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Dark Undertakings

(Drew Slocombe #1)

Rebecca Tope

3.34 · Rating details · 184 ratings · 26 reviews

Fifty-five-year-old Jim Lapsford makes an unusually healthy-looking corpse. A life-long devotee of vitamin pills and herbal remedies, it seems almost ironic that he has succumbed to a heart attack. His GP is convinced that this is the case but trainee undertaker Drew Slocombe isn't so sure and he is convinced that there is enough conflicting medical evidence to merit a ...more

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Paperback, 510 pages

Published May 28th 2012 by Allison & Busby (first published 1999)

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Start your review of Dark Undertakings (Drew Slocombe, #1)

Jun 16, 2017 Pam Baddeley rated it liked it

Shelves: crime-fiction, suspense

First in the Drew Slocombe series - I've only read the later volumes previously, when he encounters Thea Osborne and is gradually subsumed into the Cotswold series. In this opening volume, Drew is at the start of his sleuthing career and has been working for a few weeks at an undertaker's where he is the new boy, so is far off from starting his later struggling natural funeral business. Similarly, he and wife Karen are trying to start a family, whereas I've only seen him with his later family First in the Drew Slocombe series - I've only read the later volumes previously, when he encounters Thea Osborne and is gradually subsumed into the Cotswold series. In this opening volume, Drew is at the start of his sleuthing career and has been working for a few weeks at an undertaker's where he is the new boy, so is far off from starting his later struggling natural funeral business. Similarly, he and wife Karen are trying to start a family, whereas I've only seen him with his later family situation (which I won't explain to avoid spoilers for anyone who hasn't read those books).

This book has a different style than the Thea Osborne books because we don't just follow Drew around - there are a lot of scenes from other points of view and so we learn things that he is still in ignorance about. Sometimes this can lead to head hopping in a scene or things being developed perhaps more slowly than otherwise.

Drew is unsatisfied about the cause of death of a man his firm is called in to 'remove' and later to arrange the funeral for - the doctor has made a perfunctory examination and chalked it up to a heart attack, in a previously healthy 55 year old man. As Drew investigates, we gradually learn that the dead man had quite a colourful existence with more than one woman 'on the go' at a time, something his wife deliberately shut her eyes to, especially as she had had an unspecified affair herself at some point. Drew tries to obtain evidence against the deadline of an impending cremation, as he feels his suspicions and various circumstantial evidence and hearsay are not enough to convince the police.

A lot of the story is the quite realistic interactions of a 50 year old widow with her grown up sons, one of whom is 'difficult' and as it transpires (view spoiler). The various muddled motives, thoughts, emotions and misunderstandings between people in real life are quite well portrayed though will undoubtedly irritate some readers who just want to get on with the plot and find out 'whodunnit'. But I quite enjoyed the story although it is perhaps a little longer than necessary, and therefore award it a 3 star rating.

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Dec 07, 2010 Kirsty Darbyshire added it · review of another edition

i've got really behind with updating around these parts. i remember enjoying this book, which is the first in a series featuring drew slocombe, the new boy at a funeral directors. obviously he's going to end up poking into the deaths he comes across in the business. i wasn't really convinced there was a series in this after this book but i did spend half the book saying "no drew, leave it alone, you'll only get yourself sacked, stop sticking your nose into things!" which is probably a sign of

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Nov 12, 2019 Lainy rated it it was ok

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 510

Publisher - Allison & Busby

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Fifty-five-year-old Jim Lapsford makes an unusually healthy-looking corpse. A life-long devotee of vitamin pills and herbal remedies, it seems almost ironic that he has succumbed to a heart attack. His GP is convinced that this is the case but trainee undertaker Drew Slocombe isn't so sure and he is convinced that there is enough conflicting medical evidence to merit a coroner's inquest at Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 510

Publisher - Allison & Busby

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Fifty-five-year-old Jim Lapsford makes an unusually healthy-looking corpse. A life-long devotee of vitamin pills and herbal remedies, it seems almost ironic that he has succumbed to a heart attack. His GP is convinced that this is the case but trainee undertaker Drew Slocombe isn't so sure and he is convinced that there is enough conflicting medical evidence to merit a coroner's inquest at least. And then there's Jim's personal life: in addition to a long suffering wife, two sons and a grieving terrier, Jim appears to have left behind a series of scorned mistresses. It seems everyone else is happy enough to accept the doctor's verdict and Drew shouldn't really rock the boat, but can he really turn his back on murder? Jim Lapsford may already be dead but surely he deserves to have his killer caught? Even so, Drew may have plenty of suspects but he has no proof. And Jim's cremation is days away...

My Review

Jim Lapsford is the last person you expect to die in his sleep, or die at such a young age. A picture of health it is a shock to the town that he has died. Trainee undertaker and ex nurse Drew Slocombe isn't as convinced and feels something is a miss, no postmortem no one seems concerned by him, Drew starts investigating himself. Could someone have killed Jim? As Drew starts digging it becomes clear there are many with potential motives for taking Jim out but has someone really committed murder or is Drew just hung up on his own past?

I flipped back and forth on 2.5/3 stars for this, the majority of characters I just couldn't get my head around their attitudes. Even with the coroner being told to cut down on post mortems, this is a relatively young gentleman who has died unexpectedly. Then when concerns are raised the families attitude, anyone close to him, no one seems fussed. Some of their reactions are perplexing, irritating or out right annoying.

Drew really goes a bit on the ledge for this one, to the point of obsessive but even some of his actions or reactions you are like, really??? Then things that come to light or happen after Drew shakes it up and people's behaviour is just really bizarre. I did wonder if it was to make you think X person was guilty hence acting like they were. I just found the whole thing, from the living characters, their behaviours, attitudes, actions all a bit hard to swallow.

Other than that I was pretty curious as to what had happened, if it was some kind of skulduggery. I would read this author again but this wasn't one I loved at all, 2.5/5 for me this time. Have you read it? What did you think?

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Nov 09, 2013 Ape rated it did not like it

Shelves: crime, england

I'm glad I picked this book up for free. I keep seeing packs of her books and wondering. At least I can wonder no more. I've now read a Rebecca Tope book, and I wouldn't touch another with a barge pole. This was just dreadful. It drivelled on and felt like it would never end. The style of the book wasn't engaging at all, felt a bit muddled, and as though a few of the characters and conversations had been lumped in as filler. It starts off by throwing stacks of characters at you and continues I'm glad I picked this book up for free. I keep seeing packs of her books and wondering. At least I can wonder no more. I've now read a Rebecca Tope book, and I wouldn't touch another with a barge pole. This was just dreadful. It drivelled on and felt like it would never end. The style of the book wasn't engaging at all, felt a bit muddled, and as though a few of the characters and conversations had been lumped in as filler. It starts off by throwing stacks of characters at you and continues like that. It means that there isn't a main character or person you are following through this story, neither is the plot itself strong enough to lead you, so it ends up feeling a little muddled. Plus there's no atmosphere or sense of place; and no character depth as such. It was all just a bit dull and lukewarm.

Then there's the plot and the people. Jim Lapsford dies in his sleep in his early fifties. It's a big shock for everyone because he was so fit and well. But the doctor signs it off as a heart attack, saying there's no need for a post mortem. Ok, not brilliant... but here comes the ridiculous bit. Ex nurse Drew, who has started his new job with the undertakers, thinks this is a bit off. Does he alert the authorities? No. Does he go to the police? No. He goes down on his own to the body before embalming and interfers with it, taking stomach contents and sneaks it off to an old chum at the hospital. But he thinks it's blindingly obvious that the man had been poisoned!!!! Yes, it's bad that there wasn't a post mortem, but that was a lazy doctor. Not necessarily a sign of murder. But he dones his little deerstalker and plays at super sleuth - even in this he is lame and unconvincing. He had the personality of an old dried out dishrag. So irritating. The only good thing I can say on this point, is thank god there wasn't a main character we had to follow the whole time through the book, because if there had been, it probably would have been him.

The solution is not impressive either.... I won't write about it here, but for 500 pages of drivel-mystery, it really wasn't worth it. ...more

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Dec 18, 2009 Suzanne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

I originally picked this up for my mystery club's "Weddings and Funerals" month. Just now getting around to reading it. Only 1 chapter in and I like it.

For the most part I liked this mystery. I liked Drew and the other guys at the funeral home. I especially liked Roxanne and hope she'll be in future books in the series. The mystery was satisfying and I'm sure I'll read more by this author. My only complaint is that the book seemed unnecessarily long - perhaps 20% could've been cut to keep this ...more

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May 20, 2013 Frances rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was somehow surprised to enjoy this. It felt slow, yet In a very gentle and slow way I became very intrigued by the characters. Unusually I didn't worry about the story not moving on quickly, but felt immersed in the simple way the story developed as if I were there. Pleasantly surprised.

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Jan 20, 2017 Jack rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Undertaker and amateur sleuth Drew muddled his way through investigating a suspicious death in this cozy mystery.

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Dec 25, 2016 Vicki Cantwell rated it really liked it

Shelves: advent-calendar-2016

Day 6 of the 2016 Advent Calendar.

I liked the writing and the development of the characters and the small town/everybody connected theme. I'm interested to try other books by this author.

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Nov 14, 2018 Shriti Chatterjee rated it did not like it

I'm kind of berating myself for having picked up this book at all. The enticing cover promised a lot but 500+ pages are proof that it was all for naught.

The book's plot is awful. It is supposed to be a whodunnit but I was so tired of drudging through the chapters that I couldn't care less whether it was accidental death or pre-meditated murder.

Recommended to no one as it was one of my worst reads of this year.

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Oct 16, 2017 Ewa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Book was OK, characters were OK. However plot was predictable and ending didn't surprise me.

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Jun 20, 2017 Sheila rated it liked it

Intricate small town mystery investigated by a trainee undertaker. It's very light, nobody swears, and we learn a bit about the undertaker's trade. I quite enjoyed it.

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Mar 20, 2009 Susie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

A man is found dead at home, in bed. The doctor signs the death certificate as it being a heart attack without doing an autopsy. So an undertaker, who is new to the town, decides that it wasn't a heart attack and takes it upon himself to prove that it was murder and to find out who did it.

This book confused me because NO ONE - not the family, his coworkers, the doctor, etc, no one wanted to find out if it was murder, even though they suspected. And the police weren't brought in to the ...more

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Dec 19, 2015 Bev Taylor rated it really liked it · review of another edition

the first drew slocombe mystery

drew has just started a new job as an undertaker after problems with his nursing career

jim, at 55 years old, is found dead in bed and the doctor says heart attack

h/e drew is not convinced. but nobody else agrees and he has to investigate on his own

the village is a very tight knit community with many secrets of it's own. not least jim's affairs, a dodgy doctor and drug dealings

a light read as usual with excellent characters

h/e there were a few loose end

why ...more

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Jul 05, 2016 Julie rated it liked it

I have met Drew Slocombe in the Cotswold mysteries but this earlier glimpse of his life is interesting. It was intriguing to watch him discover his own passion for detective work as his instincts forced him to be the only one to question a seemingly natural death.

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Mar 28, 2015 Katherine Coleman rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Not one of her best. Really could get into it.

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Jun 25, 2016 JenniferB rated it liked it · review of another edition

Good suspense (a little too much). Mixture of interesting and annoying. Main character is an undertaker, so a bit too much information about that.

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Sep 01, 2012 Anne Marshall rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Didn't finish

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Aug 15, 2012 Samhazy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Too slow. Halfway through we still hadn't decided if it was murder. Boring.

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Apr 25, 2013 kami rated it liked it

Felt like I whipped through this book. Very enjoyable read and decent resolution to the story.

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Jul 26, 2014 Fiona70 rated it did not like it

I never like to give up on a book but this one pushed me to my limits :-(

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Apr 06, 2015 Swarna Meenaa rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 10, 2013 Angela Perkins rated it liked it · review of another edition

An enjoyable read and nice to see a crime novel written from an original viewpoint. Will definitely read some more of Rebecca Tope's books.

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About Rebecca Tope

Rebecca Tope

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Rebecca Tope grew up on a farm and has held a wide variety of jobs, such as pre-natal instructor, marriage counselor, and funeral director, all of which have taught her a great deal about human nature. In 1992, she founded Praxis Books, a small British press.