Book excerpt: Elizabeth J. Duncan spins a charming tale of murder and intrigue in her award-winning first novel, The Cold Light of Mourning. The picturesque North Wales market town of Llanelen is shocked when Meg Wynne Thompson, a self-made beauty who has turned out to be something of an unpopular bride, goes missing on her wedding day...and turns up dead. The last person believed to have seen her is manicurist Penny Brannigan, an expatriate Canadian who has lived in North Wales for almost twenty-five years. When Penny notices that something is not quite right at the funeral of her dearest friend, she becomes emotionally invested in the case, and sets out to investigate. It seems that several people, including the bride's drunken, abusive father, had reasons to wish Meg dead, but when the trail leads to her groom's home, an explosive secret will shake the small town. With its bucolic Welsh setting and vivid, colorful characters, this mystery is sure to delight the most discerning of traditional-mystery fans.