The Lois Meade Mysteries
Murder on Monday
Murder on Monday is a chilling account of the life and death of Gloria Hathaway, spinster of the parish, with a secret career of her own. Would-be sleuth, feisty Lois Meade, becomes involved as she cleans in the village houses of Long Farnden. The doctor, the professor, the gallery proprietor and the district nurse, are all part of a web of deceit which challenges Lois in her first attempt at unraveling a mystery. Then there is Detective Inspector Cowgill, a stern policeman who builds an odd relationship with Lois. He is quick to see how valuable she can be, and she is well aware of this. Sparks fly as the plot thickens. “Smashing ending” said an American reviewer.
Buy Murder on Monday from your local booksellers and all on line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Terror on Tuesday
Terror on Tuesday finds Lois has moved out of Tresham and into Long Farnden, one of a trio of villages involved in her next assignment. She sets up New Brooms, a house-cleaning business with a small team of loyal characters. Her cleaners are her main concern, but all become involved in bizarre deaths, theatrical goings-on, and Lois is drawn in by the wicked tentacles of the local drug scene until violence strikes at the very heart of her family. Many contemporary problems surface here, but always with the background of village life, which, as many discover, is not immune from troubled times.
Buy Terror on Tuesday from your local booksellers and all on-line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Weeping on Wednesday
Lois Meade`s cleaning business, New Brooms, has a new recruit, Enid Jacob, who lives with a reclusive mother and miserable old father in a remote, crumbling mill-house. Lois pities Enid, and when the shy spinster offers to teach piano to Lois`s musical son Jamie, a happy relationship develops. But things always go wrong in Enid`s life, and now deteriorate from bad to worse. Lois and company help to sort it all out, but is the ending happy or sad? The reader will decide.
Buy Weeping on Wednesday from your local booksellers and all on-line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Theft on Thursday
Lois Meade, cleaner and part-time sleuth, is restless. It is some time since she helped out her old admirer and adversary, Inspector Hunter Cowgill, and she misses the excitement. She is delighted when the call comes from Cowgill asking her for help once more. She is plunged into mystery, bigotry and intrigue surrounding the randy new choirmaster Sandy Mackerras and the vicar, and there is danger for Lois and her new cleaner Sharon Miller, an innocent romantic. But is she as innocent as she seems?
Buy Theft on Thursday from your local booksellers and all on-line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Fear on Friday
Lois Meade is boss of a cleaning business, and finds time on the side to indulge her love of sleuthing. She opens an office in nearby Tresham, and is intrigued to see a number of surprising visitors to the small shop on the other side of the street. Their window display tells all! New business comes her way when she is asked to clean the house of Tresham`s pompous and secretive mayor, Howard Jenkinson. A locked room arouses Lois`s curiosity, especially when the mayor`s chauffeur is seen collecting a parcel from the shop opposite. Lois, her daughter, and some of her regular cleaners, gradually uncover lies, adultery and sex for sale. When seemingly harmless goings-on result in death and murder, it is time for her old admirer, Inspector Hunter Cowgill, to become involved. True to form, Lois ignores his warnings and finds her own life in danger.
Buy Fear on Friday from your local booksellers and all on-line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Secrets on Saturday
From the moment his car stops outside her door, Lois Meade, cleaner and part-time sleuth, doesn`t like the look of Reg Abthorpe. He asks her to clean the house of spry old Herbert Everitt, who has been moved to an old folks` home, though no one in the close-knit village of Long Farnden can understand why. Farmer William Cox is another matter. His health has been in decline since the death of his wife, and he is notoriously reclusive and dependent on his dog, Rosie. Threats against villagers, Lois`s loyal staff, and Lois herself cause the atmosphere to darken, and Lois is called upon by her old adversary and admirer, Inspector Hunter Cowgill ….
Buy Secrets on Saturday from your local booksellers and all on-line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Sorrow on Sunday
In Sorrow on Sunday, Lois Meade, feisty cleaner-cum-private detective is on the trail of a horse-racing scam that ends in murder and tragedy. Colonel Battersby is a respectable pillar of society – or is he? He and his wife Blanche live in rural comfort in Waltonby, not far from Lois`s home in Long Farnden. The Battersbys request the services of New Brooms, and Lois and Dot Nimmo become involved in a secret underworld of corruption and violence. Horses figure largely in the Colonel`s life of hunting, racing and unsuccessful gambling. Enter Inspector Hunter Cowgill, Lois`s long-time contact in the police, and together they bring the villains to justice.
Buy Sorrow on Sunday from your local booksellers and all on-line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Warning at One
Lois continues her `ferretin` with a new series, starting with Warning at One. This was published in hardback in November 2008, and concerns a mysterious newcomer in Gordon Street, where Lois owns a terraced house, next door to Clem Fitch and his cockerel, Satan. Across the road, Mrs Blairgowrie has recently moved in, and seems a pleasant enough woman.. She is visually impaired, apparently, though manages to live alone quite succesfully with the regular visits of a large, bulky man who, she says, is her son. Mysterious comings and goings in the middle of the night rouse Clem`s curiosity, with unfortunate consequences. Inspector Cowgill is, as usual, on the scene, as keen as ever on his Lois and not in the least put off by her fierce rejection of any warming up of the relationship!
Buy Warning at One from your local booksellers and all on-line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Tragedy at Two
She’s worked through all of the days of the week, turning up clues and scrubbing up both messes and murderers in the village of Long Farnden. But crime is a persistent stain, and Lois Meade is finding that sleuthing is rarely a spotless endeavor… Lois Meade’s daughter Josie was admittedly considering ditching her partner Rob, but she certainly never expected him to be found badly beaten and left for dead in a ditch by the side of the road. When Rob tragically dies from his injuries without regaining consciousness, Inspector Cowgill has a murder investigation on his hands, and once again he engages the assistance of the woman he respects above all others—Lois. Suspicion for the attack quickly falls on the traveling gypsies who are camped out on Alf Smith’s property in Long Farnden. There is strong prejudice among many in the village who consider the gypsies no better than tramps and thieves. Lois must follow a twisted path that leads to arson, local delinquents, secret assignations, and blackmail— before she can discover who’s been tinkering with the truth…
Released on 1st December 2009. Order your copy of Tragedy at Two from your local booksellers and all on-line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Threats at Three
She`s worked through all of the days of the week, turning up clues and scrubbing up both messes and murderers in the village of Long Farnden. But crime is a persistent stain, and Lois Meade is finding that sleuthing is rarely a spotless endeavour… A committee is forming to save the Shed, a run-down building that is the village hall for Long Farnden locals. Joiining the usual collection of grumps and curmudgeons is Lois`s husband, Derek, as committee chair. They are aiming to cut down newcomer Gavin Adstone, who doesn`t think the Shed is worth saving at all … After much discussion, a soap box grand prix is chosen as the major fund-raising event for the restoration plan. The building is part of village history, a landmark for locals who have attended wedding receptions and cricket teas there for generations. But someone really wants to make this tea the last – by setting the Shed aflame. When a dead body is mysteriously found in the canal, Inspector Cowgill wonders if the instances are connected, and if this dispute will get uglier – and deadlier. He turns to the every reliable Lois Meade to sort out the sculprits and pick up the loose ends before their village hall turns into a funeral pyre
Released on 7th December 2010. Order your copy of Threats at Three from your local booksellers and all on-line retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (US).
Buy Ann Purser`s books in your local booksellers and at all on-line retailers, including Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, and Barnes & Noble.com.
Contact Ann Purser through David Higham Associates or directly by clicking here.
Member of the Crime Writers’ Association.
98 Responses to “The Lois Meade Mysteries”
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Am curious as to Lois and Derek’s voting intentions – fear there may be some friction…
Even more unknown territory – will Roy dare to vote differently from Ivy? AP
Hi Ann,
I just saw on amazon that threats at 3 will be released in December. I feared that there wouldn’t be any more Lois books, but I am excited to see the series is continuing.
Can you let us in on the plot yet?
Donna
Hello, Donna – nice to hear from you. December seems a long time away! – but Threats at Three will be a useful Christmas present …
Plot: Can`t give too much away, but all your favourite characters will be there, plus others, and all involved in a village version of soap box racing. There is a nice young couple, newcomers in the village, a wicked developer, a young lad in trouble, and much more. Lois is on the warpath from the outset! Worth waiting for ….. Ann
Hi Ann,
I just discovered the Lois Meade mysteries recently and am up to Wednesday having ordered the rest of the days of the week, then will get the One and Two. Then Three in December. Will you be continuing with this series? Look forward to the Ringford and Beasely series as well. My summer-autumn-winter reading is sorted!
Thanks for hours of reading please….Lois is cosy but edgy so she’s never boring!
Do you ever go to the Bristol Crimefest? I like to attend when I can as I know the organisers.
Regards, Lauren
Ann, I have been a lifelong romance novel devotee, until I found the Hangmans Row Inquiry at my local supermarket, I was hook at once and as a fann of Miiss Marple and Poirot and Rosemary and Thyme, I now a convert and have gobbled up all of your titles I can find on Ebay.I live in the states and don’t know why the lyrical speech and word patterns appeal, But I a a convert. I can’t wait to find out if Josie and Matthew get together and now find I am a devoted WAITEE, for the next installment. Best wishes Kim Miller
Thank you so much, Kim, for your lovely message! Glad you like the books – it is exciting for me to have news from the States. I`ve visited the US a couple of times – New York and San Francisco – and had a great time. Many years ago! Ah, well, Josie and Matthew – as they say, many a slip twixt cup and lip. But I am optimistic ………. Ann
Nice to hear from you, Lauren! Lois and Ivy are thrilled to bits to think of you immersed in their stories – and so am I! Ann
Dear Ann,
I discovered the Lois Meade series a year or so ago, and I absolutely love it! I just started “Tragedy at Two” and am savoring it. I have started giving your books as birthday gifts to a friend who loves mysteries, and I donate my own copies to the library to get others interested in them.
I live in the US but spent January 1980 in England on an English Schools and Family college trip. I stayed with a family in Huncote for two weeks and helped in the school there. Personally, I love all of the “me duck” and other British expressions because they remind me of my lovely month in England. (At first, I was surprised when I was in England and storekeepers would call me “me duck” and “me love,” but I enjoyed their warm welcomes and expressions.)
I didn’t learn about your other series until checking your website, but that was good to discover!
Thanks for writing such wonderful books!
Hello Brenda – thank you so much for your interesting message. I am glad you are enjoying the books and their characters, and recognise the Midlands dialect and `me duck` and `me love`. Isn`t it nice and friendly? Huncote is a village near Leicester, I believe? I too worked in a village school, and loved it. I wasn`t always brilliant at discipline, but no matter! Perhaps you will come over again and see some more of England.
Another Lois Meade to come, and Ivy`s second adventure in Barrington.
Best wishes – Ann
Am almost finished with Murder on Monday. I am LOVING it. What a talented writer you are. I will definitely be reading the whole series.
Happy reading, Erin!
I am starting on Weeping on Wednesday. Loving this series. Can’t wait to read all of them. They are going so fast.
Hello, Erin! W on W is my favourite. I sat sobbing at my computer! Hope you like it too … Ann
Loved Weeping on Wednesday now I am off to Theft on Thursday. Loving this series.
Hello Ann, I love Lois Meade. When is the next book featuring Lois coming out? Some of the phrases she uses reminds me of home… Just south of winnepeg in n. Dak.
Thanksfor great stories. Ellie
Hello Ellie – thanks for your message. So glad you are enjoying Lois`s adventures! The next is in the pipeline – Threats at Three – and should be out quite soon – I am not sure of the exact date, but shouldn`t be too long.
Have you caught up with the Ivy stories yet? The first, Hangman`s Row Enquiry, is out now inn paperback, and has had a good reception.
Happy reading! Best wishes – Ann
I am frantically writing to keep up with you, Erin! It is great to hear you are enjoying the books. Hope you are having a good summer – Ann
Dear Ann,
I absolutely love your books! I started reading the Lois Meade series a couple of years ago and last week I bought the Ivy Beasley book to add to my collection. It was so good, I couldn’t put it down. I live in Texas and have never been to England, but when I read your books, I can picture the villagesand all the characters and I feel like I am there. Most of my ancestors came to America from England, so I have always felt a special connection to it and I love reading books set there. I can’t wait until your next book comes out.
Best Wishes,
Kim Watson
Dear Kim,
Thank you for your interesting message. I am glad you enjoy English village life! I grew up in Suffolk in a village, and I can remember that most of the farming families had lived there for generations, keeping up the old ways of life. A lot has changed now, of course, but the community spirit still exists, especially if there is a shop or post office where gossip can be exchanged. This is not always bad! News of illness or difficulty in coping, gets around quickly and help is always forthcoming.
Have you traced your family tree? It is great fun, and often comes up with things you didn`t knp;w!
Next Lois Meade – Threats at Three – is out in December, and another Ivy enquiry is on the way. Ann
Dear Ann, I am so thrilled with the Lois Meade books. Discovered them about 3 weeks ago in my local library and am done and waiting anxiously for December! Please keep writing.
Thanks for so much enjoyment.
A West Texas Reader and Fan
Clarice Eisenbach
San Angelo, Texas
Dear Mrs. Purser,
I Hope this note finds you well. I was recently given a copy of your book \Warning at one\ as a gift. To say that I loved it would be a gross understatement. As a matter of fact, I found it Impossible to put down. I have spent the last several years battling cancer and other health issues, and books are a very important part of my life. I think you are a brilliant artist. Your words have painted a quaint and engaging portrait of Long Farndon and it’s inhabitants. I sent someone to my local booksellers this evening and purchased the entire series leading up to \Warning at one\. I can’t wait to begin reading. Thank you for sharing your remarkable talent with this very grateful reader.
Thank you so much, Mr Blair, for your kind message, which gave me a huge boost on a grey, freezing morning here in England!
I do hope you have conquered all your health problems now. Reading is such a boon, isn`t it, enabling us to escape into another world. Glad you like Lois`s adventures. Look out for Ivy Beasley and Enquire Within – very cheering, especially for those of us who have a lot to put up with!
Very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. Ann
Dear Ann,
Please accept my best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. I had to write again to tell you how much I am enjoying your Lois Meade series. The many hours of enjoyment that you have given me are priceless. Thank you again.
Your very grateful reader. Joseph
How kind of you! I am looking out of the window here, and snow is falling steadily. We are not used to it so early! Best wishes – Ann P
Hi Ann,
My sister introduced me to the Lois Meade mysteries and I love them! I just finished “Threats at Three” and its great. I’ve read them all and can’t wait for the next. I love the interaction between Lois and Cowgill, how it develops in each book. When is your next book out? I now read on my iPad and tease my sister how I get them before she does at the store!
Merry Christmas to you.
Janet
Hi Janet, and a happy Christmas to you and your sister! Glad you are enjoying Lois`s adventures. Poor old Cowgill, he is very patient, isn`t he. My next Lois story will out in 2011, and there is a new Ivy Beasley mystery out in May 2011. I have a Kindle, and confess that I do like reading from it, though I would hate to see real books with nice covers disappear! Best wishes, Ann.
Dear Ann,
Thank you so much for this series. I really like Lois and Cowgill. Why is she so mad at him all the time? Is it because she is attracted to him and doesn’t want to admit it even to herself? I read the first book and immediately went out and bought all the rest. I haven’t found Tragedy at Two yet but it is on my list of next buys. I read about 2-3 books a week and just zipped through this series but I have kept them all so I can read them again. I am looking forward to Two and Three.
Thanks again.
Sam
Dear Sam,
Thanks so much for your nice message! Poor old Cowgill – Lois does give him a hard time, I know. But it is all a sort of game with the two of them. He likes her feisty character, and she is really fond of him, though almost never shows it. Lois is basically a happily married woman, but like some of us, likes a change now and then. This quirky relationship with a top policeman is a welcome diversion from being wife and mother and mostly taken for granted!
I hope you will enjoy Tragedy at Two and Threats at Three. Foul Play at Four is on the way! Best wishes – Ann.
Dear Ann,
I have some news which I just had to share with you!
Finally it seems, my little town library has come to its senses!
A few days ago, while at the library, I went past the Recent Releases shelf and found Threats at Three which I decided to read straight away, and am enjoying thoroughly! Still need to go back and read the earlier editions but this one is certainly paving the way, great detail, great fun!
Also, I told you the story of how – having already been generously given by you Pastures New and New Every Morning – I found Spinsters of this Parish, while on holiday in Lake Taupo at a market day, well now I can tell you another. I work as a volunteer at the Hospice Shop when they need some heavy lifting to be done, where we sell second hand goods, the proceeds of which go to the Hospice, caring for those who deserve the best quality care at the end of their lives, and the last time I was in, a few days ago as well, low and behold, I discovered another Round Ringford novel ‘Thy Neighbours’ Wife’ on the shelf, which I of course had to have! So now, from finding them in the most amazing of places, I have 4 of 6 of the wonderful Ringford novels, with just ‘Orphan Lamb’ and ‘Mixed Doubles’ to go! At this rate, I’m unsure were I’ll find the next! It has been great fun!
Hope all is well,
Best Wishes,
Jaden
Hi Ann,
I sent a large message yesterday, telling you of finding 2 of your novels through entirely different ways, both of which surprised me, hugely. One, Threats at Three, I found at the library, Two, Thy Neighbours Wife, I found at the Hospice where I work voluntarily. Big surprise, very happy!
However, it’s been deleted! Hopefully not, but thought I’d try again without making it long wind this time.
Best Wishes,
Jaden
Hello Jaden! Nice to hear from you again. Your first email will hopefully turn up some time. Sometimes I think there are gremlins living in the back of my computer, plotting ways of irritating me!
I was interested to hear about finding two of my books. Libraries here are a very good source of income, as we have Public Lending Rights. Unfortunately, this does not include borrowings in the US!
I am sure working in a hospice is a sometimes sad but very rewarding job. I used to sit on a grant making committee, and once had to go to a children`s hospice to visit. I was amazed at the wonderful, cheerful and positive atmosphere. No doubt helped enormously by people like you.
Regards – Ann
Uh oh – have just seen the other email come in. I was so interested to hear where you had found the books! Do let me know if the others don`t turn up, and I will raid my stores. Well done you! A.
Dear Ms. Purser: I am from Kansas City, US, and love your books. Have been reading them for years. I can’t wailt for the #4 book to arrive in the stores. Do you know when that might be released?
How nice to hear from Kansas City! – I am so glad, Lisa, that you are enjoying the books. Foul Play at Four will be out towards the end of the year, and I hope you will enjoy that too.
Meanwhile, as they say in books, the next Ivy Beasley enquiry will be out in May – The Measby Murder Enquiry – might be worth a look?
Best wishes – Ann P
Hello,
I am a twenty-something living in Massachusetts, USA. I discovered the Lois Meade series a few years ago while vacationing on a quiet lake in Maine. These are some of my absolute favorite books. I love Lois’ wit and I share her sense of adventure. I can’t wait to read Sorrow on Sunday through Threats at Three. Please continue writing such lovely books!
Best Regards,
Amelia Reniszewski
Hello!
I discovered Murder On Monday about 5 years back and didn’t get back into the series until this week. I will finish Terror On Tuesday later tonight and I’ve reserved Weeping On Wednesday from the library.
I am thrilled that the numbers will be used after the days of the week. IF you get tired of numbers, you could start with January and work down to December!! Whatever you do, don’t quit…I love the setting and the characters, as well as the friction and jokes among the various villagers.
Great books!!
Susan Moore
Southern California…
In Tragedy at Two there was mention of a man claiming to be Rob’s brother but I don’t remember what happened to that thread in the book. Is that a character coming back in a a future book or did the police catch up with him? Love your writing!!
Hi, Chris! No, I don`t have any plans to bring back the man claiming to be Rob`s brother. I believe he was difficult to trace, but the police finally arrested him and he spent some time in prison. He became a reformed character, and spent most of his time teaching illiterate prisoners to read. (I just made that up, of course. You might like to have a go at an alternative scenario?)
Glad you are enjoying the books. Happy reading! Ann P.
Hi, Susan. I was so pleased to have your message on a dull Monday morning! Now I shall set to work with renewed enthusiasm – at the moment I have to get Lois`s son Jamie out of a ticklish situation.
With very best wishes – Ann
Hi, Amelia. Thank you so much for your comment. I was envious of `a quiet lake in Maine`. A similar location is perhaps my favourite lighthouse on the Mull of Galloway in Scotland. All lighthouses are automated now, so the lightkeeper`s cottage is let for holidays. It is high on a cliff, and very beautiful. All of this will probably turn up in a novel sooner or later!
Glad you like Lois and her adventures. She has become a very real person to me!
With best wishes – Ann P.
I was wondering if there were going to be any more books in this series? I miss reading about Lois and Derek.
Thanks!
Hello, Alisa – not sure where you have got to! The latest Lois Meade assignment is Foul Play at Four, and is now out. The next in the pipeline after that is Found Guilty at Five. Out sometime next year (2012!). I do hope you continue to enjoy Lois and Derek, their family and friends – and enemies ….
Ivy Beasley has been busy, too, and The Wild Wood Enquiry will be the next to emerge.
Best wishes for the New Year – Ann
Just read Foul Play at Four and enjoyed it. However, I was left with a couple of small questions. Does Dot ever get the dog back- and where was he when Cowgill picked up Clive hitchhiking? Also on a similar note- whatever happened to poor little Orly? Taken by an owl, trapped in an ice house (although fed and cared for), then left by the side of the road after he farted in the car???? True these are small points, but I couldn’t help but wonder– perhaps they will be back in the next book?
When is the new Lois Mead book coming? I can;t wait….
Hi, Kim – No more waiting! Foul Play at Four is out now (Amazon etc), with Lois hot on the trail of a pair of petty thieves, whose crime leads them into very dark waters. Happy reading!
PS: Found Guilty at Five is in the pipeline …
Thanks, Laura, for your message. I hope you received your reply via e-mail. If not, let me know!
Dear Ann, I write you from Texas where I am spending the January doldrums reading through the Lois Meade collection. I love those books. The characters are so real and the village life you describe is so special. My grandson gave me ” Foul Play at Four” for Christmas and I am anxious to know if you have a “FIVE” planned.
Sincerely,
Jane