A Brush with Death by Elizabeth J. Duncan

Spa owner Penny Brannigan has just moved into the cottage that she inherited from her friend, Emma. While going through Emma's possessions, Penny discovers that Emma had been in love with a woman named Alys Jones, who was a promising painter. Alys died in a hit-and-run near Emma's home forty years ago. With the police's blessing, Penny and her friends work together to find out if Alys' death was an accident or murder. A Brush with Death is the second book in the Penny Brannigan series.