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Lois Meade Mystery #5
Fear on Friday
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…
262 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
19 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Ann Purser
36 books141 followersAnn Purser lives in the East Midlands, in a small and attractive village which still has a village shop, a garage, pub and church. Here she finds her inspiration for her novels about country life. She has only to do her daily shopping down the High Street to listen to the real life of the village going on around her.
Before turning to fiction, she had a number of different careers, including journalism – she was for six years a columnist in SHE magazine – and art gallery proprietor. Running her own gallery in a 400-year-old barn behind the house, she gained fascinating insights into the characters and relationships of customers wandering around. She had no compunction about eavesdropping, and sharpened up her writer’s skills in weaving plots around strangers who spent sometimes more than an hour in her gallery.
Working in a village school added more grist to the mill, as does singing in the church choir and membership of the Women’s Guild. She reminds herself humbly that Virginia Woolf was President of her local WI…
Six years hard study won her an Open University degree, and when she faltered and threatened to fall by the wayside, writer husband Philip Purser reminded her that he was paying good money for the course. During this period, she wrote two non-fiction books, one for parents of handicapped children (she has a daughter with cerebral palsy) and the other a lighthearted book for schools, on the explosion of popular entertainment in the first forty years of the twentieth century.
Ten years of running the gallery proved to be enough, and while it was very successful she decided to sell. The business moved down the street to another barn and owner, and Pursers stayed on in their house next to the village school – another rich source of material for the stories. Time to start writing novels.
Round Ringford became Ann’s village in a series of six novels, each with a separate story, but featuring the same cast of characters with a few newcomers each time. The list of books gives details of each story, and each features an issue common to all villages in our rural countryside. “Just like our village!” is a frequent comment from Ann’s readers.
Next: the Lois Meade Mysteries, each title reflecting a day of the week. Ann has always loved detective fiction, and determined to make it her next series. So Murder on Monday was born, followed by Terror on Tuesday, and Weeping on Wednesday. The rest of the week follows!
Mornings are set aside for writing, and the rest of the day Ann spends walking the dog, retrieving bantams’ eggs from around the garden, gossiping and taking part in the life of the village. She is never bored!
Before turning to fiction, she had a number of different careers, including journalism – she was for six years a columnist in SHE magazine – and art gallery proprietor. Running her own gallery in a 400-year-old barn behind the house, she gained fascinating insights into the characters and relationships of customers wandering around. She had no compunction about eavesdropping, and sharpened up her writer’s skills in weaving plots around strangers who spent sometimes more than an hour in her gallery.
Working in a village school added more grist to the mill, as does singing in the church choir and membership of the Women’s Guild. She reminds herself humbly that Virginia Woolf was President of her local WI…
Six years hard study won her an Open University degree, and when she faltered and threatened to fall by the wayside, writer husband Philip Purser reminded her that he was paying good money for the course. During this period, she wrote two non-fiction books, one for parents of handicapped children (she has a daughter with cerebral palsy) and the other a lighthearted book for schools, on the explosion of popular entertainment in the first forty years of the twentieth century.
Ten years of running the gallery proved to be enough, and while it was very successful she decided to sell. The business moved down the street to another barn and owner, and Pursers stayed on in their house next to the village school – another rich source of material for the stories. Time to start writing novels.
Round Ringford became Ann’s village in a series of six novels, each with a separate story, but featuring the same cast of characters with a few newcomers each time. The list of books gives details of each story, and each features an issue common to all villages in our rural countryside. “Just like our village!” is a frequent comment from Ann’s readers.
Next: the Lois Meade Mysteries, each title reflecting a day of the week. Ann has always loved detective fiction, and determined to make it her next series. So Murder on Monday was born, followed by Terror on Tuesday, and Weeping on Wednesday. The rest of the week follows!
Mornings are set aside for writing, and the rest of the day Ann spends walking the dog, retrieving bantams’ eggs from around the garden, gossiping and taking part in the life of the village. She is never bored!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
November 28, 2020
Enjoyable cozy series. Lois Meade does more snooping than sleuthing - and pretty much stumbled on the perpetrator ( which I had figured out almost before the crime was committed - about midway into the book).
There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but the author is very good at making it clear who's who. Lois and her family and staff are interesting and the story held my interest. Lois makes a few questionable decisions - but it all turns out in the end.
I will continue this series.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but the author is very good at making it clear who's who. Lois and her family and staff are interesting and the story held my interest. Lois makes a few questionable decisions - but it all turns out in the end.
I will continue this series.
October 2, 2019
I thought this book was good. It kept me guessing as well as keeping up with the Long Farnden gossip. As usual Lois gets herself involved with some drama that keeps you guessing. Looking forward to seeing what happens in her next adventure.
March 1, 2021
I continue to enjoy these mysteries. The characters make it so interesting and of course the English coziness of it all. I have read good mysteries only to have the sequels rehash the original plot to the extent it feels like your reading the same book over again. Not the case here.
August 23, 2025
This book features a cleaning firm. They have been run from a house but now decide to take over a derelict office space in town. That is a sure way to lose money, between shopfitting, power, office staff and rates, on top of rent. I can't think there is that much money to be made from cleaning to justify it. However, a star for a woman in business.
Another new business is a shop for adult goods. There is far more referring to goods and thinking about goods than there is of using goods. In fact, between the blackmail notes and the goods, the prying about stamps on letters, the body isn't discovered until p.120 - in a pond - and I'd kind of lost interest by that point.
Another new business is a shop for adult goods. There is far more referring to goods and thinking about goods than there is of using goods. In fact, between the blackmail notes and the goods, the prying about stamps on letters, the body isn't discovered until p.120 - in a pond - and I'd kind of lost interest by that point.
June 7, 2022
Rebecca Shaw meets Midsomer Murders, in this series of wacky deaths in a small Cotswold village. This is my second time through this series, and it still holds up. I only wish we'd hear from Ann Purser, or family as to why the books stopped.
July 30, 2022
My problem was keeping all of the characters and their relationships straight, especially with all the affairs going on. As for solving the mystery, I had my suspicions but needed the author to sort it all out for me.
August 7, 2017
Not as interesting as previous books but read through to complete as part of series. Moving on with next book
May 11, 2019
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have enjoyed others in this series. But it may have been the mood I was in than anything else.
June 16, 2020
This is a fun series. I have read a couple of others.
February 8, 2021
3 - Good
July 24, 2021
An excellent work about the "stroppy" Lois.
April 27, 2024
Kinda dumb
November 25, 2014
I've been enjoying reading this 7 book mystery series. Nothing too deep or taxing. However, I simply could not get into the plot of this book. My willing suspension of disbelief is not that strong. The book was written in 2005 and appears to be set in present day rural England. People have cell phones, wear modern clothes etc.
Apparently the setting takes place in an alternate universe where computers don't exist. A main part of the plot hinges on a couple that run a MAIL ORDER business in....sex toys, porn, fetish wear? The author never comes out and says. But let me repeat MAIL ORDER - as in people send a letter and a check to order something from this store. No website for them! It was so very very odd. The couple worries their business will go bankrupt because....again the author is not too clear, but 1) their son who runs the bricks & mortar store isn't a good salesman and 2) people aren't ashamed of buying vibrators so they will just go order them from Ann Summers (a sort of Fredricks of Hollywood type store in the UK). I.....uh, what????? Maybe it's the fact they don't have a website and accept paypal or credit cards that their store is going under.
And the victim in the book likes watching porn on his tv. Using his VCR, I presume. Do physical copies of porn movies still get made in the 21st century? Wouldn't he be watching porn online like everyone else? I looked up the age of the author - she was 72 when this book came out which explains how oddball her plot is.
The other part of the plot that struck such a grossly discordant note was when one character has an abortion and everyone acts like she got an abortion in 1955. Why does her father have to "set it up"? Doesn't Britain have free healthcare? I googled it to make sure. Yes, abortions are free and easily attainable via their national insurance. No need for anyone but that character to know about the procedure.
I enjoy losing myself in cozy mysteries and am willing to ignore the high murder rates in villages and the preponderance of the bad guys confessing and explaining the crime in detail to the protagonist but the mail order/ad in back of the newspaper(!)/extreme shame everyone has about sex toys was just too strange to ignore.
Apparently the setting takes place in an alternate universe where computers don't exist. A main part of the plot hinges on a couple that run a MAIL ORDER business in....sex toys, porn, fetish wear? The author never comes out and says. But let me repeat MAIL ORDER - as in people send a letter and a check to order something from this store. No website for them! It was so very very odd. The couple worries their business will go bankrupt because....again the author is not too clear, but 1) their son who runs the bricks & mortar store isn't a good salesman and 2) people aren't ashamed of buying vibrators so they will just go order them from Ann Summers (a sort of Fredricks of Hollywood type store in the UK). I.....uh, what????? Maybe it's the fact they don't have a website and accept paypal or credit cards that their store is going under.
And the victim in the book likes watching porn on his tv. Using his VCR, I presume. Do physical copies of porn movies still get made in the 21st century? Wouldn't he be watching porn online like everyone else? I looked up the age of the author - she was 72 when this book came out which explains how oddball her plot is.
The other part of the plot that struck such a grossly discordant note was when one character has an abortion and everyone acts like she got an abortion in 1955. Why does her father have to "set it up"? Doesn't Britain have free healthcare? I googled it to make sure. Yes, abortions are free and easily attainable via their national insurance. No need for anyone but that character to know about the procedure.
I enjoy losing myself in cozy mysteries and am willing to ignore the high murder rates in villages and the preponderance of the bad guys confessing and explaining the crime in detail to the protagonist but the mail order/ad in back of the newspaper(!)/extreme shame everyone has about sex toys was just too strange to ignore.
Read
February 14, 2017Though I got who the murderer was wrong, it was an okay read. Just found it hard to get with the characters.
August 29, 2014
This 5th book in the series left me a bit baffled. It felt disjointed for most of the first half and like the last one, it ended a bit abruptly without a clear resolution about the murderer's motives. Perhaps one of the biggest puzzles deals with one of the cleaners named Bill who, in the last book, has split with his girlfriend Rebecca and has left Lois' cleaning crew to find a job in another town. Then -- SURPRISE! -- he reappears in this book without any explanation and by books' end he is married to Rebecca. This isn't really a spoiler because this story line never really functions fully in this volume. It just feels sort of thrown in at the last minute. The one thing this series does that I find interesting is that in each book the author adds a new character to the ensemble -- and this one is quite a surprise.
January 22, 2016
This book is like the others in this series. I had the murderer guessed wrong, but I was close.
There's a strange sort of wife-swapping in this book.
It was odd the way Norman Stevenson's fate went back and forth, and I thought he was a goner several times before ...
It also seems strange to me that Lois Meade's wild teen daughter from the first book in the series, "Murder on Monday," should turn into such a mild-mannered, diligent adult daughter in this 5th book, "Fear on Friday," without any explanation other than she had just gotten older. In fact, much of the book made it sound like such a mysterious transformation is natural and normal, until Susanna Jacob and Maureen Smith come into the story, when Lois "thanked her lucky starts that Josie had settled down into a responsible adult."
There's a strange sort of wife-swapping in this book.
It was odd the way Norman Stevenson's fate went back and forth, and I thought he was a goner several times before ...
It also seems strange to me that Lois Meade's wild teen daughter from the first book in the series, "Murder on Monday," should turn into such a mild-mannered, diligent adult daughter in this 5th book, "Fear on Friday," without any explanation other than she had just gotten older. In fact, much of the book made it sound like such a mysterious transformation is natural and normal, until Susanna Jacob and Maureen Smith come into the story, when Lois "thanked her lucky starts that Josie had settled down into a responsible adult."
November 3, 2012
While not as great as the Thursday book, Fear on Friday was still a good read. I've come to really appreciate Lois, and Ms. Purser is starting to bring her more to life with each installment. Still, the relationship between Lois and Cowgill needs a bit more fine-tuning. It's too lukewarm. By this time, years of working together on cases, they could at least be friends, and the tension that could be between their friendship isn't really there, either. Still, the books are engaging, and I will read on.
August 21, 2020
3rd October 2009
Maybe not quite so gripping as previous Lois Meade stories but enjoyable nevertheless. Lois and her team become embroiled in a sex-for-sale scandal in their peaceful little town and as always Lois cannot help getting over-involved despite warnings from both her husband and her good fried DCI Hunter Cowgill. I always find them a relaxing read.
Maybe not quite so gripping as previous Lois Meade stories but enjoyable nevertheless. Lois and her team become embroiled in a sex-for-sale scandal in their peaceful little town and as always Lois cannot help getting over-involved despite warnings from both her husband and her good fried DCI Hunter Cowgill. I always find them a relaxing read.
May 25, 2013
I really like this series alot as the story lines really move along. I never lose interest from beginning to end. I would like to read a little more about Derek though. And also the other member's of her family. I feel as I read these books I get to know her mother a little better with each book but only her. And Lois & Derek have 3 children.
March 21, 2008
When I read "Monday" I really didn't like it much. Then I read Tuesday - Thursday and each got better as the author matured and her characters matured. Friday was enjoyable, just what I needed to take my mind off other matters.
March 1, 2008
A pleasant, if unexciting, mystery set in small-town England.
August 7, 2010
awesome
March 17, 2011
Entertaining as always. Nice to see her family more involved.
Read
August 31, 2011Lois puts together some very unexpected clues to discover an unusual motive for murder. So much for quiet little villages...
December 4, 2013
I enjoyed this book. An easy read, although it took me 2 months to read, just had other things to do. I would continue on in this series.
April 8, 2014
Loved it
June 15, 2012
Not as good as the previous books in the series.
July 6, 2012
I'll keep reading these but I must say, they are a bit dull in comparison with other series I am reading.
July 11, 2012
Fifth in the Lois Meade Mysteries series, another well-placed, cleverly plotted and not-too cozy story set in and out of a small English village.
December 10, 2012
Not one of my favorites from this series but still interesting. They hare helping me learn "English" slang.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews