Ann Purser

Mother, cleaning lady, and secret sleuth Lois Meade investigates a murder that Detective Cowgill believes is connected to a suspicious fire and a heated dispute over the local village hall.

Ivy and her team of sleuths, known as Enquire Within, are back in business when Gus's ex-wife, Katherine, arrives at Springfields Luxury Retirement Home, bringing with her murder and mayhem.

Someone's been stealing tack from the equestrian set, and then a local ne'er-do-well is killed when his horse bolts in front of his van. With a new, possibly untrustworthy employee on her hands, Lois doesn't know quite what to make of all these disturbances, but it soon becomes clear that she'd better figure it out posthaste, or she herself may take a nasty tumble.

"Lois Meade has done enough buffing and polishing over the years with her cleaning business, New Brooms, to know that all that glitters is not gold. So when a bag of costume jewellery is the main clue in a murder, she has a strong suspicion that appearances may be deceiving... After a woman is discovered in the Mill House Hotel, strangled with a silver necklace beside a bag filled with faux silver, gold and pearls, costume jewelry dealer Michael Black seems like the obvious suspect. But Lois knows Michael's wife, who runs a baker's shop near the hotel, and can't believe her husband could be a killer. Plus, Michael has an airtight alibi. Nevertheless, Michael--who prefers to go by Michel, a name as fake as his gems--is no angel. It appears he's running a pyramid scheme, and Lois's mother is getting sucked in. Could the murder have anything to do with his unscrupulous business practices? As Inspector Cowgill and Lois hope the bling may shine a light on the killer, the discovery of a second body on the old waterwheel in the hotel may be grist for the mill in solving the murder--if they can manage to catch the culprit without getting the runaround"--

Interested in penning her memoirs, Ivy Beasley decides to take a creative writing course. But it's hard to find time to put pen to paper when this current chapter is so full of lies, jealousy and murder ... Rumors are flying around the village of Barrington about Mrs. Winchen Blatch, a reclusive widow living alone in her old farmhouse. In the past few weeks, the widow claims she has been tormented by ghostly visitations, so she hires Ivy and her fellow investigators at Enquire Within to get to the bottom of the mystery. Ivy's new classes are very close to the widow's farmhouse, perfect for combining studying and snooping.

When her daughter Josie's partner, whom Josie was thinking of leaving, is severely beaten and dies of his injuries, and the gypsies camping nearby are blamed, Lois Meade assists Inspector Cowgill in locating the guilty party.

A devoted wife and mother of three, Lois Meade cleans several houses in the quaint village of Long Farnden. Though her profession has given her intimate knowledge of her clients' lives, she prides herself on avoiding gossip. But when local spinster Gloria Hathaway is brutally strangled, the police know that no one is in a better position than Lois to poke around her clients' homes for clues. Little does she know that her quest for the killer will uncover some surprising secrets in this seemingly peaceful village and put her own family in mortal danger. . .

Cleaning lady and amateur sleuth Lois Meade has a personal stake in her latest investigation when her son Douglas becomes a prime suspect in the killings of a cantankerous elderly neighbor, Clem Fitch, and his noisy pet rooster.