Winter is here, early. Never mind. There are still books.
Special guest blog by Edinburgh mystery author Val Penny. Plus news and Christmas reading suggestions from me.
It has to be said that winter here in the Malverns can be very pretty. Until it turns slippery and downright damp, and the dog refuses to hoover up any more slush searching for her ball.
It was nice while it lasted. Back to British winter business as usual: dark, sludgy and desperately long. So, I hear you ask, how have you been cheering yourself up through November, Jacquie?
Well, for one thing we visited Salinae, aka Roman Droitwich Spa, a few miles north of Worcester. Why were the Romans in Droitwich? And why were they so interested in this settlement they made a beeline there immediately after the invasion, arriving in AD 47? It was because, uniquely on this island, Droitwich has natural brine springs. They produce 25% salt by volume, via underground compression of waters up through a salt bed. (If you compare that to seawater, only 3% by volume, you get the picture.) Salt was very valuable as a food preservative in the days before refrigeration, and where there was money-making potential you generally found the Roman army, followed swiftly by imperial entrepreneurs. The story that Romans paid their soldiers in salt, by the way, is sadly just that — a story.
And here’s a fascinating little anecdote: on arrival, the Roman army, of course, upgraded the existing workings of the Dobunni tribe with something much bigger and better. The Iron Age tanks were filled in at that point, uncovering the secretly-buried body of a 15 year old youngster. Say no more. My writerly juices are running.
It’s not all fun outings here at Rogers Towers. The slight cold I had two months ago turned into something with teeth. Probably another dose of Covid, but it crept up so stealthily I didn’t think to test till the cough became a raging beast. That, coupled with my head falling off every morning, rather gave the game away. Plus my darling husband had been sounding as if he was auditioning for a Dickensian horror for over a month, way too late for a positive test. So the enforced wait between novels while seeking a new publisher has turned out to be fortunate, as most of my afternoons have been spent resting. (On that subject, I hope to have some exciting news soon. To Be Announced in due course. For now, let’s just say I’m in talks. Makes me sound important.)
On to the main course of this November newsletter. In my continuing autumn series of guest blogs by fabulous authors, I’m delighted to re-introduce to you the mistress of Edinburgh mysteries, that unique American-Scottish voice of noir — Val Penny.
Writing Hunter’s Rules
Thank you for inviting me today, Jacquie. I am delighted to have a chance to tell you and your readers about Hunter’s Rules, the new novel in my series of The DI Hunter Wilson Crime Thrillers.
I have been writing and telling stories all my life. When I was a child, I used to make up stories for my little sister after our Mum put the light out and told us to go to sleep. Later, I wrote documents, contracts, and courses as part of my job, but my time was well accounted for, so I did not create any fiction.
However, I took early retirement when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and there were times when I suffered severe side effects from my treatment. I could not go out, spend time with friends or indulge in many of my favourite hobbies, but watching daytime television got very old very fast, so I turned to reading. It was the only thing I had the energy to do and could do safely.
I read voraciously, as I always have. I particularly enjoy reading crime fiction and thrillers. I indulged this interest with many novels including those by Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin, Linwood Barclay and Kathy Reichs.
After a while, I began to feel a little better and decided to start reviewing the books I read. I enjoyed doing that. Then, as I began to feel better still, I got restless but was still not well enough to do very much. I complained to my long-suffering husband about getting bored. It was then he challenged me: ‘If you know so much about what makes a good book, why don’t you write one?’ I did laugh. However, the challenge set, I have been writing police procedural crime thrillers set in Scotland ever since.
For my first series of books, The DI Hunter Wilson Crime Thrillers, I set the books in Edinburgh. I did think about creating an imaginary town as Peter Robinson did with his town of Eastvale in his DCI Banks novels. However, I decided to use Edinburgh because it is a city I know well, it is quite a small city – so everybody knows everyone else - and it has everything I need to make interesting plots realistic. Edinburgh is also a city that many readers have heard of, and many have even visited. That allows them to visualise the settings in my novels and this can help bring the stories to life.
My publishers, SpellBound Books published the sixth book in the series, Hunter’s Rules, on 19.06.2024. It was launched at the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. The main character is Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson, and I was thrilled to share the series and this new book with new fans of Hunter. The main protagonist, Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson, has planned a romantic night with his fiancée but, unfortunately, things don’t go to plan.
I did two things with this novel that I have never done before: I don’t kill anybody in the book and the novel, Hunter’s Rules, has a prequel in my short story Cats and Dogs which was in an anthology of short stories, Hunter’s Christmas, which was published by SpellBound in December 2023. Of course, both the novel and the short story can be read completely independently, but those who have read both may enjoy the conceit.
I particularly enjoyed writing Hunter’s Rules and hope that my readers will enjoy reading the novel. I plan that the next novel in this series will appear in 2026. It will be entitled Hunter’s Festival and will take place during an Edinburgh summer, during the Edinburgh international Festival. I’ll let you know more about that in due course!
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 books, and novels. Her novels are published by SpellBound Books Ltd. 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.
Val and all her books can be found at www.valpenny.com
Back to me: as this will be my final scheduled blogpost before Christmas, I’d like to suggest we all follow that splendid Icelandic tradition of jolabokaflod, meaning the exchange of books, to be read on Christmas Eve. Make sure you’re cosy by the fireside, preferably with loved ones reading alongside. With a glass of mulled wine, in my case.
Here are some book suggestions, based on my own reading this month. A mix of old and much loved, and newly-found delights:
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham
The Dead Beneath Us by Matthew Evans
Holly by Stephen King
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
A Merry Christmas to you!
Jacquie’s latest Roman Britain mystery, The Loyal Centurion, is out in ebook and paperback now. You can follow her on social media, watch her research videos, and read her blogs and magazine articles, all at her Linktree.
I didn't know that about Droitwich, how fascinating!
We had one day of very serious winter (torrential rain, wind, cool -- really worse than snow). Been sunny ever since but got down to 3C one night, unusual so close to the ocean! Missing the old lap cat who passed mid-September.
Last day of Thanksgiving leftovers, back to regular food without so much fat and carbs and gravy. Had a perfect local white port with the pie.
My allergies are so bad I actually took a Covid test last night, with the coughing, sore throat, headache and general lurgy. Negative, luckily, since I still mask when going out and have all my shots. I was prepared to phone for Paxlovid first thing this morning if need be!
Fascinating stuff about Droitwich! Money and murder.
I've only read one of Val's books, but I enjoyed it. Wishing much success for this one.
Happy Crimbo and such. I was delighted to learn that Icelandic word a few years back, because that was what we always did on Xmas Eve. We're not a bit Icelandic, but my mother usually got us books to open on the 24th; an activity kit sometimes if it wasn't a good year for books.