Warning at One

October 13, 2008
In British author Purser's sprightly eighth Lois Meade cozy (after 2007's Sorrow on Sunday
), Lois, who operates a cleaning service called New Brooms, looks into the murder of 78-year-old Clement Fitch and his infamously loud rooster, Satan. Lois's son, Douglas, Clem's new neighbor in the town of Tresham, becomes a prime suspect after an anonymous informant claims to have seen Douglas knock the pensioner to the ground. Members of the Meade family, Lois's employees and Douglas's new girlfriend all seek to prove Douglas's innocence. To do so, they must unmask the true identities of Clem's neighbor across the street, Mrs. Imogen Blairgowrie, a supposedly visually impaired New Brooms client, whose slimy son, Alastair, might be involved with organized crime. Purser supplements the sleuthing with spot-on observations of working-class village life and the trials of running a small business, though a rushed resolution leaves some questions unanswered.

December 1, 2008
Pursers Lois Meade series has covered village crime from Monday through Sunday (e.g., Murder on Monday, 2002). Now, she is working through every hour of the daya new wrinkle in our 24/7 world. Meade, proprietor of the New Brooms cleaning business, makes ahandy police consultant, as cleaners know all about their clients dirt. This time that involves retiree Clem Fitch, wholives with his pet cockerel in the village of Tresham. The rooster enjoys waking all the neighbors at very early hours of the morning. Those neighbors include Lois son, Douglas, and a nearly blind older woman, whose irascible son hiresLois firm to clean her mothers home. When Clem and his pet are murdered, Lois assists her friend, Detective Inspector Hunter Cowgill, in solving the case. Purser uses dramatic irony effectively, letting the reader know more than her sleuths do and allowing us to watch as they pull the pieces together. This novels denouement doesnt have quite the shock value typical of this series, but the story is thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)