The Marmalade Murders
A Penny Brannigan Mystery
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
The Marmalade Murders is the ninth book in Elizabeth J. Duncan's award-winning mystery series, celebrated for its small-town charm and picturesque Welsh setting and starring amateur sleuth Penny Brannigan.
The competition is friendly and just a little fierce at the annual Llanelen agricultural show as town and country folk gather for the outdoor judging of farm animals and indoor judging of cakes, pies, pastries, chutneys, jams and jellies, along with vegetables, fruit and flowers. But this year, there’s a new show category: murder.
Local artist, Spa owner, and amateur sleuth Penny Brannigan agrees to help with the intake of the domestic arts entries and to judge the children’s pet competition on show day. When the president of the Welsh Women's Guild isn’t on hand to see her granddaughter and pet pug win a prize, the family becomes concerned. When a carrot cake entered in the competition goes missing, something is clearly amiss.
A black Labrador Retriever belonging to the agricultural show’s president discovers the body of the missing woman under the baked goods table. A newcomer to town, a transgender woman, is suspected, but amateur sleuth Penny Brannigan believes her to be innocent. She sets out to find the real killer, but when a second body is discovered days later, the case is thrown into confusion, and Penny knows it’s up to her to figure out what happened—and why.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Llanelen, Wales, Duncan's middling ninth Penny Brannigan mystery (after 2017's Murder Is for Keeps) finds Penny and Victoria Hopkirk, co-owners of Llanelen Spa, volunteering to help at the home crafts section of the town's agricultural show. The pair are greeted by Joyce Devlin, president of the show committee, and everything goes smoothly until they realize they're missing entries from Gaynor Lewis, president of the Welsh Women's Guild, and their friend Florence Semple. Florence's jam wins a first, but her marmalade and carrot cake have disappeared. When Penny looks under the home crafts table for the missing items, she discovers Gaynor's body. Insp. Bethan Morgan may be in charge of the subsequent murder investigation, but Penny's knowledge and insight, plus her insatiable curiosity, prove to be invaluable to the case. Another death raises the stakes. Figuring out the meaning of the missing marmalade could be the key to the mystery. Duncan's inviting picture of life in rural Wales compensates only in part for unremarkable characters and a strained plot.)
