The latest edition in the Cotswolds series is an easy page turning read. This time, Thea's fiance Drew Slocombe has obtained her a job that is a change from her usual house-sitting: she is to sift through the belongings of an elderly lady who has arranged her funeral with his green funeral service, and produce an inventory. The trouble is, it's not long before Thea discovers that the elderly lady, now in a residential home, doesn't know her son has engaged her to do this. The son tells her he feels guilty and Thea starts to feel bad about it also. Then the son goes missing ...

I did wonder if this would be the last in the series as Thea and Drew are planning to marry, for him and his children to move to the Cotswolds where he owns a house and burial ground willed him by a grateful client in a much earlier book, and for her to give up the house sitting. It seems she definitely is doing the latter, but there's a hint at the end that they might continue their sleuthing in a married partnership. The events in this book put their relationship under strain at times, with Thea's stubborn insistence on finding out what really happened to the old lady's son, and there is a hint that it might all go pearshaped with them breaking up, but it turns out Drew feels he hasn't supported her sufficiently at times, with the responsibilities he has at home. So it looks as if instead of the two series, Cotswolds and West Country, based around these two characters, the books may continue as one combined series. ( )