Lake District Mysteries (Rebecca Tope) Books In Order

Publication Order of Lake District Books

The “Lake District Mysteries” series follows lead character Persimmon (Simmy) Brown, who has a day job working as a florist in Windermere working in a shop that she owns called “Persimmon’s Petals” and lives in Troutbeck, and winds up investigates a murder that happens at a hotel. She is a kind hearted woman who makes time for any requests that her clients ask of her, and she also sees something in her new assistant that makes her keep the girl on, and not try to find someone else. Simmy, after getting over a tragedy, has been throwing herself into her work as a way to heal. Her elderly parents live near her, and operate a bed and breakfast. Simmy is a character who seems very put together on the outside, but on the inside, nothing could be further from the truth. She has a lot of fears, and worries; she also does not make friends very easily. It would also seem that she has a phobia of snow. She has been married and divorced. In the books, Simmy gets pulled into murder investigations, through no fault of her own.

The series is of the cozy mysteries genre, and is not to be mistaken for the series of novels that Martin Edwards has written with the same name.

“The Windermere Witness” is the first book in the “Lake District Mysteries” series by English writer Rebecca Tope. When Simmy Brown does the flower arrangements for a high society wedding at a nice hotel, she gets pulled into the investigation involving one of the groomsmen. She has an assistant named Melanie, and a new friend that she has made named Ben, someone who is seventeen. She saw something important while the murder took place that makes both the family of the deceased and the police keep coming back to ask her more questions.

Some readers liked this book its narration, Ben’s character (finding him to be the best character in the book), and Melanie (who starts out not being very likable, but gets more likable throughout the book). Some fans liked the strength of the secondary characters; some of which (including Persimmon’s parents) can be eccentric. Fans of the book enjoyed the way the author was able to put together a puzzling mystery, the way the author is able to show how difficult it is to own a flower shop (without it overwhelming the whole novel), and a strong cast of characters. They wondered what would happen between Simmy and the policeman that serves as her love interest in the book in future entries in the book.

Some readers did not like the lead, they felt she was not interesting; and the other characters were stiff and had no emotion at all. The readers did not feel as if they really knew these characters, or if they really wanted to get to know them. Nothing in the book, say these people, drew them in the book keeping them wanting to read the book. Some of the readers did not like the people who were family members of the couple that was getting married, how they would summon Simmy just to ramble on and on and not really get to the point of why they summoned her.

“The Ambleside Alibi” is the second book in the “Lake District Mysteries” series by Rebecca Tope. Persimmon Brown returns in this book. Simmy is thrust once again into an investigation when she delivers what she believes is a harmless bouquet of flowers that contains a quiet peculiar message attached to an elderly lady. This woman brings nasty secrets to light. Complicating matters, is the death of another old woman, who died in her own home. She is named as an alibi by someone named as a suspect in the case. Simmy must work to find out the truth before she becomes another victim. She must also try to have her broken pelvis, fractured skull, and a broken rib heal; as well as nearly drowning..

Fans enjoy the way the book makes them guess who committed the crime for the entire book. Fans enjoy how in this book, every character is alive and is put together very nicely, the settings feel real, and her sequence of events keeps them engaged throughout the whole book. Some liked how strong Persimmon was, saying that she was put through an attack that would have finished most people, whereas she was able to keep going on. Fans stayed up all night to read the book, so that they could find out who the killer was. And were glad that they did. Fans also liked that even though Tope is not from the Lake District (where the books are set), she was able to do some research on the areas to make sure she was describing the right area.

Some found the book to be a little drawn out, making the ending come a lot later than they thought it should. Some found the book to have a shallow story and dull characters. Some felt that the book features characters with odd names to try to stand out, as nothing else that Tope writes about does stand out. It all just sort of fades away almost minutes after they are done reading it. They also found some of the events to not be very realistic either.

Besides writing the “Lake District Mysteries”, Tope has also written the “West County Mysteries”, and “The Cotswold Mysteries”; she also ghost writes the novels based on the television series “Rosemary and Thyme” (a cozy mystery series). She has written over ten novels. She lives on a farm, near the Black Mountains, that has a lot of different kinds of rare bred pigs, and Cotswold sheep. Her hobbies include knitting, spinning wool from her own sheep, and weaving. She held various jobs before becoming a writer. These include marriage counselor, pre-natal instructor, and funeral director; which have all helped her add to her experiences and has used when writing her books. As a crime writer, she attends many crime fiction events and served as membership secretary for the Crime Writers’ Association in 2009.

2 Responses to “Lake District Mysteries (Rebecca Tope)”

1. Still not Marie: 1 year ago

   I would say between 37 & 40. She mentions in the first book (if memory serves) that she’s about 20 years older than Ben.

   Reply
2. Anne Barbara Elgood: 3 years ago

   How old is Simmy?

   Reply