A Brush with Death

Penny Brannigan #2

by Elizabeth J. Duncan

When Penny Brannigan inherits a charming, old-fashioned cottage in the North Wales town of Llanelen, she soon realizes she has come into more than what real estate agents like to describe as a desirable period property: She's also acquired memories, mystery, and an unsolved, decades-old crime.

As Penny sorts through the belongings of her benefactor, a deceased teacher, she comes upon a packet of letters from a promising young Liverpool artist, A. Jones, who was killed in an accident in 1970. An artist herself, Penny sets out to discover who killed this painter, and is helped by a small group of townsfolk, including her business partner, Victoria Hopkirk. 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, leading her to suspect that art theft was at the heart of the case, and that Jones's death was no accident.

In her eagerly awaited sequel Duncan wonderfully revisits the bustling Welsh town and vibrant characters introduced in The Cold Light of Mourning. With its lyrical prose and tantalizing puzzle, this new mystery is a treat on many levels.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, British Literature, Ebooks

272 pages, Hardcover

First published July 14, 2010

About the author

After graduating from Carleton University, Ottawa, with a BA in English, Elizabeth J. Duncan worked as a writer and editor for some of Canada’s largest newspapers, and as a public relations practitioner.

A two-time winner of the Bloody Words Award for Canada's best light mystery, she is the author of two traditional mystery series, Penny Brannigan set in North Wales and Shakespeare in the Catskills featuring costume designer Charlotte Fairfax,
Elizabeth divides her time between Toronto, Canada and Llandudno, North Wales.

Reviews

[❂ Murder by Death · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ok. I didn't much like the relationship between the protagonist and her "best friend", Victoria. I thought this relationship was too accelerated in the first book and in this one, I found it annoying, stilted, and a bit herky-jerky. I'm not against reading a third one, if released, but I'm not going to rush out to get it on publication.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading several intense thrillers it was relaxing to read something less stressful. While not intellectually challenging I learned about Stuart Sutcliffe, a Scottish painter and musician best known as the original bass guitarist for the Beatles. A promising artist, he died of a brain aneurysm at 21. His name was mentioned casually in the book so I googled him.
Other than that the book was pretty silly.

[Val Sanford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dulwhitted dialogue kept this book from humming along. With an interesting and intriguing plot line that never quite got of the ground, Penny and her band of villagers bumble about and find amazing clues for an event that occurred 30 years or more ago. Penny uncovers secrets about her friend Emma and then tells the world; so out of character for this proper Welch woman. This book peters out at the end and was so anticlimactic, I initially thought my copy had the final pages missing. I wanted to like this as much as the first in the series, but sadly, it was not to be.

[Bebe (Sarah) Brechner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, poignant story

The Penny Brannigan series is always solid, and this second one is definitely interesting. It features a decades-old cold case centering on the Liverpool art scene in the 1970's, and it gives the reader a poignant reminder of secrets that had to be kept due to societal mores. Penny's personal life is moving along, albeit a bit slowly, but that is the pace of these books. I really like the art element in this series.

[Nora-adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series and how Penny is sort of the Cold Case queen of the village.

[Becky Tatar · Rating 5 out of 5]

After Penny moves into her new house, left to her by her friend Emma, she stumbles on a decades old mystery. Along the way, Victoria, Gareth, and others pitch in to help solve a hit and run that killed a friend of Emma's. Secrets abound, and life in a small Welsh village is great, along with Penny and Victoria's expansion of their business.

[LaRae☕️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an enjoyable comfort read. I did like the first one better, but I'll definitely read more when I'm in the mood for North Wales.

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy to have found the earlier Penny Brannigan mysteries! Just a quality British cozy written by a Canadian!

[CLM · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review:

https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...

[AngryGreyCat · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Brush with Death is the second in the Penny Brannigan series set in Wales. This book picks up right where the first one left off. Penny is living in the cottage she inherited from her close friend, Emma. She stumbles upon a mystery from Emma’s past and feels compelled to follow it to the end. I quite enjoyed the first in this series, however this one fell somewhat flat for me.

The positives are the character descriptions and the setting. Well executed to the point that the reader can “see” the people and the town. There are a couple new characters that are introduced that I assume will be recurring because of the time spent developing them. The mystery was interesting and I definitely had the culprit wrong, however there was information withheld from the reader until the reveal, so I don’t suppose you could solve it completely.

The negatives are that the romantic subplot didn’t really work for me. I didn’t get a sense of chemistry between the characters, but that is not a huge element in a mystery. The dialogue was often stilted or on the other had silly. The mystery seemed almost secondary, a bit emphasis in the book was the examination of change in social issues. Although the portrayal of attitudes and the connection to a possible murder motive made this pertinent, it felt overshadowing to me.

I really did like the first book, so I might pick up the third one given the opportunity.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been steadily reading Rhys Bowen's Evan Constable series and quite enjoying it. Throughout the series, there seems to be a bit of bias against people who live in England and even the South Wales despite their close proximity and the size of the UK. With A Brush with Death, another cozy but different author entirely, there is little or no animosity shown among anyone.
I apparently enjoyed Elizabeth J. Duncan, because I noted on my Goodreads tags to Continue. Now, I am done with #2, I question whether I want to continue. I really want to rate it a 2.5. I liked the premise, but somehow have not warmed up to Penny or her partner. The sleuthing was too simple and villain too easily spotted.
I have SO many books on my TBR pile, I am not sure I want to continue with the series.

[Rw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiler alert!
I like cozy mysteries, but this one had too many gaping plot holes and threads that went no where, like who dumped the dog, vandalized the animals, nearly ran Penney over etc.
The book said that Emma, not Alys was being followed. who followed her, and why is never explained. (unless it was a musprint, and they followed Alys).
additionally, if they were so discreet & rarely met at Emma's home, how did the killers know just when and where to find Alys? especially in the dark, before dawn.

also, if they followed Emma, why did they need to stop and ask for directions? seems pretty stupid to commit a murder and need directions.

why were the fellow teachers at the art school not questioned more thoroughly in the first place?

and finally, killing over jealousy because someone is a better artist just seems weak.

as I mentioned in a comment below, the friendship between Victoria and Penney was just really not very friendly at all.

[Kathy Moberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the first book in this series, The Cold Light of Mourning. This second one, however, was a disappointment. The characters are not nearly as interesting and well drawn. Some of the exchanges between them are wooden or silly, and there were paragraphs here and there that struck me as filler material. The mystery itself was good enough that I had to finish the book, because I did want to find out what happened, so that is a plus. I skimmed as fast as I could from the middle to the end, though. I will wait and see how other people review the next book before I decide whether to give the series another chance.

[Priya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another shot to the Penny Brannigan series and its even more disappointing than the first one!
There is no actual depth to any of the characters and they interact terribly with one another often bordering on the rude side.
Penny continues being the selfish friend, running off to fulfil her own fantasies while a kid manages her entire "manicure business" and Victoria (introduced in the first book) does all processing needed for expanding their work.
I could not wait to finish this one - end of the series for me!

[Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book felt a little flat to me, unlike The Cold Light of Mourning, which was quite wonderful. I liked the personal developments for the various characters, but the mystery itself seemed not that mysterious. Still, I liked the story well enough. I will likely read the next one, when it comes out.

[Pepper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually give four or five stars if the story interests me and I like the characters. The characters in this book were flat and uninteresting. I finished the book… The last 20 pages were better than the rest… I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and I don't think I'll try any of her others - way overpriced for a short ebook. The author can, however, write so I gave two stars.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really skimmed through this quite quickly because I just want to get to the third book which is a Christmas book, and that's all I want to read right now. It picks up the very next day after book 1 and soon has Penny caught up in another mystery. I am enjoying the pacing a bit more, but still don't have the patience right now to read it completely through. Ready to move on to book 3.

[Caroline Ingvaldsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in a really appealing series about an amateur artist/profession manicurist and entrepeneur and passionate amateur sleuth set in lush rural Wales.
Continue to highly recommend to cozy readers who would enjoy a more likeable Agatha Raisin.

[Rhiannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an uncaptivating read. Mystery.

[Linda Chambers · Rating 2 out of 5]

The scenery descriptions were nice. But they don't make up for there being no suspense and a rather lackluster reveal of the murderer. This book dragged.

[Niffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. I don't even really know where to begin with this one.

I didn't get very far into this book before I went back to my review of the first book in this series, because this one was so bad that I couldn't imagine the first book was good enough that I wanted to read this one. This was my description of the beginning of that book:

we meet the local police. These are not bumbling idiots who are more concerned with solving a crime quickly even if it means someone who is not guilty is blamed. These are not bitter cops or cops who treat everyone around them as idiots or who are more concerned about their career trajectory than about getting things right. These are good cops, with a solid grasp of procedure. They know who to contact when they need warrants. They contact the next of kin with every step forward in their investigation. They are considerate of the people they are interviewing, yet focused on solving the crime.

And our protagonist realizes she might know something, so she calls the police immediately. She doesn't run off on her own to investigate. She calls and tells them, and they investigate. Then she remembers something else and calls again. And they investigate again.

But then I continue

Then it was like the bottom fell out of the story.

So this book didn't even start decently. There was no pretense that the police were even taking the lead on this case. Okay, it was a cold case. But they pulled out their files on the case, took it over to the MC's house, and set up a white board to tape pictures to and write pertinent details about the case. WTH?

But even more than that, the attitudes of the characters drove me nuts. One of the key details early on (I don't consider it a spoiler if it happens in the first 50 pages, but I won't reveal all the details) is that one character who was well known in the local village before she passed was a lesbian, and no one knew. The main character says something like, "I knew her for years and she never even put a hand on my knee or anything." Because I guess lesbians of course hit on every woman they come across? And later this information is shared with others in the village--not everyone, of course, because they know some people in the village would have an issue with it--and people say things like, "Are you saying she was a lesbian?" and "If she really was, you know, that way...."

This book was published in 2010. I know that was 15 years ago and even in 15 years there have been a lot of changes in how society views the gay community. But even 15 years ago I wouldn't have expected that kind of ignorance and distaste to be so pervasive in a book--especially considering that a key part of the book was how much attitudes had changed towards the gay community since the 1970s! It seemed to me that the author was trying to pretend she was okay with it but she really isn't.

Setting that issue to the side, the main character really just came across as a real b**** in general. She really pushes her "best friend" around. She assumes her friend will make dinner for a gathering, or that her friend will be okay bearing the burden of their joint business while the MC runs around solving a mystery. When her friend proposes that they hire someone else--a younger woman to bring in a younger crowd of clients--the MC insists that the new girl absolutely must first learn how to make the perfect coffee for them because that will be her most important task, and she can't have tattoos or piercings, and and and..... Once the new girl is hired, the MC barely trains her before spending all her time running around and leaving her new employee completely alone. Okay, the girl had gotten a certificate in doing manicures, but there are so many other things that are important about training someone. I used to manage a small store and we would train new employees for a couple of weeks before we let them work on their own, and even then we were always available via phone.

I want to give this book one star, but I did actually finish it. So a very reluctant two stars. And I won't be reading more of this series.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another easy read with many of the same charactors as the first book and some new ones that I imagine will continue to "pop up" in the series.

Penny and her friend Victoria are planning to renovate an old building in the Welch town where they live. It will be a spa plus the nail salon that Penny has owned for many years. As if she doesn't have enough to do.....Penny has inherited the cottage of a long time friend. She finds out some secrets about Emma that she never knew. One includes a Cold Case of Emma's artist friend, Alys Jones. To keep Penny out of police business her friend Garth Davis from the local police gives her information so she can look into Alys' death. Penny's art background helps her know where to look for clues, with the help of her longtime and new friends!

I enjoyed the book and the easy read it was. The Welch names are rather hard to keep in my head but the plot is fun to follow! Unlike some of the reviews of the first book that I read, I found myself picturing the small town and the area that Penny lives in.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) This is the second book in the Penny Brannigan series. Penny is getting settled into the cottage her friend Emma willed to her and is figuring out what she wants to change. Gareth offers to help her clear out the cottage of her friend’s belongings that Penny does not want to keep. They come across a packet of love letters to Emma from an artist named A. Jones. Curious, Penny finds out that the artist was killed by a car, and that her relationship with Emma was a secret. As she learns more about Alys and her relationship with Emma, she finds more mysteries and begins to suspect that Alys was deliberately murdered. In the meantime, she and Victoria are working on setting up a full service spa, when bones are discovered in the ducts, with the possibility of another unsolved murder. Penny hopes that she can find answers that may bring peace to Alys and Emma and Alys’ family.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting caught my eye - Wales. I enjoyed the first in the series, and decided to keep going. In A Brush With Death, the author handles a pre-1970s lesbian relationship at the center of a cold case murder mystery with sensitivity. Penny never knew her older friend Emma hid a secret. Penny becomes determined to learn the truth, and bring a killer to justice.

One piece of dialogue jumped out at me. A body is discovered - a murder victim from 20 or more years ago. No one seems to have been reported missing. Mrs. Lloyd shares her thoughts:

"But sometimes people just disappear, and no one knows they're gone and no one misses them. People who are estranged from their families and have no friends. They're dead, but no one knows they're dead. They might just as well have moved to another city, or even moved to another country, for that matter. Who knows? Who cares? No one."

[Nese · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second in the series, A Brush with Death is about Penny’s relationship with DCI Gareth Davies and her business partner, Victoria Kirkwood, Penny’s moving in her new cottage left to her by her deceased best friend, and feeling responsible for finding the killer of a promising artist, who had happened to be the lover of Penny’s deceased best friend. I enjoyed mostly reading about the developing relationships and didn’t care for the murder mystery, especially about the cliffhanger at the end. By the end of the book, two murder mysteries are solved but not the third one and I generally don’t like books leaving one wondering, but I enjoy the author’s writing style in general so much that I plan on reading the rest of the books in the series.

[Michelle Hartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really getting into these books. They are as pleasant a read as the Miss Read, or Rebeccca Shaw books. Although published in the early 2010's, they have a feeling of English history to them. But, the authors description of today's business relations is spot on. I really liked that the two business partners even sniped at each other. Many mysteries or novels make people behave in such unbelievable ways. Noe Duncan, her characters are spot on. This was no sophomoric effort, and i'm starting the third book right away.

[Clara Baker Baldwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this second of the series. Penny and her friends and neighbors have a nice relationship that comes across in the book.
The subject of this book would certainly have been controversial then, but I'm glad that was not the cause of death. (Had to rewrite this part when I realized it might be a spoiler!)
On to A Killer's Christmas in Wales! And in looking up the title, I see another series by the author!

[Ann-Maree Ozanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at a book exchange to read over summer and was surprised at how quickly and easily I finished it. Was an enjoyable read and couldn’t put it down once I thought I’d figured out who ‘dunnit’ Characters were easy to get to know - not sure I liked Victoria though as it was hard to imagine a good relationship between her and Penny. Looking forward to reading the other ones in this series :)

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this second in a series. Few quibbles: Victoria is a saint letting Penny basically drop her work to sleuth and Penny's problem with Gareth was silly for such a smart woman. BUT the characters are developing nicely, and introduction of new characters is interesting. A "cold case" mystery, where most of the story takes you back to the 1960s, was a different spin that I liked. A bit of Liverpool history rounds it all out.

[Sarah Hearn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took ages to read this because it was on my Kobo and I only bring that with me from time to time. This wasn’t as good as the first Penny Brannigan novel or the last few. The plot was a bit lame but I did appreciate the fact that the author, although Canadian, understands British idiom and makes her characters speak as normal people do. I’ll keep reading the series though because I like the characters and the community of Llanelen.