Ann Purser is the national bestselling author of the Lois Meade Mysteries (Scandal at Six, Found Guilty at Five, Foul Play at Four) and the Ivy Beasley Mysteries (The Sleeping Salesman Enquiry, The Wild Wood Enquiry, The Measby Murder Enquiry, The Hangman's Row Enquiry). She was born in Market Harborough in Leicestershire, and has lived most of her life in villages. She has turned her hand to many things, including journalism (as a columnist for SHE magazine), keeper of hens and donkeys, art gallery owner, clerical assistant in a village school, Open University graduate, novelist, mother of three, wife of Philip Purser, critic and writer. She is an avid reader of detective stories.