Edinburgh Crime Series

Discovering Hunter’s Secret

I will admit being a fan of stories that involve a secret. The more the merrier as far as I’m concerned. That certainly is the case for Hunter’s Secret, fifth in Val Penny’s crime series set in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The first secret is an old one, when a teenaged Hunter Wilson and his brother, Fraser, encounter a dead body while biking on a path near a cemetery. The shocking discovery propels them to find help but when the police arrive, the body has disappeared. The experience stays with Hunter, one that he can’t shake or share with anyone.

Thirty years later, a similar experience happens to two officers, who while running come across a body. Without working phones, they leave the scene to find help. (Frankly, I don’t understand why one of them didn’t stay with the body, but, hey, this is fiction.) And once again when the police come to the scene, the body is missing. 

But this time DI Hunter Wilson leads the Major Incident Team to attempt solving this crime. Hunter is determined to investigate the past and the present with the benefit of modern DNA testing to solve this case, which remarkably is linked to others, including the one he experienced as a boy. 

There are other secrets in this story, including those of the victims, whoever took their lives and cleverly hid their bodies. 

Plus, Hunter has another personal secret although this one has a sweet inspiration.

Once again, I found myself experiencing the darker side of Edinburgh, Scotland that Val creates. Each book in this series can stand on its own, but I like how many characters, both good and bad, remain players in each. I so enjoyed the banter of the police who work together to keep their city safe. Then there are those characters who aren’t on the up and up. 

I especially liked the back and forth between DCI Tim Myerscough and his father, Sir Peter Myerscough, the ever-amusing former cop who was recently released from jail and a bit of a thorn in Hunter’s side. He, too, remembers the earlier murder. 

Of course, my favorite is Hunter, who is such a smart and likeable character and my only complaint is that there isn’t more of him in the book. I saw at the end “Hunter’s Christmas follows soon,” so perhaps I will get my wish.

By the way, this review is part of the Reading Between the Lines Blog Tour. No compensation is involved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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 PENNY’S WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Website – https://www.valpenny.com

Amazon Author Page – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Val-Penny/e/B07C4725TK

Author Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/valerie.penny.739

Author Twitter Page @valeriepenny

Author Instagram Page https://www.instagram.com/valerieepenny/

LINK TO BUY HUNTER’S SECRET: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CHN22Y3M

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