MURDER ON MONDAY [Paperback]

Ann Purser (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing (2002)
• ASIN: B001641JQI
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,151,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed., December 22, 2006

By 

Barbie "themysterycat" (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder On Monday (Lois Meade Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

You would think by now I would have learned not to judge a book by its cover, but that's exactly what I did in this case. The picture on the front cover is charming. The words "Fresh, engaging, and authentically British" from a Booklist reviewer are splashed on the cover. And that reeled me in.

If you like the cozy mystery genre, and are a fan of Agatha Christie, Anne Perry, Dianne Day, Rita Mae Brown, or Margaret Miles, this may not be the book for you. If you liked the 90's TV show Roseanne, you're in for a treat. She's back, this time as a British house cleaner named Lois. Ann Purser goes out of her way to make Lois unsympathetic, and her husband Derek and daughter Josie downright annoying and unlikeable. It seems as though Purser's trying to break down the stereotype of the British mystery by choosing working-class characters in modern times, which I completely respect, but she's building up another stereotype at the same time: that working-class people are brash, crass, and argumentative.

Aside from unsympathetic and sometimes annoying characters, the conclusion of this mystery is a bit far-fetched, and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. The sad thing is, I'm not even all that curious about having them answered.

A very unsatifying read.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasing British mystery, January 31, 2004

By 

mdmom "mdmom" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Murder On Monday (Lois Meade Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

Not a typical heroine, but a nice murder mystery set in a small British town. The story unfolds well, with not too many clues, but enough to make the ending fit well. I enjoyed it and will look for more by this author.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An English village cozy, May 30, 2003

By 

Valerie Adolph "Coast Journal" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder on Monday (Lois Meade Mysteries (Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

This book epitomizes the English village who-dun-it, brought up-to-date. To be sure, there is the thatched cottage, the vicar, the doctor and the district nurse plus a cast of other worthy individuals. But this village has a cleaning lady with attitude and a certain lack of respect for worthiness.

The writer is no stranger to writing books about life in an English village, and this experience with the setting and the characters stands her in good stead here. Unlike other writers who only dream their English village, this one actually knows what they, and their inhabitants, are like.

The plot is sound, the pacing is good and the dialogue is first rate - one of the best features of the book. It was a fun read - I look forward to reading more mysteries by this writer - and finding out what happened between the cleaning lady and that dishy policeman.