Ivy Beasley is a cantankerous, older woman who has relocated
to a retirement home to be near her only relative, her younger cousin
Deirdre. Ivy Beasley might be recognized
by some readers as previously inhabiting the village of Round Ringford as a
character in author Ann Purser’s non-mystery Round Ringford
series. I’ve not read the Round Ringford
books so this mystery series is my introduction to her. I love this line drawing of Ivy but don’t know
who to attribute it to.
Ivy is unhappy and bored living with a bunch
of old people in the retirement home, but she isn’t the type of person who
makes friends easily because of her prickly and sometimes sanctimonious demeanor. Soon another newcomer to town befriends her
after church one day. Augustus Halfhide
is a tall, thin secretive man who seems to be keeping a very low profile in
town. When Gus and Ivy get together
after church one day, they decide to establish an inquiry agency. (After all, in my experience the
gray-haired network is one of the most efficient research groups in
a community!)
Deirdre joins the group, too,
since they need her for transportation and as a financial backer for this new enterprise. Deirdre is bored, too, if she would admit it. Soon another member of the retirement home
joins the agency and Enquire Within is born.
They soon have their first case when Gus’ elderly neighbor is found
murdered in her cottage next to Gus’. I
think you either enjoy this cozy series and appreciate the unlikely group of
protagonists, with their over the top quirkiness and grouchy moods, or you hate the series.
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The books in this series are as follows:
The Hangman's Row Enquiry
Berkley Prime Crime, 2010
The Measby Murder Enquiry
Berkley Prime Crime, 2011
Read in Kindle download
The Wild Wood Enquiry
Berkley Prime Crime, 2012
Read in Kindle download
About the Author, Ann Purser:
(Author biography taken from Goodreads)
Ann 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. Purser brings a wide range of experiences to her writing. She was a magazine columnist for 6 years and an art gallery proprietor for 10 years.
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 is mother of a daughter with cerebral palsy and wrote a non-fiction book for parents of children with disabilities.
She obtained an Oxford Degree as an adult and eventually decided to try her hand at 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.
Because Purser is a big fan of detective fiction, her next series became the Lois Meade Mysteries, each title reflecting a day of the week--Murder on Monday was born, Terror on Tuesday, and Weeping on
Wednesday. The rest of the week follows! The Ivy Beasley series is the most recent one.
Purser sets aside mornings for her writing, and the rest of the day finds her walking the dog, retrieving bantams’ eggs from around the garden, gossiping and taking part in the life of the village.
Purser sets aside mornings for her writing, and the rest of the day finds her walking the dog, retrieving bantams’ eggs from around the garden, gossiping and taking part in the life of the village.
