A departure for the 'Cotswold' series - the copy I have says on the back it is number 8 in that series and the list of Cotswold stories in the front of later books than this has it under the 'Cotswold' series, not the West Country Drew Slocombe stories - yet the whole book is told from the POV of the author's West Country series protagonist. Possibly it has been included in the Cotswold series because it is set there, or at least the burial is there which Drew, an alternative eco friendly undertaker, conducts as the story begins. In practical terms, the character spends a lot of time driving between there and his Somerset home base, and also to a house share/commune place 25 miles from his home so we don't get much sense of the Cotswolds in this book.

Drew meets Thea at the burial because she has been house sitting for the deceased. As a departure from the norm in the Cotswold series, the house sitter herself has died, but from natural causes (usually, Thea encounters a murder victim before she has had time to settle in). The burial soon causes difficulties for Drew because the deceased turns out not to own the field where he interred her; she only rented it. A jobsworth council official insists that he return for a face to face meeting by the field - I found it pretty unconvincing that a policeman turns up on the doorstep to order Drew to attend this, because surely it is a civil matter. In real life, it seems highly likely that Drew would have phoned the man, as he wanted to do. But it is crucial to the story that they meet in a remote place because he is witnessed arguing with the official who is subsequently found dead soon afterwards. Drew and Thea then join forces to try to prove Drew's innocence. He is beset and accused on all sides, with the dead man's wife eventually convincing half the community that he actually murdered the woman he buried, as well as the council official, despite the coroner's verdict of natural causes.

The story was totally different than I expected, being 1st person from Drew's POV instead of the usual 3rd person but close viewpoint of Thea. To some extent it was interesting to see her from a man's POV - and predictably, given that we've been told from book 1 onwards that Thea is a magnet for men he is attracted to her - yet it leaves her as an offstage character at times, even though she is the one who comes up with how to solve the whole connundrum. We are as much in the dark as Drew. Perhaps it would've spoiled the surprise, but I didn't find it that convincing that Thea somehow persuades the police to go along with her sting to uncover the murderer among the original deceased woman's relations and neighbours.

I did quite enjoy the story but certain aspects held it back from a 4 star rating. There is a lot of driving back and forth, with the police continually wanting Drew to come back to be interviewed in the area rather than at his home, and giving him subsequent problems with where he can afford overnight stays. This to-ing and fro-ing has the effect of prolonging the story rather unnecessarily. Drew keeps the truth from his wife because of her long standing brain injury (from the context, this happened in a previous West Country novel), yet leaves her looking after two children having made various excuses as to why he has to be absent. He takes his business partner Maggs a bit more into his confidence, but even with her he keeps things back. Although this might be a realistic reflection of human nature and he is doing it to avoid worrying his wife, it still comes across as a negative trait. And for an environmentally friendly undertaker, he spends a lot of time driving around which seems a bit contradictory. ( )

Drew Slocombe, an undertaker specialising in back-to-nature burials, carries out a client's wish to be buried in a field adjoining her house. After a local resident and councillor voices strong objections and threatens to get an exhumation order and have the deceased buried "properly", he is found with his head bashed in and Drew finds himself the main suspect.

The story is told from Drew's point of view with Thea taking a less prominent role. The penultimate scene with the suspects all gathered together for the reveal was very funny. Apparently, Drew has his own series which I will have to check out some time. ( )

Introducing her sleuths from various series to each other was something that Agatha Christie occasionally did, so perhaps Rebecca Tope's strategy here is not so unusual.

She began documenting Thea Osborne's house sitting ventures with A COTSWOLD KILLING in 2004 and A GRAVE IN THE COTSWOLDS is #8 in the series. (#9 DECEPTION IN THE COTSWOLDS has just been published)

The other series featuring Drew Slocombe who is an undertaker began in 1999 and A GRAVE IN THE COTSWOLDS is #5 in that series. Drew is conducting a service which gives clients cheaper rates and environmentally friendly burials.It is when he buries Greta Simmonds in a plot of land that she doesn't have title to that the problems start.

Will Drew and Thea get on? Fortunately for the author they do. Thea is more or less a free agent while Drew is married with an invalid wife and two young children. A GRAVE IN THE COTSWOLDS is narrated by Drew which in fact allows Thea to act independently and to undertake investigations that she tells Drew about after the event.

For the most part A GRAVE IN THE COTSWOLDS is an entertaining cozy, but I thought the final resolution was a bit too sloppy. The identity of the murderer, when it was revealed, surprised me as much as it did the other characters, so perhaps there were just not enough clues. There is also an "off-canvas" character whose influence over the culprit was an unknown. ( )