Jane Renwick’s Fighting Chance in Stirling

My new Jane Renwick Thriller, A Fighting Chance, will be published next month. I am excited about sharing it with you.

However, unlike The DI Hunter Wilson Crime Thrillers, these books are not exclusively set in Edinburgh, but stories in The Jane Renwick Thrillers move around Scotland. The first book, The First Cut, was set partly in Edinburgh and partly in Glasgow. I enjoyed the freedom of writing about a different part of the country in that book.

                Now, in the second book in her series, A Fighting Chance, Jane’s wife, Rachael, has joined Jane in the major incident team (MIT). Rachael has achieved her ambition to become a victim support officer (VSO) and, after understandable initial nerves about her new job,is soon part of the team.

A Fighting Chance is set in Stirling in central Scotland. This city is situated almost halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow and the story revolves around the murder of a young man, a schoolgirl and two drug cartels fighting for dominance.

Moving Jane’s second outing to Stirling was a deliberate act because it is such an interesting city, it is home to Stirling Castle with its ties to Mary Queen of Scots, The Wallace Monument and HMP Corntonvale, which for many years was Scotland’s only women’s prison. It is still the only prison in Scotland exclusively housing women.

                Stirling Castle is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits on top of a crag, which forms part of the geological formation known as Stirling Sill. Most of the principal buildings of the castle date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A few parts remain from the fourteenth century, while the outer defenses fronting the town date from the early eighteenth century. Before the union of the crowns with England in 1603, Stirling Castle was also one of the most used of the many Scottish royal residences, very much a palace as well as a fortress. Several Scottish Kings and Queens were crowned at there, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1542.

Stirling’s famous Wallace monument stands above the fields where William Wallace led his troops to victory at The Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 and tells the story of the patriot and martyr who became Scotland’s National Hero. The tower was completed in 1869 and can be seen from Stirling as it sits on a hill overlooking the city, Abbey Craig. The Wallace Monument is 67 meters high and visitors can climb up the spiral staircase inside to the top for a small fee.

                The other reason it was important for me to set A Fighting Chance in Stirling is because my character, Edna Hope is in Cortonvale, the women’s prison in Stirling. I wanted to include Edna in the book. I hope you feel I did her proud!

                A Fighting Chance was not an easy book to write. Authors often say that the second book is never as easy and this, the second book in The Jane Renwick Thrillers. All credit to my marvelous editor, Nikki East of SpellBound Books that this novel made it out of the stalls at all. One thing is for sure, every author needs a good editor.

                I hope you enjoy A Fighting Chance and Jane’s time in the amazing city of Stirling.

        Val Penny