If you’ve visited Edinburgh, you’ll know it’s a city full to the brim with atmosphere. So a contemporary series of police procedurals set in this ancient and vibrant city is too enticing to miss!
Here is my review of what promises to be the terrific entrée to the Edinburgh Crime Mysteries, featuring the eponymous Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson: Hunter’s Chase.
The book begins with a bang, as a would-be burglar trips over a corpse while being chased from the home of a prominent ex-policeman, Sir Peter Myerscough, now Justice Minister. The Justice Minister and Hunter have history, and bringing them together in the case is the beginning of a tightening twist of suspects and more deaths, apparently linked by the same modus operandi.
We meet a lively cast of characters, including Hunter’s interesting colleagues. Not all of them are who they seem! The plot is complicated by the involvement of a wide range of Edinburgh’s criminal classes, and Hunter has a difficult job on his hands to distinguish the innocent from the guilty as Val Penny throws red herring after twist after turn into the mix. Young Detective Constable Tim Myerscough enters the fray, a likeable character whose relationships with his father and girlfriend leave him with a lot to prove, and tough times ahead.
The author weaves cunning subplots into the main action, with the varying points of view raising constant questions in the reader’s mind. The ultimate denouement took me by surprise, but I have to acknowledge that the author gave me chances, like DI Wilson, to work it out!
This is the first of what bids fair to be an engaging series, and so there are patches where perhaps a tighter edit might have made the read even better. But the pace and twisting action of the book, together with the panorama of Edinburgh life, keeps the reader on edge throughout.
A great start to DI Wilson Hunter’s career. More, please!
The Author
It is with great delight that Val Penny has accepted a ten-book deal with Spellbound Books.
Val Penny has an Llb degree from the University of Edinburgh and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer but 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, nonfiction, and novels.
Val 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 their cat.
Author Contact Details
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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17300087.Val_Penny
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Val-Penny/e/B07C4725TK?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1611574956&sr=1-1
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