Following a personal tragedy, florist Persimmon "Simmy" Brown has moved to the beautiful Lake District region to be closer to her charismatic parents. Things are going well, and Simmy is happy to lose herself in her work. But the peace she has found is shattered when, at the wedding of a millionaire's daughter, the bride's brother is found brutally murdered in the lake.As the wedding florist and one of the last people to talk to Mark Baxter alive, Simmy gradually becomes involved with the grief-ridden and angry relatives. All seem to have their fair share of secrets and scandals—a distant mother, a cheating father, and a husband twenty-five years older than his bride. When events take another sinister turn, all eyes turn to the groom and his close-knit friends, each more secretive and volatile than the next. As a prime witness, Simmy finds herself at the heart of a murder investigation that could undo a family and a whole town …

The Windermere Witness: A Lake District Mystery (Lake District Mysteries)

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

TOPE, REBECCA

Mystery

Witness Impulse

Simmy has been adjusting to life in Windermere, running her florist shop, Persimmon's Petals, and trying to put her tragic past behind her. But just when she thinks her life is quietly coming together, it starts to unravel at the seams.She delivers a bouquet of flowers with a mysterious message attached to an elderly lady that brings sinister secrets to light. And when another old woman is found murdered in her own home, Simmy is drawn into the center of the investigation after the prime suspect names her as an alibi.As the murky lives of her neighbors tangle and swirl around her, Simmy must uncover the motive behind the murder before the killer strikes again …

The Ambleside Alibi: A Lake District Mystery (Lake District Mysteries)

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

“Rich in psychological insight . . . Tope is particularly skilled in creating interesting and unique characters.” –Deadly Pleasures 
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and business at Persimmon “Simmy” Brown’s flower shop is booming. But when Simmy fulfills a string of anonymous delivery orders, she is startled to realize that each contains a secretly menacing message for the recipients. When one of the people who receives a bouquet disappears, it seems that her worst fears have been confirmed. 
As if that isn’t enough, Simmy’s friend Kathy turns up, on the trail of her wayward daughter Joanna, who she fears has grown too close to one of her university tutors. When Kathy attempts to reason with her daughter she finds that Joanna’s older lover may be even more dangerous than she had imagined. With both Kathy and Joanna in peril, Simmy and her friends find themselves caught up in a web of deception, blackmail and murder . . .

The Coniston Case: An English Country Mystery (Lake District Mysteries)

“Rich in psychological insight . . . Tope is particularly skilled in creating interesting and unique characters.” —Deadly Pleasures 
A huge funeral for Windermere’s popular resident, Barbara Dodge, is taking place, and florist Persimmon "Simmy" Brown and her new assistant, Bonnie Lawson, are busy compiling wreaths in preparation. As people pass through the shop they begin to hear rumors about a series of sinister dog-nappings occurring in nearby Troutbeck. Up in arms over the crimes, they begin to investigate. But it isn’t until Simmy and her father are taking a walk up Wansfell Pike that it becomes apparent there is something even worse afoot and everyone’s favorite florist must stop a killer before they strike again . . .

The Troutbeck Testimony: An English Country Mystery (Lake District Mysteries)

When irascible farmer Guy Beardon meets a very dirty death in his own farmyard, it seems like an accident at first, despite the fact that he was widely disliked. But when his daughter Lilah slowly begins to suspect foul play, no one is eager to help her investigation. Suspicion becomes certainty when two more deaths occur, both of which are unmistakably murder... The difficulty lies in discovering who among the farmer's many enemies hated him enough to want him dead and then went on killing to conceal the truth. Could it be the disagreeable vicar? The self-absorbed widow? The crusty Wing Commander? The too-good-to-be-true freelance computer whiz? No one wants to get involved, and even the ubiquitous village gossip seems to know more than she will admit... Set amidst the muck and mayhem of contemporary farming life, A Dirty Death is an entertaining and authentic crime debut.

A Dirty Death

Minotaur Books

Fifty-five-year-old Jim Lapsford makes an unusually healthy-looking corpse. A life-long devotee of vitamin pills and herbal remedies, it seems almost ironic that he has succumbed to a heart attack, but his doctor is convinced that this is the case. Trainee undertaker Drew Slocombe isn't so sure. As an ex-nurse, Drew is convinced that there is enough conflicting medical evidence to merit a coroner's inquest at least. And then there's Jim's personal life: in addition to a long-suffering wife, two sons, and a grieving terrier, Jim appears to have left behind a series of scorned mistresses. Everyone else seems happy to accept the doctor's verdict, and Drew knows he shouldn't rock the boat. But can he really turn his back on murder? With plenty of suspects, zero proof, and Jim's cremation just days away, Drew sure has his work cut out for him... Smart, engrossing, and delightfully refreshing, Dark Undertakings is another great mystery from rising star Rebecca Tope.

Dark Undertakings

With Peaceful Repose Cemetery, Drew Slocombe is determined to revolutionize the entire death industry and make cheap, ecologically sound burials a popular choice. Unfortunately, Drew's gravedigger has just discovered that their cemetery has one too many corpses. The body of an elderly woman has been occupying the field for months before Drew opened for business. The police don't appear to be particularly concerned by the death, and seem to think that the body is that of a vagrant. But for Drew, things don't add up: even if the woman died a natural death, someone was obviously responsible for burying her. The mystery deepens when Genevieve Slater turns up at Drew's door. Drew has always fought an illicit attraction to Genevieve-an attraction that hasn't faded with time. But it's Drew's reputation for amateur detective work that Genevieve is now interested in. With reasons of her own for not wanting to contact the police, she wants to hire Drew to prove that the body is that of her missing mother. Drew realizes helping her might get him in trouble with the law, but, for a man looking to escape both money worries and marriage problems. Genevieve proves impossible to resist.

Grave Concerns

When the body of herdsman Sean O’Farrell was discovered in one of the farm buildings, Detective Sergeant Den Cooper is more than happy to cast one of the local farmers, Gordon Hillcock, in the role of chief suspect. After all, it is a well-known fact that there was no love lost between Gordon and the victim. And besides, Den has a little grudge of his own – Gordon is currently dating Den’s ex-fiancee Lilah and was actually the reason she dumped him only a few short months before their wedding. However, Den did not plan on Lilah’s determination to protect her new lover. How far will she go to make sure that Den directs his suspicions elsewhere? From the author of A Dirty Death comes another wonderful tale of muck, mayhem, and murder set in the deceptively idyllic English countryside. With a richly textured plot and a memorable cast of eccentric characters, Tope draws us into all the drama and complexities of small-town life where nothing is quite what it seems.

A Death to Record: A Mystery

In Tope's latest book, the sleuths from her two mystery series - Detective Sergeant Den Cooper and undertaker/amateur detective Drew Slocombe - team up to solve a series of mysterious killings in the quiet rural area of East Devon where they both now live.

The Sting of Death: A Mystery

The Sting of Death

Allison & Busby LTD

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