For as long as I can remember Canadians have been paying quite a bit more for books than Americans have. If you look at the back of any paperback you will see what I mean. They are pre-priced and often the Canadian price is about three dollars more than the US one. During the past six months, the US dollar has lost its value internationally. At one point the Canadian dollar was on a par with the American dollar. When this happened, I asked the encyclopedia to whom I am married if this was affecting the cost of books in Canada at all. He told me that distributors were complaining about the price of books in Canada. If the dollar was on a par why should Canadians pay more for books?
During our recent stay the Canadian dollar was not par with the American but it was worth 90 American cents for a few days. Because of all of this, I was not totally surprised when I bought a paperback in Montreal that cost only C$7.50 when the American price was $6.99. The truth is I was delighted. I have always felt that publishers were really penalizing their Canadian audience.
The book I bought at the new lower pricing was Sorrow on Sunday by Ann Purser. It has been a long time since I have read one of her books. Of course it is a mystery. It is set in a small town in England and the heroine is a bright woman who is probably around forty. Purser started the series with Murder on Monday in which Lois Meade sets up her own business called New Brooms. She is an efficient and thorough house cleaner and soon discovers that she is just as good as a business woman. Because her job takes her in and out of local homes, the local police detective Hunter Cowgill decides that it is to his advantage to have Lois work with him on a few of his cases.
By Sorrow on Sunday Lois is a well established undercover agent for the police. However, she soon discovers that her work with Cowgill is no longer a secret when she becomes the target of a local crime syndicate. This mystery moves along at a good pace. It is uncomplicated and an easy and entertaining novel. I cannot decide whether I like Lois or not. She probably would have me totally intimidated if she and I were to meet. I am neither sassy nor outspoken.
Since Purser has made it all of the way through the week, her book that came out last November has a new theme, Warning at One. I’ll have to see if I can find it at my local library now that I am on my way back home.
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Since your post, Ann Purser website has been revamped to include interaction and feedbacks from readers. Her daugther Emily Ault, who is an accomplished illustrator drew a series of new illustrations of all the major characters in the Lois Meade series. The illustrations are published on the site. Her new book, Tragedy at Two is to be published in December 2009.
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