Death in the Cotswolds (Cotswold Mysteries 3)

Travel Guide

Now this side to the Cotswold might  not be on the tourist trail anytime soon as in three villages so far we’ve had three or more murders. Small villages rocked by tragedy but clearly in the world of fiction where paradise is maintained ad the setting is a major character.

“Cold Aston was often windy, exposed from most sides on the upper levels of the wold”

Seen through the eyes of DI phil and his childhood friend Ariadne, this time Cold Aston gets the Tope treatment. Events take place during the time of

Samhain, or Halloween ‘ A festival of contradictions” , and as the leaves fall from the trees and flowers wilt, there is a strong sense of death when a body is found. Not just slumped in a field but laid out as if in sacrifice. like a trophy of sorts.

“It was to take place in the very convenient Long Barrow at Notgrove which was an ancient Megalithic burial ground dating back to 3000 C or thereabouts”

With Pagan rituals and Ariadne’s role in such activities, this village soon becomes a small, and very close knitted community. Very closed off and isolated indeed.

Ariadne works creating clothes, living off the land and worshipping the relationship between land and humans. But this festival of Samhain, to be celebrated on a local burial ground is to link the two worlds in a shocking way.