Lois Meade Mystery Series

It may be the day of rest, but Lois Meade finds that not everyone believes in keeping it holy.

A rash of strange occurrences in and around Long Farnden has Lois unsettled. Someone’s been stealing valuable tack from the equestrian set, and then a local n’er-do-well is killed when a horse bolts in front of his van. With a new employee on her hands who may or may not be trustworthy, Lois hardly knows what to make of the disturbances, but it soon becomes clear that she’d better figure it out post-haste, or she herself may take a nasty tumble.

In the latest from the national bestselling author of Scandal at Six, Lois Meade is back to prove that when it comes to crime,  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 gems, jeweler Donald Black seems like the obvious suspect. But Lois knows Donald’s wife and can’t believe her husband is a killer. Plus, Donald has an airtight alibi.
 
Nevertheless, Donald is no angel. 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?
 
As Inspector Cowgill and Lois hope the bling may shine a light on the killer, the discovery of a second body in the hotel may prove the key to solving the murder—if they can catch the culprit before someone else checks out.

Lois usually steers clear of local gossip, but after tidying up the house that newcomer Reg Abthorpe claims to have inherited, she has more suspicions than she can keep to herself. The home’s previous resident was known for his beloved terrier, robust nature, and deficiency of living relatives. So why is Reg presenting himself as the old man’s nephew-and where could the sprightly geriatric (and his dog) possibly have gone?

Lois Meade has scrubbed her way through the homes in Long Farnden, and she’s not afraid of dusting cobwebs and killing a few bugs. But in her role as amateur sleuth, she’s learning to beware of snakes in the grass . . .
 
Spring has arrived in Long Farnden and with it, a mysterious infestation. Lois Meade’s daughter has found her village store overrun by insects and reptiles. As Lois looks into the invasion, her investigation leads her to Robert Pettison, a seemingly unhinged zookeeper, and his nephew. The two of them are knee-deep in illegal trade, and they don’t take kindly to Lois poking her nose into their business.
 
Lois enlists the help of her faithful cleaner Dot Nimmo and police inspector Hunter Cowgill to discover more about Pettison and a suspicious death at the zoo. And death is in store for more people if Lois doesn’t put the killer behind bars soon . . .

To her own credit, Lois’s cleaning business is really starting to clean up. So much that she decides to open up a new office in the neighboring town of Tresham, where she takes note of an unusually busy—and slightly sinister—storefront across the street. But business quickly mixes with Lois’s nose for sleuthing when she’s hired to clean the house of the pompous mayor, and then witnesses his honor’s limo picking up a dubious-looking package from the mysterious shop. There’s a filthy underside to Tresham, and when bloody murder starts staining the quaint town, Lois has to put her own life on the line to straighten things out…

She’s had her hands full sorting out both clues and clutter in the village of Long Farnden.  But a mother’s work is never done, and Lois Meade is discovering detective work is both dirty and dangerous…
 
A wedding is always a happy occasion, even if Lois Meade must remind herself she isn’t losing a daughter, but gaining a policeman.  Her new son-in-law is in the Tresham force—and happens to be Inspector Cowgill’s nephew—so now Lois has another link to the law.
 
But when her youngest son invites a mysterious woman, Akiko, as a guest, Lois wonders why she refuses to talk about her past.  And when a thief waltzes off with the young woman’s cello, Lois enlists the inspector’s help to find the valuable instrument.
 
When Akiko herself goes missing, Lois discovers that this could be another in a string of murderous musical thefts. Now she must pull out all the stops to find the girl and protect her son…before the music stops permanently…

A friend has asked working-class mother and housecleaner Lois Meade to help crack a case. It looks like the handsome new choirmaster may have been poisoned. Soon, Lois finds herself untangling a web of secrets, bigotry, and intrigue-and can’t let the culprits get away clean.

She’s worked through all 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…

Magistrate Mrs. Tollervey-Jones represents the upper crust of the village, although nowadays she lives alone at the Farnden Hall estate without a staff to attend to her. Fortunately, Lois Meade’s cleaning company visits twice a week.

But Lois’s help is needed elsewhere as a series of robberies begins to plague Long Farnden. Lois’s own daughter is shaken when a thief robs her grocery store till. Good thing Josie’s got a policeman for a fiancé—he’s on the culprit’s trail soon afterward.

Before he can crack the case, though, someone cracks Lois’s husband on the head when he stops in to check on Mrs. Tollervey-Jones and interrupts a burglary. Now Lois—in collaboration once again with the besotted Inspector Cowgill—must determine who cleaned out the magistrate’s mansion, and clean up after an increasingly violent crime spree…

It’s all smiles for the series that sweeps up sales-every day of the week.Working mum and owner of a cleaning business, Lois has just hired on the daughter of the Abrahams, an eccentric, reclusive family. But when strange letters and omens put everyone on edge, Lois wonders if the rumors about the Abrahams are the key to a terrible secret. 

When the Long Farden village hall is in danger of being destroyed, the citizens form a committee to save it, with the usual grumps and curmudgeons included. But it seems someone opposes the preservation enough to set the historic building on fire. When a dead body turns up in the canal, Inspector Cowgill fears the dispute is only going to get uglier-and deadlier. Naturally, he turns to Lois Meade to sort out the culprit before the village hall becomes a funeral hall…

Working-class mum and housecleaner Lois Meade plies her sleuthing skills once again after discovering a dead body–dressed in a suit of armor–in a chapel.

She’s worked through all the days of the week, scrubbing up both messes and murderers in the village of Long Farnden. But crime is a persistent stain, and when Lois’s daughter’s boyfriend is left for dead in a ditch, Lois must find a twisted path that leads to arson, local delinquents, secret assignments, and blackmail-before she can discover who’s been tinkering with the truth.

A devoted wife and mother of three, Lois Meade cleans houses in the quaint village of Long Farnden. When a local spinster is murdered, Lois finds herself poking around her clients’ houses for clues. But her quest for the killer will uncover some surprising secrets about this seemingly peaceful village-and put her family in mortal danger.

The tenants of Lois Meade’s terrace house in Tresham are frustrated by their neighbor’s feisty pet cockerel, Satan. His owner, Clem Fitch, refuses to part with his feathery companion-making Lois’s tenants fly the coop. Luckily, her son Douglas agrees to rent the house.

But when Clem and Satan are found dead, Douglas-who is involved with Clem’s daughter-becomes a prime suspect in some foul business.