Suspicion at Seven: A Lois Meade Mystery by Ann Purser

I found a fabulous, long-running cozy series I missed! There is something rather exciting about finding a series that is fourteen parts, especially when the part you read is so much fun. Suspicion at Seven: A Lois Meade Mystery by Ann Purser is a delightful read that I am sure you will love as much as I did. 

From the back of the book:

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 Donald Black seems like the obvious suspect. But Lois knows Donald's wife, who runs a baker’s shop near the hotel, and can’t believe her husband could be a killer. Plus, Donald has an airtight alibi.

Nevertheless, Donald 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.

My thoughts:

I have no idea how I am just now jumping in this series at book fourteen! It is fabulous and I must go back and see what I missed. To start, the feeling is so English, and I do love that laid back, proper English vibe. The old mill setting sounded beautiful and the image I was able to hold in my head was charming.

The mystery was clue based and solvable to readers who like to do that. I flipped between being a reader that wants to immerse and read and a reader that wants to solve. For this book, I was in solve mode and I did indeed solve the puzzle. I have to say I liked the use of a necklace too, I read a lot of cozies and it isn't something you see often. 

I will be hunting down the other parts but you may start here and be totally able to follow along as I did without feeling like you need clued in. 

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Disclosure: I may receive products in exchange for an honest review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I personally believe will be good for my readers.