The Cold Light of Mourning

If you ignore the cliche title...
Cold Light of Mourning is one of those books where you are introduced to a slew of people right off the bat and, being a murder mystery, you want to remember every single one of them because you aren't sure who is important to the plot and who isn't. There is exceptional detail given to every single character as well and again, you want to remember it all in case there is a clue in there somewhere. Here are the first bunch of characters: Morwyn, niece of Mrs. Lloyd; Mrs. Evelyn Lloyd, regular customer of Peggy Brannigan, town manicurist; Emma Teasdale, deceased friend of Peggy, Meg Wynne Thompson, bride-to-be of Emyr Gruffydd; David Williams is best man to Emyr Gruffydd; Jennifer Sayles is maid of honor; show more Anne Davidson is a bridesmaid; Robbie Llewllyn is an usher; Philip Wightman is the funeral director; Reverend Thomas Evans is responsible for the Teasdale funeral and the Gruffydd wedding; Bronwyne is his wife. These are the people you meet in the first 25 pages of the book. By the end of the book you have met no less than 26 different characters (some important, others not so much).
So. You want to remember all these people (and more) because Meg Wynne goes missing on her wedding day, right after she gets a manicure. When she turns up murdered Peggy (remember her?) realizes the woman who came in to her have her nails done was not Meg Wynne. Thus begins the mystery. Who was the woman who had her nails done and what happened to Meg? Duncan takes us on a crazy ride. Her attempts to mislead us by introducing plausible murderers are feeble. I don't think I am ruining the plot if I say neither the nurse nor hairdresser did it, but aside from that, it is definitely a fun read. show less

First Line: Emma Teasdale had been ill for some time and on a cool evening in early June, alone and peacefully, she died.

When visiting the market town of Llanelen in North Wales as a young student, Penny Brannigan was taken under schoolteacher Emma Teasdale's wing. They became fast friends, and Penny moved from Nova Scotia in Canada to Llanelen where she opened a small nail salon. As the years passed, the two women shared their lives with each other just as a mother and daughter might. Emma's death, although expected, has greatly shaken Penny, leaving her feeling at loose ends.

Perhaps that's why she takes such an interest in the disappearance of bride-to-be Meg Wynne Thompson. Self-made Meg Wynne was about to be married to the local show more landowner, and townspeople didn't like her much. But when the young woman vanishes on the morning of her wedding and Penny is the last person to see her alive, Penny feels that she should do everything she can to help the police solve the mystery.

Although the identity of the person responsible for Meg Wynne's disappearance was rather transparent to me, there was so much that I liked about this book that I didn't care.

Starting out with the stock characters of a typical small town, Duncan has added layers to them and created a wonderful cast. Penny's troubled youth in Canada has made her an adult who prefers to be in her own company, but she is a genuinely observant and caring person. Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Davies and Detective Sergeant Bethan Morgan are the sort of police officers you want to show up in your town to look for a missing person. Davies in particular quickly learns to appreciate Penny's eye for detail.

Penny isn't the typical amateur sleuth that she describes to friends:

"What, you mean like those dotty middle-aged amateur lady sleuths that you see in books? Tramping all over the evidence, touching things they shouldn't, putting themselves in harm's way, and just generally annoying the police?"

When she feels that she has something important that will help the police find Meg Wynne, she immediately calls them. It certainly is refreshing to have an amateur sleuth be level-headed and sensible, and it's fun to watch the inspector start to take a shine to her.

Although the villain of the piece was easily guessed, what wasn't easy was figuring out how it was all done. Between the characters and the crime details, this was a very enjoyable, light mystery, and I look forward to meeting Penny again. show less

Elizabeth Duncan has chosen a quiet, picturesque setting in Wales, given us a transplanted Canadian as the protagonist, and has helped the genre immensely by getting us out of the bake shops, catering, cooking business and planting her amateur sleuth in a small one-woman manicure shop.

The town's most eligible bachelor is scheduled to wed a young woman "from away" and who is certainly not too well received by the local ladies. Penny Branigan, the manicurist, is mourning the death of her dearest friend whose funeral is scheduled the day after the wedding, so she is struggling to be pleasant when the bride to be arrives the morning of the wedding to have her nails painted.

When the bride later fails to appear for the wedding, it is Penny's show more observations from this "last sighting" that help the local Police Detective Chief Inspector Davies to accept that this may not be a case of a runaway bride. In the meantime, Penny meets and forms a friendship with a new visitor to town, a fellow Canadian Victoria. Together they embark upon looking for the missing woman, and of course (it's a cozy after all!) they ultimately crack the case.

The ending is almost saccharin, but fits the story perfectly, and leaves us knowing that this is only the first of many adventures of Penny, Victoria and DCI Davies. I'll definitely be looking for the second in the series show less

This easy-to-read, cozy mystery was a first from this author. It has the same wit and charm that you find in Agatha Christie mysteries with a late middle-aged manicurist who finds herself in the middle of the mystery of a vanishing bride who was last seen at her nail salon. With a touch of romance, lots of twists and turns, and enough clues to help you possibly determine the murderer, it definitely keeps your attention.

I admit I always find something odd about the term “cozy mystery”. Discovery of a dead body and the solving of a murder hardly seem like “cozy” fare to me. So what term to use for mysteries that focus less on gritty, dark details and instead on portraying the sheer humor and ordinariness of the human condition as well as the tragedy? I’d say: bloody good reading.



Duncan opens a new mystery series set in North Wales’ beautiful River Conwy region with this entry, introducing Canadian ex-pat Penny Brannigan. A manicurist and amateur painter by trade, decidedly on the far side of forty, and frequently asked by British citizens where in America she hails from, Penny is an unusual and engaging heroine. As a long-term resident of show more Llanelen, she offers elements of both an insider’s and outsider’s perspective of the village, the Clwyd region, and the North Welsh people.



Feeling the loss of her longtime best friend Emma Teasdale, the local schoolteacher, that story is soon old news in favor of the disappearance and murder of Meg Wynn Thompson, the elegant young fiancée of the local landowner’s son. Penny, unlike most other sleuths, takes little interest in the case to begin and is only gradually and believably drawn into the investigation. Her common sense and observant nature provide some vital links to the case, as well as a few amusing scenes of eureka, much to the bewilderment of one of her long-term customers.



As well, we’re introduced to Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Davies, who investigates the bride’s vanishing and finds much to admire in Penny as her intuition provides a vital break in the case. Their initial friendship and growing romance is quiet, subtle, a well-drawn and rather gentle sort of thing between two mature and likable people. It makes for a nice change from the frequent love/hate and tension-thick romance found in mysteries.



“The Cold Light of Mourning” is a poignant sort of read, encompassing passion and murder, but also finding room for love, loss, friendship, and the gentle and unique charm of the Welsh country life. The story, in the end, is not as much about Meg Wynn and the circumstances of her murder so much as the ripples it creates in Llanelen and its people. So while I still need to find a good term for a mystery that focuses as much on the facts of living as those of dying, I highly recommend “Mourning” as a great debut read. show less

When bride-to-be Meg Wynne Thompson disappears on her wedding day, it soon becomes apparent that manicurist Penny Brannigan was the last person to see her. Penny's observations provide helpful leads for DCI Gareth Davies and DS Bethan Morgan. As the police draw close to a solution with Penny's help, DCI Davies begins to develop more than a professional interest in Penny.

The clues weren't subtle enough to fool me, and I correctly pegged the guilty party very early on. However, I was charmed by the small Welsh town and its residents, including Penny and her new friend, harpist Victoria; the vicar and his wife with their secret (and harmless) vices, the gossipy retired postmistress, and the DCI and his younger partner. Llanelen is a town show more I'd like to visit. There are plenty of other series that I read for the puzzle. This is one I'll read for the setting and characters. show less

Penny Brannigan owns a nail salon in a small town in Wales. Her best friend Emma Teasdale has just died. Penny has just done the nails for a wedding party, but before the wedding can take place, the bride turns up missing. Since Penny appears to be the last to have seen the missing bride, she is questioned. She forges a friendship with Victoria, a Canadian who has recently come to town. The detectives are quite pleasant and competent, which is a little different than many mysteries featuring amateur sleuths. The characters seem to be quite likeable. There are some problems with the plot -- a few red herrings that never quite develop as the author probably intended and such. However, the characters and setting are pleasant enough that show more I'll probably read the second in the series. show less