Lake District Mysteries 6 Books Set by Rebecca Tope (Staveley Suspect, Bowness Bequest, Threlkeld Theory, Grasmere Grudge, Borrowdale Body, Windermere Witness)
Staveley Suspect
Simmy Brown has a lot on her mind. Not just keeping her florist business afloat, her father's failing health, the challenge of developing a long-term relationship with Christopher, but also the approach of Mother's Day, a busy and painful day for her. But in taking an order for a retirement party in Staveley, she is pulled into her most challenging investigation. When a daughter starts accusing her own mother of murder, Simmy, Ben and Bonnie find themselves taking different sides of the investigation. With her relationships under strain, Simmy is tried on all fronts. However, she has to learn to leave her own concerns behind to discover just who the killer
Bowness Bequest
Winter has arrived in the town of Windermere, and has bought with it the death of Frances Henderson, the best friend of Persimmon `Simmy' Brown's mother. Having known the Henderson family all of her life, Simmy must cope with the loss of an important figure from her childhood, as well as the confusion at being bequeathed something in Frances's will. When Frances's husband is violently murdered in his home, Simmy must face the fact that the family she was once so close to as a child, holds some dark and sinister secrets.
Threlkeld Theory
On a glorious July morning in the pretty Lake District village of Threlkeld, Simmy Brown and Christopher Henderson celebrate their wedding day. While the event passes off without undue calamity, when most of the guests have departed a severely injured young man is found nearby.
Pressure on police resources compromises the investigation and speculation is rife. Was it an accident or something more sinister? What was just a chilling suspicion develops into an altogether more disturbing theory
Grasmere Grudge
Returning from a much-needed holiday, Persimmon `Simmy' Brown discovers that life in the Lake District is, as ever, far from relaxing. Before she can enjoy the idea of being the future Mrs Chris Henderson, her fiance discovers the body of his friend, antique dealer Jonathan Woolley, brutally strangled in a house in Grasmere. Enlisting the help of her friends and amateur detectives Ben and Bonnie, the investigation appears to ask more questions than it answers as historical grudges against the dead man are revealed. It seems that many people had a reason for wanting him dead. But with Chris's increasingly evasive and odd behaviour, Simmy begins to wonder if he is more involved in the murder than he is saying. How can she put her trust in a man with something to hide
Borrowdale Body
As the auction at High Gates House in Borrowdale nears, Christopher Henderson bumps into Jennifer Reade, the expected recipient of the proceeds of the house clearance sale. She discovers a dead man in the cellar of the house but threatens Christopher into remaining silent about it until after the auction to avoid delays.
The auction is halted by the police with the news that a murder has been committed. Simmy, Christopher's wife and amateur sleuth, applies herself to the mystery of the deaths but she will have to contend with a ruthless and determined killer in her fight for the truth.
Windermere Witness
Following a personal tragedy, florist Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown has moved to the beautiful region of the Lake District to be nearer her charismatic parents. Things are going well, with her latest flower arrangements praised and Simmy content 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 florist of the wedding 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 - an uncaring mother, a cheating father, and a husband twenty-five years older than his bride. When events take another sinister turn, Simmy becomes a prime witness and finds herself at the heart of a murder investigation. The chief suspects are the groom and his closely knit band of bachelor friends. They are all intimidating, volatile and secretive - but which one is a killer