Crossword Genius

Read that there were keys to a new purse (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

perused

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'read that there' is the definition.
'perused' can be an answer for 'read' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the rest of the definition.

'were keys to a new purse' is the wordplay.
'were keys' becomes 'ed' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'a new' indicates anagramming the letters.
'purse' anagrammed gives 'perus'.
'ed' put after 'perus' is 'PERUSED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for perused that I've seen before include "Browsed" , "Read (something) very carefully" , "Studied" , "Scanned" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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