Cathy C. (cathyskye) - , reviewed on 8/13/2009 + 2309 more book reviews

When I read the first book in the series, Murder on Monday, I found it to be lacking a bit in mystery, but I enjoyed the characters so much that I wanted to see where Purser went with them. I also wanted to see if Lois mopped herself into a corner. Having one cleaner constantly stumbling over corpses would be problematic-- just how many people would continue to hire her to clean their houses? I also wondered about Inspector Cowgill insisting on always meeting her in the same place. Lois lives in a small village. No matter how out-of-the-way the meeting place is, sooner or later everyone in the village is going to know what's going on. Purser dealt with both of my questions very well in this second book in the series.

Lois came into a bit of money at the end of Murder on Monday, and she and her family have moved to a different village and instead of a small council house, they now have a much larger one with plenty of room to spread out and still have a place for Lois to set up her own cleaning business. It's not long before she's interviewed applicants and has a crew working for her. One day she decides to take a short break in an old chapel and comes across a body dressed in a suit of armor. Once again, Inspector Cowgill has her searching for clues, and when the murderer almost kills her husband, Lois takes the investigation very seriously indeed.

I like the direction in which this series is going. Purser has an excellent cast of characters to work with, and having Lois run her own cleaning company means that she has more time for investigation and an entire crew of cleaners who can help her search for clues. The mystery didn't flag in this second book; although I guessed quite a bit of what was going on, I still didn't have all the plot threads tied and tidied by book's end.

This is a series that I'll be continuing on with, and I'd suggest it to anyone who prefers good characterization, amateur sleuths and cozy mysteries.

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