On Deadly Tides: A Penny Brannigan Mystery

Duncan’s solid 11th Penny Brannigan mystery (after 2019’s Remembering the Dead) sends watercolorist Penny to the picturesque Welsh town of Beaumaris on the island of Anglesey for a painting course taught by Bill Ward, a TV personality turned artist. In a bar on her first night in Beaumaris, Penny meets Colin Campbell, a charming Canadian wildlife photographer, and Jessica Graham, an enthusiastic young reporter from New Zealand, who tells Penny she’s on assignment to interview Ward, as well as research a New Zealand man’s disappearance in Beaumaris seven years earlier. After Penny finds Jessica’s body at the bottom of a cliff the next morning, the police decide it was an accidental fall. But Penny suspects foul play, and when Jessica’s grief-stricken mother shows up to claim her daughter’s body, Penny feels compelled to get involved. Penny’s subsequent inquiries uncover a link between Jessica’s death and the missing man. The romance that develops between her and Colin complements the sleuthing. Duncan skillfully takes her classic village mystery series in a new direction. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Nov.)