Drew Slocombe Books In Order

Publication Order of Drew Slocombe Books

Author Rebecca Tope started publishing work about character Drew Slocombe in the year 1999, when “Dark Undertakings” was released.

Drew Slocombe was once a nurse that later became an undertaker in the town of Bradbourne, England. He has two sons, a terrier in mourning, a wife who has long suffered; and there is the fact that he has left a long line of scorned mistresses.

In the third novel of this series, Tope brought in her main character, Detective Sergeant Den Cooper. Tope did this again, in “A Grave in the Cotswolds”, the fifth novel of this series, with Drew and another of her characters, Thea Osborne.

“Dark Undertakings” is the first novel in the “Drew Slocombe” series and was released in the year 1999. Jim Lapsford (who is fifty-five years old) makes for an oddly healthy appearing corpse. He devoted his life to herbal remedies and vitamins, it seems pretty ironic that he would die of a heart attack. That is just what his doctor believes happens to him, however.

Drew Slocombe (who is a trainee undertaker) is not so sure about that being the case. He believes, with his experience as a nurse that enough conflicting medical evidence exists to warrant an inquest from the coroner at least.

It seems that all the other people involved with the verdict the doctor came up with, and Drew realizes that he should not rock the boat. Should he really turn his back on a murder? There are plenty of people that could have killed the health nut, but there is zero proof, not to mention Jim will be cremated in a few days. Drew will definitely have to work pretty hard to figure out what happened.

Fans of the novel found that this was quite enjoyable and it only took them two days to read. They had a hard time putting it down, and they actually made their family members wait to finish up the book. The book has some interesting characters and quite a few nice twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat.

“Grave Concerns” is the second novel in the “Drew Slocombe” series and was released in the year 2000. Drew Slocombe, with his Peaceful Repose Cemetery, wants to start a revolution on all of the death industry. Part of this will mean making ecologically sound and cheap burials the popular choice. The gravedigger for the cemetery has just found one too many corpses on the premises.

An elderly woman was buried before Drew opened up for business. The police are not all that concerned about the death, and seem to think the body is a vagrant. Things are not adding up for Drew, because even if she died of natural causes, someone had to have buried her.

It gets deeper when a woman named Genevieve Slater comes to Drew’s door. He has had a forbidden attraction, one that has not really faded for her. She wants him for his abilities as an amateur detective. She wants to hire Drew so that he can prove that the elderly woman’s body is that of her mother, who has been missing. Helping her may get him into some trouble with the law, he knows, but she is impossible to resist. He is a man looking to get rid of money worries and his marriage problems.

Some
are glad that a series about an undertaker is one that has not gotten
at all predictable. Fans of the novel found this has a nice and
steady pace that moves things along well. The novel has a stellar
murder mystery and some interesting characters. Some enjoy reading
about these characters and want to see what Rebecca Tope is able to
do with them next in this series. Tope’s characters do things that
seem like they only would work in a book but are still kind of
realistic at the same time.

“The
Sting of Death” is the third novel in the “Drew Slocombe”
series and was released in the year 2002. Karen Slocombe’s cousin,
named Penn, stops by for a visit and has mixed motives in doing so.
Penn would like to get back in contact with one of her relatives, but
is looking to get some help with Justine’s disappearance, who is
another cousin. Drew’s reputation for solving mysteries has spread
around. Penn is hoping that Penn and Drew can help her out in her
time of need.

Roma
Milan (Justine’s mom) says she is not concerned about her daughter
going missing. Laurie (who is Roma’s husband) thinks otherwise,
although he does not know about the secrets this family has kept that
has lead to them (Justine and Roma) to being estranged for the past
five years. Drew and Maggs (Drew’s business partner) start
investigating with little enthusiasm in the beginning. Feelings get
stronger when they get in touch with Detective Sergeant Den Cooper.

Readers
found this to be an excellent read and highly enjoyable; it makes
this series one that readers have a hard time putting down for very
long. Fans of the novel found that this has plenty of quirks and plot
twists, not to mention the mystery was well paced throughout the
entire thing. Some readers cannot wait to read more of this
captivating series, it is that good.

“A
Market for Murder” is the fourth novel in the “Drew Slocombe”
series and was released in the year 2003. Karen Slocombe is not quite
sure why she would visit the supermarket, seeing as how she is a
stallholder at different farmers markets in town. Not to mention the
fact that she is a member of the Food Chain Group. These combined
make SuperFare a place that she would usually steer clear of. Karen
is lucky, because she leaves right before a bomb goes off and
destroys the store’s front.

A
few days go by, and she is manning a stall at Bradbourne Farmers
Market, and she is in the middle of another horrifying crime. Another
stallholder (named Peter Grafton) is killed in front of her. No one
saw anything, even though this attack went down in a busy town
center. The motive is a mystery as well. Karen’s suspicions are
aroused when some friends from Food Chain tell her to leave out
certain details when she talks to cops. Are these two events linked?
Could Karen’s friends be involved in these crimes somehow?