Third in the series about Thea Osborne and her house sitting misadventures in the Cotswolds. This one departs from the norm in being told from the first person POV of Ariadne, a childhood friend of Thea's boyfriend, Phil Hollis, Detective Superintendent. Phil and Thea are staying at the house which previously belonged to Phil's aunt Helen, who died a year ago, as Phil has decided to combine a holiday for the two of them with the process of finally clearing out his aunt's house. The house is across the road from Ariadne's, and Ariadne had been a frequent visitor, giving Helen a lot of help in her declining years.

The electricity has been cut off, so they are coping, rather unromantically given the October cold, with candles and a camping stove. In the hope that there might be an oil lamp stored in the attic, they request Ariadne's help in finding the access up there. When they enter the attic, they discover that someone has been conducting Masonic rituals there. Before long, a body is discovered and I shall say no more about the plot to avoid spoilers.

I liked this story because the viewpoint character is quite ascerbic and blunt. She is a Pagan, a knitter, and someone who lives a basic lifestyle for the most part although she does have a car - she has no TV, keeps pigs and salts her own bacon, spins her own wool and grows a lot of vegetables etc. It is interesting to see her 'take' on Thea and the relationship with Hollis especially as Ariadne had a teenage crush on him years before, but has matured in her mid-thirties and doesn't have that kind of feeling for him anymore although she is still fond of him. As I've read this series out of order, it is interesting to see some of Ariadne's thoughts on the future of the Thea-Phil relationship, as these are rather accurate in view of later events.

The same character does turn up in a later book in a minor role, though I can't remember which one now, and in that she was rather nasty and hostile to Thea, oddly so, given that she likes her in this story. There are the usual misadventures, although this time they are often initiated by Ariadne rather than Thea, and the ending, although unexpected, reminded me rather of 'Midsomer Murders'. The only thing that holds it back from a 5 star is that a number of minor plot developments were left hanging at the end. ( )

One of the things I enjoy about this series is "visiting" all these lovely little villages in the Cotswolds in England. The villages actually exist; the author has just taken artistic license with the people, the houses and the businesses. Despite the necessary changes, the reader is able to learn about the area, and the setting adds a great deal of flavor to each book. (In Death in the Cotswolds, I learned more about sheep, about spinning and dyeing wool, and about the care and feeding of a pig, among other things.)

Tope tries something a little different in this third book in the series. The story is told from the point of view of Ariadne, not Thea. This is tricky-- and it doesn't always work-- but Ariadne is so eccentric, so prickly, that I found her side of things fascinating. She tells us about herself, from childhood to the present, and she certainly isn't shy about voicing her opinions. In addition, the author's turning Ariadne into the storyteller means that we get to see Thea Osborne from a completely different perspective-- and one that isn't always flattering. As the two women find themselves spending more and more time together, it's interesting to see how Ariadne's opinion of Thea changes. Moreover, all the time these two women are searching for a killer, Ariadne also begins learning some home truths about herself. She's a complex and ultimately sympathetic character that I hope to see in future books.

Speaking of complex, the plot itself certainly fills that bill. Tope plants clues all along the way, and I don't know if I was enjoying Ariadne and her interactions with Thea too much or what because I saw the clues and refused to admit where they were leading. That'll teach me! Hopefully I'll remember this lesson learned when I pick up the next book in the series! ( )

Found it a rather odd book hard to get into. Lots of characters to remember, none memorable . ( )

Third in the series of Thea's house-sitting mysteries set in the Cotswolds. This is slightly different to the previous two in that the story is told completely from a third party, Adriane, whom Thea only intermittently interacts with.

Thea is on holiday with her new boyfriend the DI Phil Hollis. They are both 'camping' in Phil's Aunt's house. The Aunt Helen has recently died and Phil and Thea are taking this as their first holiday together to go through Helen's possessions. Adriane has known Phil for many years, used to look after Helen, and lives across the road. The first day or two proceed normally with Adriane being involved in various dealings with her friends and acquaintances, until she finds the body of one of her friends. Phil and hence Thea are the first people she turns to.

As beguiling as the previous to. Adriane is a great character and well written. She knows the old homestead crafts well, and the author has obviously done much research. Thea's voice is still there in the background but sufficiently distinct from Adriane's to work well. The mystery itself isn't too confusing, the list of suspects fairly short - all involved in the Freemasons. A lot more could have been made of the DI's prior involvement with them, but perhaps it is a better story for not going down the obvious route.

Enjoyable cosy crime mystery. Well worth reading set in a delightful part of england. ( )

In Death in the Cotswolds, the third in the series by Rebecca Tope, we meet Ariadne, a mid-30s woman living mostly off the grid in the Cotswolds - she uses electricity and drives a car, but she also grows all her own food (including keeping pigs), supports herself by spinning and knitting and teaching same, and enjoys her position within a small group of pagans, with whom she emphasizes the connection of humans to the earth. When not one, but two of her pagan circle are found ritually murdered, she worries that her old friend and current police superintendent, Phil Hollis, might suspect her. He has come to her small village to clear out the house of his late aunt, and he has brought with him his new girlfriend, Thea Osborne, in hopes of having a quiet time in which to get to know each other better, but the sudden shocking murders have put an end to that plan. Ariadne feels drawn to investigate the case on her own, and she begins to learn how very little she really knew about her friends and their real lives.... This is the first book in the series told in first person and by a character other than Thea; the first two were third-person stories focusing on Thea in particular. I actually found it to be more interesting and entertaining than the second book, A Cotswold Ordeal, and I'm curious to see if Rebecca Tope keeps up this format or returns to the Thea-centric mode. Also, Ariadne is a very unreliable narrator, which I always find to be an interesting tack for an author to take because the reader is then left with a sense of uncertainty about what is actually going on. I enjoyed this one, and would recommend it - and because of the change of narration style, I don't think one needs to have read the earlier two novels (although they might add a bit of depth to the characters of Thea and Phil)! ( )