James's investigation. There is an odd cast of villagers, and definitely something 'weird' about many of them, and with Thea not knowing them or the history of the interactions there, it's all that much more difficult to know what's going on.
I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed with this book; it was disjointed and not really cohesive. I couldn't get a good sense of who Thea was as a person, and her actions were often very contradictory from one minute to the next. It wasn't really bad, just sort of... "meh" I guess. This series of books has been hard to come by--I've had the second and third books on my wishlist at PBS for about a year and a half and had only moved up one spot on one of the books. My library doesn't have them either, so being that I was not bowled over with excellence in this opening entry, I think I will delete them from my WL and relegate this series to one of those I'm choosing not to pursue.
Thea's brother-in-law is a Chief Inspector in another area but has apparently been "looking into" some sort of fishy business in that area and although he won't elaborate, Thea wonders if this death has something to do with James's investigation. There is an odd cast of villagers, and definitely something 'weird' about many of them, and with Thea not knowing them or the history of the interactions there, it's all that much more difficult to know what's going on.
I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed with this book; it was disjointed and not really cohesive. I couldn't get a good sense of who Thea was as a person, and her actions were often very contradictory from one minute to the next. It wasn't really bad, just sort of... "meh" I guess. This series of books has been hard to come by--I've had the second and third books on my wishlist at PBS for about a year and a half and had only moved up one spot on one of the books. My library doesn't have them either, so being that I was not bowled over with excellence in this opening entry, I think I will delete them from my WL and relegate this series to one of those I'm choosing not to pursue.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
Helpful Score: 3
First Line: The pain in Thea's finger was intermittent, but sharp.
Recently widowed Thea Osborne has decided to house-sit, and Brook View Farm outside the picture perfect village of Duntisbourne Abbots in the Cotswolds looks ideal. Thea's only worry is that spending three weeks there with the owner's persnickety pages of instructions and three dogs might prove a bit dull.
Her first night's sleep is interrupted by a piercing scream, but since it wasn't close to the house, no one's dogs seemed bothered by it, and it wasn't followed by anything else suspicious, Thea did nothing. Nothing, that is, until she discovers the body of a neighboring farmer at the bottom of one of Brook View's fields. As the investigation unfolds, Thea finds herself talking to neighbors and uncovering bits and pieces of enough secrets and tragedy that she forgets all about her worry of being bored.
I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. That makes it sound as though I expected to dislike it, which isn't true. The setting became very real for me with two sentences:
"Every roadway leading to the village centre was steep and twisting, with no clear vistas. Most of the houses escaped being overlooked by any of the others, producing a sense of solitude and secrecy that felt strange in the middle of a village."
If you're anything like me, that description is just the tiniest bit creepy. Who knows what goings-on and secrets can be found in a place with no clear line of sight and with none of the houses being overlooked? (I have to admit that the above description reminded me a bit of a drive through the Yorkshire Dales on one-lane roads, steep hills, and blind corners. What began as a white knuckle ride for me became enchanting due to one simple fact: in that part of England some of the politest drivers in the world are to be found.)
Besides the setting, I found that I really liked the main character, which is amazing because I'm normally very suspicious of anyone who's described as being beautiful. Yes, Thea is beautiful, but she's not obnoxious about it. She's not obsessed with clothing, shoes, makeup or hair styles. She occasionally uses her looks as a tool, having learned years ago that "it was amazing what a smile could do, accompanied by an open and innocent demeanour."
Thea's not obsessed by her appearance, she's not nervous about being alone in a strange place, and she shares what she knows with the police. As she gets to know various villagers, some are very forthcoming-- she won't be around for long, so it won't hurt to talk to her-- and some look at her with distrust. They've heard about Miss Marple, you see.
As I was enjoying my leisurely read in the Cotswolds, getting to know the village and its inhabitants, I actually found the answer to the mystery to be a total surprise because I'd forgotten all about searching for clues. I'm looking forward to reading other books in this series, although I do have one concern: if Thea stumbles into each mystery by house-sitting, won't she soon garner a reputation as The House Sitter of Doom? I think I'll enjoy finding out!
Recently widowed Thea Osborne has decided to house-sit, and Brook View Farm outside the picture perfect village of Duntisbourne Abbots in the Cotswolds looks ideal. Thea's only worry is that spending three weeks there with the owner's persnickety pages of instructions and three dogs might prove a bit dull.
Her first night's sleep is interrupted by a piercing scream, but since it wasn't close to the house, no one's dogs seemed bothered by it, and it wasn't followed by anything else suspicious, Thea did nothing. Nothing, that is, until she discovers the body of a neighboring farmer at the bottom of one of Brook View's fields. As the investigation unfolds, Thea finds herself talking to neighbors and uncovering bits and pieces of enough secrets and tragedy that she forgets all about her worry of being bored.
I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. That makes it sound as though I expected to dislike it, which isn't true. The setting became very real for me with two sentences:
"Every roadway leading to the village centre was steep and twisting, with no clear vistas. Most of the houses escaped being overlooked by any of the others, producing a sense of solitude and secrecy that felt strange in the middle of a village."
If you're anything like me, that description is just the tiniest bit creepy. Who knows what goings-on and secrets can be found in a place with no clear line of sight and with none of the houses being overlooked? (I have to admit that the above description reminded me a bit of a drive through the Yorkshire Dales on one-lane roads, steep hills, and blind corners. What began as a white knuckle ride for me became enchanting due to one simple fact: in that part of England some of the politest drivers in the world are to be found.)
Besides the setting, I found that I really liked the main character, which is amazing because I'm normally very suspicious of anyone who's described as being beautiful. Yes, Thea is beautiful, but she's not obnoxious about it. She's not obsessed with clothing, shoes, makeup or hair styles. She occasionally uses her looks as a tool, having learned years ago that "it was amazing what a smile could do, accompanied by an open and innocent demeanour."
Thea's not obsessed by her appearance, she's not nervous about being alone in a strange place, and she shares what she knows with the police. As she gets to know various villagers, some are very forthcoming-- she won't be around for long, so it won't hurt to talk to her-- and some look at her with distrust. They've heard about Miss Marple, you see.
As I was enjoying my leisurely read in the Cotswolds, getting to know the village and its inhabitants, I actually found the answer to the mystery to be a total surprise because I'd forgotten all about searching for clues. I'm looking forward to reading other books in this series, although I do have one concern: if Thea stumbles into each mystery by house-sitting, won't she soon garner a reputation as The House Sitter of Doom? I think I'll enjoy finding out!
I have recently started reading Britsh mysteries and found this book in the "cozy" mysteries. The title Cotswold caught my attention because I love the Cotswolds! I didn't like the book though. It was just a bunch of little things that bothered me that all added up and I just didn't enjoy it, though I did finish it. The main character has lost her husband in a car wreck and copes with it by sticking her finger with a needle. That's one thing I just couldn't relate to though I know people cope with death in all different ways. Also, there's a character in there that not many people like and they say that someone should have smothered him when he was born. That just didn't sit with me well at all. The author is good at describing the surroundings but the character development was just a little off for me. I still would tell people to give it a try and form their own opinion.
Kimberly N. (kimberlyrav) -
Helpful Score: 1
I am completely of sound mind and totally, genuinely honest when I say this.. This book is the best Mystery/cozy/Brit book IVE EVER read! I LOVED this book with a passion. I hated for the end to come. I wanted the story to go on and on. So I am glad there are more books after this one.
Our main character Thea who is recently widowed, is in her 40s, very intelligent, stands up for herself when its time(mentally), not quick to judge, has a very level head on her shoulders, loves dogs(has a Cocker Spaniel) and was instantly loved by me.
Thea is on her first job as House sitter. She is asked to stay in the home for 3 weeks, while the owners are out on holiday. Her first night there in the home while sleeping, she hears a scream and that scream will haunt her as well as the police throughout the story. Who, What, Why, How, Where ect..
This is book one in the Cotswold series and I look so forward to the rest.
The author, Rebecca Tope, ghost wrote 3 episodes in the Rosemary and Thime mini series over in Britain. That show was SUPERB. Lasted for three seasons. Just FYI, in case you end up loving the author as much as I do now.
Our main character Thea who is recently widowed, is in her 40s, very intelligent, stands up for herself when its time(mentally), not quick to judge, has a very level head on her shoulders, loves dogs(has a Cocker Spaniel) and was instantly loved by me.
Thea is on her first job as House sitter. She is asked to stay in the home for 3 weeks, while the owners are out on holiday. Her first night there in the home while sleeping, she hears a scream and that scream will haunt her as well as the police throughout the story. Who, What, Why, How, Where ect..
This is book one in the Cotswold series and I look so forward to the rest.
The author, Rebecca Tope, ghost wrote 3 episodes in the Rosemary and Thime mini series over in Britain. That show was SUPERB. Lasted for three seasons. Just FYI, in case you end up loving the author as much as I do now.
I liked the premise of this book - being a housesitter gives an amateur sleuth lot of leeway for finding dead bodies. I also liked how Thea felt she had to become involved after hearing the scream in the night but not going to investigate. I thought the idea that she'd been sort of planted there by her brother-in-law was interesting, and her relationship with him was odd enough to also be interesting. I liked Thea herself at first, but as the book went on I soured on her a little. It was the housesitting that did it - she doesn't do hardly anything the owners ask - she looks at the mess the house is becoming and vaguely thinks she'll do it before they come home. At one point the dogs don't even have water. There's a lot of atmospheric narrative that slowed it down for me, and I also felt that Thea's figuring out the motive was too rushed. If there were only a few of these, I wouldn't go on, but there are 15 so it seems they're pretty successful. I'll probably pick up #2 and see if I like it.
