Deception in the Cotswolds: Thea Osborne Series, Book 9 (The Cotswold Mysteries) [Kindle Edition]

Residing in the grandeur of Hollywell Manor in the village of Cranham is home for house-sitter Thea Osborne and her spanial Hepzibah for the next two weeks. Her tasks are not arduous, all the owner, Harriet Young, asks is that Thea keep a watchful on her geckoes, housed in the cellar. Oh! and to welcome seventy-year-old Donny Davis who lives in the former lodge for a daily cup of coffee and a chat. For once June looks to be dry and sunny, and Thea is all set for an enjoyable time.

When next day Donny walks up from the lodge for his coffee, she is delighted to find that he is an interesting man, clearly not well, but a good conversationalist and Thea, as she readily admits, is a nosy parker. Donny tells her that he is looked after by his daughter Jemima, who comes in daily. He has a lady friend Edwina Satterthwaite, but she is away visiting relatives at the moment. Donny's wife Janet, she learns is in a nursing home, visited only, she later learns, by his late daughter Cecilia's husband Toby, which she finds a little strange.

But as in all classic English villages unexpected death lurks, and Cranham is no exception. Unfortunately, Thea's reputation for being involved in murderous incidents has spread, and soon she in drawn into the darker side of Cranham.

The strength of this book lies in the fascinating characters, and the wonderful descriptions of the Cotswold countryside as Thea takes Hepzie for her daily walks. As in 'A Grave in the Cotswolds', Undertaker Drew Slocombe makes an appearance, as he is still pursuing a possible burial ground in Broad Camden, but as he tells Thea, his partner Maggs is against it, and his wife Karen cannot handle any major decisions since her injury which has so changed her personality.

This is an interesting book dealing with the pros and cons of a topical dilemma, and whilst the mystery is resolved, the ending leaves this reader hungry for the next instalment in this acclaimed series.
-----
Lizzie Hayes

I have read all the books in this series and this one by far is the most
disappointing.The plot such as it is seems to take a back seat to Thea
blundering about being rude and aggresive to almost everyone she meets.
The series seems to have lost focus especially since Thea's lover D.S.
Phil Hollis has been written out,the possible future relationship being
mooted with Drew Slocombe is rather distasteful considering his family
circumstances.It also doesn't seem in character for Thea to want to get
into this kind of affair given that she spends most of this book passing
judgement on the moral frailties of all the people she comes into contact
with.The plot is thin,more to do with assisted suicide than murder and
the denouement is both banal and rushed.It is just not up to the standard
of the earlier books it seems that the author has just run out of steam
with this protagonist.

This is the first of this series of books that I have read. I'm afraid that I did not like the lead character, Thea, at all. I could not find anything engaging about her, apart from the fact that she seems to like animals. She is rude and crass blundering over the feelings of the other characters in the book. She is also amazingly thick skinned - she does not come across as at all likeable. Regardless of the story - if you can't find anything good about the lead character then the rest of the book also tends to lack appeal. Having said this I will probably read another in the series to see if I still feel the same but I won't be champing at the bit to do so!