It is always exciting for an author when a reader really enjoys their book. Hunter's Chase was published in 2017 and I am thrilled that new 5* reviews are being posted.
The Blurb
Hunter by name – Hunter by nature: DI Hunter Wilson will not rest until Edinburgh is safe.
Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson knows there is a new supply of cocaine flooding his city, and he needs to find the source, but his attention is transferred to murder when a corpse is discovered in the grounds of a golf course.
Shortly after the post-mortem, Hunter witnesses a second murder, but that is not the end of the slaughter. With a young woman's life also hanging in the balance, the last thing Hunter needs is a new man on his team: Detective Constable Tim Myerscough, the son of his nemesis, the former Chief Constable Sir Peter Myerscough.
Hunter's perseverance and patience are put to the test time after time in this first novel in The Edinburgh Crime Mysteries series.
The Review
5* A big police detective story full of personal drama
A thief breaks into the Edinburgh home of Scotland’s minister of Justice. He’s helping himself to various valuable, including a wad of cash in a desk, when the minister arrives home early and surprises him. The minister is up in years, but he gives chase. The thief reaches a nearby golf course when he stumbles and breaks his ankle. What he’s stumbled over, or into, is the dead body of a woman. Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson arrives to take charge of the case, and he’s just thrilled when the burglary victim turns out to be his former boss in the police force. The two never got along when they had to work together, and they likely won’t be getting along still. The body, a red-haired woman in her 40s, shows signs of old physical abuse. What complicates the case even further is the burglary suspect, who stoutly maintains that the bag of cocaine in the wad of cash is not his. And if it’s not his, then it must belong to Scotland’s minister of Justice. “Hunter’s Chase” is the first of five novels in the Edinburgh Crime Mystery series by Val Penny. It introduces the reader to Hunter Wilson and his team of detectives, including the brand-new team member, the son of the minister of Justice. It’s a big story, with a large number of characters, generally organized into police, their families, and the main players and families of two chief villains. As the story progresses, all of these stories begin to intermingle in an engrossing tale of drugs, petty crime, murders, family passions, and old secrets. Wilson, divorced, will come to understand that his own family is enmeshed as well. Penny, an American living in southwestern Scotland, has written five novels in the Edinburgh Crime Mysteries series: “Hunter’s Chase,” “Hunter’s Revenge,” “Hunter’s Force,” “Hunter’s Blood,” and “Hunter’s Secret.” Hunter’s Chase is a finely wrought story, a big story full of personal drama, well-developed characters, and a very past pace that that keeps the reader’s attention riveted.
The Author
Val Penny is an American author living in SW Scotland. She has two adult daughters of whom she is justly proud and lives with her husband and two cats. She has a Law degree from Edinburgh University and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, lawyer, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer.
However, she has not yet achieved either of her childhood dreams of being a ballerina or owning a candy store. Until those dreams come true, she has turned her hand to writing poetry, short stories and novels.
Her crime novels, 'Hunter's Chase' Hunter's Revenge, Hunter's Force and Hunter's Blood form the bestselling series The Edinburgh Crime Mysteries. They are set in Edinburgh, Scotland, published by Crooked Cat Books. The fifth novel in the series, Hunter's Secret, is published by darkstroke.
Her first non-fiction book, Let's Get Published is available now.
