A small hill to die on A Penny Brannigan mystery

Review by Booklist Review

Transplanted American Penny Brannigan's spa and nail salon in small-town Llanelen, Wales, is about to receive some competition from Mai Grimstead, one of the new owners of Ty Brith Hall, who is opening a tanning salon that will also offer manicures. While Penny is on a painting jaunt, her dog finds the body of Mai's 19-year-old daughter, Ashlee. Although Penny promises her boyfriend, Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Davies, that she will stay out of the investigation, she is drawn into it as she begins to believe something strange is going on at Ty Brith Hall. To ferret out the Grimsteads' secrets, Penny's business partner, Victoria, agrees to go undercover as a cleaning woman at the hall. Meanwhile, small dogs are disappearing from Llanelen, and an eccentric woman and her brother may lead to the resolution of a long-ago murder. When Penny's snooping almost leads to her death, Davies must rush to save her in this satisfying addition to an entertaining cozy series.--O'Brien, Sue Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In Duncan's solid if unsurprising fourth cozy featuring nail salon owner Penny Brannigan (after 2011's A Killer's Christmas in Wales), Mai Grimstead, the owner of Nailz, a chain of nail bars and tanning salons, has just moved to Llanelen, Wales. Mai courteously stops by Penny's shop to inform her that she will soon have competition. But Nailz's new branch draws few customers, so why is its cash-deposit bag, which Penny spots one day at the bank, so much larger than her own? Meanwhile, Mai's children are unhappy in their new home, and one of these, her 19-year-old daughter, is displaying signs of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. When Penny stumbles on a corpse during a walk and realizes that the female victim was a customer, she once again turns sleuth, though her detective work does little to distinguish her from countless other curious, well-intentioned amateurs. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

The bucolic Welsh countryside is marred by the discovery of a dead pregnant teen on a hill. Soon salon owner Penny and her village colleagues find motives worth sharing with the authorities in her fourth cozy outing (after A Killer's Christmas in Wales). (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A mercantile rivalry turns murderous for Canadian expat Penny Brannigan. Penny and her partner Victoria, who own a popular spa, are a bit nervous when a chain of nail and tan salons extends its reach to Llanelen, the Welsh town where they've long been settled. Mai Grimstead, an English-born ethnic Vietnamese married to an Englishman, is the chain owner who has recently leased, with the option to buy, Ty Brith Hall, a large estate outside town. Mai's Birmingham-raised daughter Ashlee, 19, and her younger brother Tyler are not happy with moving so far from a proper city. Penny and a friend are out on a sketching trip when Penny's dog finds Ashlee's viciously beaten body. Although Mai claims that Ashlee had no boyfriends, she was pregnant. Her murder poses a difficult problem for Penny's boyfriend, DI Gareth Davies. Penny, eager to help him, asks Victoria to pose as a housecleaner and go undercover at Ty Brith to see what she can find out. In the meantime, someone has been stealing small dogs. Penny is furious when her friend's little terrier goes missing and adds dognapping to her investigative list. She does not realize that she is putting herself in mortal danger when what seems like a simple case of murder takes some unexpected turns. Although its mystery isn't the best among Duncan's Welsh cozies (A Killer's Christmas in Wales, 2011, etc.), this latest entry provides flashes of local color and the usual likable characters.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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One Penny Brannigan rolled over and glared at the glowing red numbers on her alarm clock. Four o'clock in the bloody morning. She'd done all the right things to prepare for a good night's sleep: a luxurious soak in a warm, fragrant bath, a cup of soothing chamomile tea, and relaxation exercises involving palm trees, turquoise waves, and a pink beach. She'd stretched out between clean sheets freshened with lavender linen spray and opened the most boring book the local librarian could locate--a history of farming practices in the old Soviet Union. Her efforts had worked, sending her quickly off to sleep. But a few minutes after one o'clock she awoke from an uneasy dream and now, after three sleepless hours shifting around in her bed listening to a BBC radio presenter interview a reality television personality about her new hair extensions, which she liked, and her ex-husband, whom she didn't, Penny was beside herself. Even if I get back to sleep within the next five minutes, she groaned, I'm going to be a basket case at work tomorrow. Or rather, today. She checked the clock again. Four hours from now. She switched off the radio and stared at the ceiling, allowing her thoughts to go into freefall. * * * "You look ghastly." Victoria Hopkirk looked up from her computer as Penny slid into the chair in front of her desk just after nine. "Thank you very much," moaned Penny. "I feel awful. I was awake half the night." "Trouble drifting off?" "Oh, I drift off all right but I just can't seem to stay asleep. I wake up and can't get off again. Honestly, it's driving me mad. I haven't had a proper night's sleep for weeks. I just lie there listening to rubbish on the radio and thinking about things. Like what happened to that poor woman whose body was found in the old ductwork." Several months earlier Penny and Victoria had bought a decaying old stone building beautifully and gracefully situated on the bank of the River Conwy and had overseen its conversion into an airy, bright, modern space. But the renovations had not gone smoothly. Workmen had discovered human and animal remains wrapped in a tatty old duvet in the ductwork. The body had been identified as that of Juliette Sanderson, who had worked as a kennel maid at Ty Brith Hall, and the animal remains were those of a cat. The woman had gone missing sometime in the 1960s and how she'd died and why her body had been hidden in the building for so many years remained an unsolved mystery. "We may never know what happened to her," Victoria replied, "and you certainly shouldn't be losing sleep over her. Have you been to see the doctor? She could prescribe something." "No! I don't want any tablets. You never know about side effects with those drugs. They might make me dopey." Victoria raised a well-shaped eyebrow. "Dopier?" emended Penny. "Well," said Victoria, "I hope you're going to be able to function well enough during the day to manage the Spa on your own because, if you'll recall, I'm taking some time off, starting tomorrow. We both put in a tremendous amount of work getting this place up and running and we deserve a break." She smiled. "It just so happens that I'm taking my break first." Victoria opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a glossy brochure. Holding it in both hands at arm's length, she displayed the cover to Penny. Penny's eyes swept over a photo of an idyllic farmhouse overlooking a neatly laid out vineyard. The image was bathed in the soft, warm light of late afternoon as wispy clouds drifted through a brilliant blue sky. "Tuscany? In January? I hope you're not expecting it to look anything like that. No rustic villas and sun-dappled piazzas for you, I'm afraid. It's bound to be every bit as cold and miserable as it is here." "Well, it may be, but the point is, it's not here. It's there. That's what's so great about getting away. A nice change of scenery always works wonders. And it's the off-season, so I've found a good deal on a pensione in Florence." She grinned. "There are some concerts that I'd love to go to and I've signed up for a cookery course with wine tasting. I really just made the decision to go last minute and got a fantastic package deal. I'm so excited." Penny's face went blank. "What's the matter?" Penny held up a finger and gave a loud sneeze. "Maybe that's your problem. Are you getting a cold?" "I hope not. That's the last thing I need right now. Anyway, you'd better tell me what I need to know about looking after the business while you're away." Penny cupped her chin in her hands. A few minutes later a gentle, reflective smile spread across her face as Victoria wrapped up her explanation on how she managed the day-to-day operations. "Seriously, I hope you have a fantastic time. How long will you be away? A fortnight?" "Actually," Victoria replied, "I was thinking a bit longer than that. Since I'm going anyway, I was thinking more like a month. Or maybe even six weeks." As Penny's smile faded and she started to protest, Victoria held up a hand. "Sorry, Penny, but it's all settled. I'm going. And anyway, it's not like the old days. I'll take my laptop, and if there are any problems or you've got questions, you just have to contact me and I'll get back to you right away. Sorted! There's Wi-Fi everywhere to check e-mail and I'll have my mobile with me. I'll show you everything before I go. How to do the banking and all that. Rhian has a good grasp of the business end of things. You'll be fine, and honestly, I do need to get away." Penny checked the time, gave the desk a little tap, and stood up. "Right, then. I'd better go. Mrs. Lloyd'll be arriving any minute for her manicure." * * * "I heard at the Over Sixties Club that we have some interesting newcomers in our midst," Mrs. Lloyd remarked as Penny began removing last week's nail polish. "Vietnamese people, they are, or at least everyone except the husband is. He's English. There's the mother and two teenagers and the mother's brother, and you'll never guess where this lot is living." Penny set down a scrunched-up cotton ball covered in brown nail polish and lifted the lid from a glass bowl where she kept clean cotton balls. "Where?" But before Mrs. Lloyd could reply, Rhian, the receptionist, poked her head around the door. "Penny, could I just have a quick word, please." She gave Mrs. Lloyd an apologetic smile. "Won't take a minute." Penny and Mrs. Lloyd exchanged quizzical looks and Penny stood up. "Excuse me. I'd better see what she wants." "Yes, you better had." Copyright © 2012 by Elizabeth J. Duncan Excerpted from A Small Hill to Die On: A Penny Brannigan Mystery by Elizabeth J. Duncan All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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