Fifth grader Penny, who doodles to cope with anxiety, is cast in her class play.

"The island of Anglesey off the coast of North Wales is the perfect place for an idyllic midsummer painting holiday. Penny Brannigan is enjoying the retreat enormously-- until she discovers the body of a New Zealand journalist on a secluded beach. The death is ruled accidental, but Penny discovers a link to a mysterious disappearance several years earlier."--Provided by publisher.

Fifth grader Penny, who doodles to cope with anxiety, worries that her best friend is drifting away.

"When the body of well-liked and respectable Glenda Roberts is discovered at the bottom of a former slate mine--now a busy tourist attraction--pandemonium erupts in the North Wales town of Llanelen. Penny Brannigan finds herself drawn into the investigation when jars of her house-brand hand cream are found among counterfeit inventory Glenda and her sister were selling. Police are convinced that the mine operator --whose asthmatic son suffered an almost-fatal...

When the pregnant teenage daughter of a wealthy newcomer to Llanelen is found dead in the nearby woods, spa owner Penny Brannigan investigates the family's suspicious financial dealings while her paramour, Detective Inspector Davies, tracks down the killer.

From Carolyn Haywood, author of the beloved Betsy series, here are four more classics for young readers. These adorable stories of childhood adventures are as fresh today as when they were written more than a half century ago. And now, thanks to dynamic new covers, they're ready to charm a whole new generation of readers. Penny's name is really William, but when he was adopted as a baby, he had hair the color of a new copper penny. Adopted or not,...

"The residents of Llanelen are brimming with excitement. Antiques Cymru, a regional take on the popular national TV show, is coming to the Welsh town and people are flocking from miles around, hoping their attic treasures turn out to be worth a fortune. On the day of filming, quiet local sheep farmer Haydn Williams brings a generations-old long-case clock for evaluation, while the woman he's always admired from afar, Catrin Bellis, turns up with a...

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...

"If Penny Brighton didn't have bad luck, she'd have no luck at all. She lost her job. And her apartment. In the same day. But it's okay, her friend has a cozy storage unit she can crash in. And there's bound to be career opportunities at the neighborhood laundromat--just look how fast that 12-year-old who runs the place made it to management! Plus, there's this sweet guy at the community center, and maybe Penny can even have a conversation with him...

Penny Brannigan and her business partner, Victoria Hopkirk, are absorbed with the grand opening of their new spa. Meanwhile, an American stranger, Harry Saunders, arrives in town and sweeps widow Evelyn Lloyd off her feet. Some suspect Saunders is taking advantage of Evelyn, so it's no surprise when he goes missing with a healthy chunk of Evelyn's money and is eventually found dead outside Conwy Castle.