Slated for Death

February 9, 2015
Dorothy Sayers fans will welcome Duncan’s fifth Penny Brannigan mystery set in North Wales (after 2013’s Never Laugh as a Hearse Goes By). When the body of the primary organizer of the annual St. David’s Day concert is discovered in the abandoned slate mine, now a tourist attraction, where the concert is to take place, Penny is quick to step in and help Det. Chief Insp. Gareth Davies with the investigation. Meanwhile, Penny and her business partner in the Llanelen Spa discover that someone is selling a counterfeit version of the spa’s special hand lotion at the local market. Penny must also keep the concert’s special-guest singer happy. Duncan doesn’t generate much tension or suspense as she shifts among the various story lines, but she does a good job evoking the toil and hardship intrinsic to the slate mining industry that supported the area’s economy for over two centuries. She manages a neat surprise ending, too. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency.

February 1, 2015
A murder in a Welsh slate mine challenges an amateur sleuth. Canadian expat Penny Brannigan has long since become part of the community in Llanelen, where she and her harp-playing partner, Victoria Hopkirk, own a highly successful spa. Glenda Roberts, one of her customers, is organizing a St. David's Day concert in the depths of the Llyn Dhu slate mine, where her father died. The mine, which ceased operations years ago, is run as a living history museum. When Glenda is found dead in the mine, Penny's friend DCI Gareth Davies finds that she was struck down with a slate splitter. Victoria, concerned about all the money that must be paid out even if the concert doesn't come off, begs Penny to take over its leadership. Glenda, whose abrasive personality won her few friends, leaves behind a small number of mourners: her mother, Doreen; her son, Peris; and her sister, Rebeccah, who runs a market stall. When Doreen dies unexpectedly in her nursing home, Penny, who's often helped Gareth (A Small Hill to Die On, 2012, etc.), can't resist snooping around with the help of another nursing home resident. Gareth, ever hoping to marry Penny, is always willing to hear her theories, one of which links Rebeccah and Glenda to a scheme to sell counterfeits of the spa's hand cream and other goodies. So many people disliked Glenda that you'd think Penny and her friends would be hard-pressed to pick out the one who was willing to kill. Actually, the mystery is easy to solve. But the tutorial on slate mining and plenty of local color make for an entertaining entry in this long-running series.

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April 1, 2015

The annual St. David's Day concert is fast approaching in the tiny Welsh town of Llanelen, where local spa co-owner Penny Brannigan also moonlights as an amateur detective. To honor the town's rich mining history, the concert organizers decide to hold the musical extravaganza in Llyn Du, an abandoned mine recently transformed into a popular tourist attraction. Everything goes according to plan until the concert organizer, Glenda Roberts, turns up dead in the mine. The show must go on, however: there's too much money at stake. Penny steps up to take charge of the show, slipping into her now-familiar role of local sleuth in the process. She works alongside DCI Gareth Davies, who still carries a torch for her, as they investigate the mine's dark history--many of the townspeople lost loved ones there--and Glenda's own past--her abrasive ways earned her few friends. VERDICT The charming, unusual setting and quirky cast of characters make Duncan's sixth (after 2013's Never Laugh as a Hearse Goes By) book in the series an entertaining read that's only enhanced by the many tutorials on slate mining and Welsh history.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2015
Penny Brannigan, a Canadian expat running a salon in rural Llanelen, Wales, has put her romance with DCI Gareth Davies on hold and launched a line of hand creams. Her salon partner, Victoria, has agreed to accompany a choir on her harp at a special concert to be presented in the nearby closed slate mine on St. David's Day, March 1. The concert planner, Glenda Roberts, though, turns up dead in the mine, and Penny is asked to step in so the concert can go forward. Penny also learns that Glenda's sister is selling a knockoff of the hand cream Penny is marketing, and the mine operator's son has an asthma attack from the ingredients in the fake cream. Meanwhile, town busybody and former postmistress Mrs. Lloyd natters on about Glenda's father dying in the mine. Penny is left wondering about the connections between the current events and the old stories, and shares her questions and findings with Davies and his assistant, Bethan Morgan. This remains a delightful series, with continuing characters adding texture to the already-good story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)