"Found Guilty at Five"

New from Berkley Prime Crime: Found Guilty at Five by Ann Purser.

About the book, from the publisher:

She’s had her hands full sorting out both clues and clutter in the village of Long Farnden. But a mother’s work is never done, and Lois Meade is discovering detective work is both dirty and dangerous...

A wedding is always a happy occasion, even if Lois Meade must remind herself she isn’t losing a daughter, but gaining a policeman. Luckily, her new son-in-law is in the Tresham force—and the nephew of her friend and collaborator Inspector Cowgill—so Lois has another link to the law at her disposal.

But sleuthing suddenly seems a little too close to home when her youngest son invites a mysterious young woman, Akiko, as a guest. Lois isn’t the only one who wonders why she refuses to talk about herself or her past. And when a thief waltzes off in the night with the young woman’s cello, Lois wastes no time in enlisting the inspector to help find the valuable instrument.

Before Lois can take note of the whereabouts of the vanishing cello, Akiko goes missing. The discovery that this could be another in a string of murderous musical thefts means Lois must pull out all the stops to find the girl and protect her son—before the music stops permanently...

Visit Ann Purser's website.