Scandal at Six

At the start of Purser’s slow-moving 13th cozy featuring Lois Meade, owner of the New Brooms cleaning service in the English village of Long Farnden (after 2012’s Found Guilty at Five), a dangerous snake surfaces inside the shop run by Lois’s grown daughter, Josie Vickers. It’s clear early on that Robert Pettison, the reclusive owner of a private zoo outside town, is up to no good—probably the illegal breeding and sale of rare animals. In furtherance of Pettison’s illicit schemes, his nephew, Justin Brookes, seeks to rent the vacant apartment over Josie’s store. From the get-go, Lois recognizes the creepiness of Pettison, who can’t resist staring at her legs at every opportunity, but she still agrees to take him on as a cleaning client. As usual, Det. Chief Insp. Hunter Cowgill, who also admires Lois’s legs, assists in what Lois’s husband calls her “ferritin’.” Readers expecting a puzzling mystery will be disappointed. Agent: Georgia Glover, David Higham Associates (U.K.). (Dec.)