A Brush with Death [Mass Market Paperback]

Acclaim for A Brush with Death

“Duncan is a born storyteller whose ability to create appealing characters, evoke a strong sense of place, and fashion a clever plot are accompanied by another gift: a faculty for writing flawlessly smooth prose. A Brush with Death is a close encounter with talent.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Duncan’s second is every bit as delightful as her debut…a smoothly written classic English mystery right up there with the best.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Duncan spends time developing the personal lives of her appealing main and secondary characters, and it is their relationships that provide much of the novel’s 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.”—Booklist

“Absorbing.”—Publishers Weekly

“Duncan writes so well about the lives of people in a small village in Wales that the reader becomes immersed in their daily trials and tribulations…sure to appeal to fans of M.C. Beaton and Agatha Christie.”—Library Journal

Praise for The Cold Light of Mourning

“A gentle delight…sure to please fans of the classic English mystery.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A runaway bride is the linchpin of Canadian writer Duncan’s delightful debut...The scenic Welsh backdrop, village personalities and a budding romance for Penny add color and interest.” —Publishers Weekly

“Admirable and appealing...combines a worthy plot, a congenial heroine and a sure sense of place—Duncan’s depiction of village life is spot-on—to produce a story that nears perfection. Readers will want to see more of Penny—and more of Duncan’s pleasing prose.”—Richmond-Times Dispatch

“Duncan lulls readers with her soothing prose and depiction of small-town life in Wales and then startles them with a shocker of a denouement. Readers who enjoy Louise Penny, another Canadian mystery author of note, and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden mysteries will love this one.”—Library Journal

“Well-developed characters and a nicely delineated Wales setting are what make this stylish cozy work.”—Booklist

“[S]torytelling with polished exposition, pacing and edgy dialogue. Characters sparkle, and the dark side that lurks just at the edge of most innocent scenes is drawn with skill and depth. A must-read.”—Hamilton Spectator

When Penny moves to her cottage in the small Welsh town of Llanelen and begins sorting through the belongings of her benefactor, a deceased teacher, she comes upon a packet of love letters from a promising young Liverpool artist named A. Jones. An artist herself, Penny sets out to discover more about this mysterious painter who met a tragic end in an accident in 1970.

While at a retrospective art exhibition in Liverpool, Penny recognizes what she believes to be a watercolor painted by Jones. But it is attributed to another artist. Helped once more by a small group of townsfolk, including her enterprising business partner, Victoria Hopkirk, Penny sets out to prove her suspicion that art theft is at the heart of the case, and that Jones’s death was no accident.