From Publishers Weekly
In Duncan's absorbing second Penny Brannigan mystery (after 2009's The Cold Light of Mourning), the Canadian ex-pat and artist has unexpectedly inherited a cottage in the village of Llanelen, Wales, from her late schoolteacher friend, Emma Teasdale. When Penny and her boyfriend, Det. Insp. Gareth Davies, discover a stash of intriguing letters inside an old dresser of Emma's, she decides to put off remodeling her new home in order to investigate Emma's past. The letters reveal Emma had a lesbian relationship in the 1960s with an up-and-coming artist, Alys Jones, who died in a hit-and-run accident in 1970. The authorities never determined who was responsible. As Penny methodically cleans the cottage rooms, she wonders why only one of Alys's paintings can be located. Feeling a strong connection to a fellow artist, Penny enlists the aid of various villagers in her quest for the truth about Alys's ''accident.'' Some early predictability doesn't spoil the cozy fun.
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From
When cleaning out the Welsh cottage she inherited from her good friend Emma, Penny Brannigan finds letters that allude to an affair Emma had with artist Alys Jones in 1967. When Penny learns that Alys died in an unsolved hit-and-run, she decides to track down the killer. Complicating matters, Penny and her friend Victoria are in the process of buying property to expand their manicure business, and Pennyβs relationship with Detective Inspector Gareth Davies seems to be cooling. Duncan spends time developing the personal lives of her appealing main and secondary characters, and it is their relationships that provide much of the novelβs appeal, along with the well-realized Welsh setting and the many details about running a small business. Readers who enjoy the English village cozy mysteries of Dorothy Cannell and Nancy Atherton will want to take a look at this series. --Sue OBrien