DI Hunter Wilson and his crack team have a tough case on their hands in Murder in Gilmerton, actually two. But as they discover, the cases are linked.
This is the second in Val Penny’s DI Hunter Wilson Series. It was previously published as Hunter’s Revenge. This review is part of the Reading Between the Lines book tour.
George Reinbold, head of the Crime Scene Investigations (CSI), is found dead — shot through his head at the front door of his home. This doesn’t sit well with the investigators who worked with him. As DI Wilson says, “I want my revenge. If I have my way, this murderer won’t see freedom again.”
Then Jenny, on the day of her 18th birthday, goes missing after she is left alone at Thomson’s Top Cars. The dealership doesn’t have the best of reputations — its owners are in prison for drug-related crimes. The last thing those who are supposed to be in charge knew is that Jenny was accompanying a customer as he test drove a Volvo.
But as DI Hunter and CSI work on both cases, they discover a link via a Volvo that is found torched and with a woman’s body in the trunk.
And as it turns out, George has a hidden past — revealed in the opening — that involves an incident in his native East Germany in 1968 in which he recklessly killed a Stasi officer. While he was able to escape, his family was punished severely for his actions. Another interesting fact about George or Georg is that he collects valuable children’s books including a signed first edition of Winnie the Pooh.
Here is more in an excerpt.
As Hunter walked up the pathway leading to his old friend’s home, he paused and looked at the windows. The level of security inside was belied by the ordinariness of the entry. It was impossible to tell from here that the windows were triple-glazed, and what looked like old-fashioned lace curtains were actually bombproof. He could not see the bolts and linings that secured the doors. Still, as he entered the space that George Reinbold had occupied for so many years, it became instantly clear to him that the old man was very afraid of something. The manner of his death had proved his fears had been well founded.
Hunter felt sad. He had never visited George here when he was alive, and now, as he wandered from room to room, he felt like a voyeur.
Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a postcard tucked behind the clock on the mantelpiece. Hunter picked it up. It showed a scene of the Elbe near the German border with the Czech Republic. The message on the back was handwritten in capitals and appeared to be in German. Hunter cursed himself for having touched the card, and dug a small evidence bag out of his pocket. Gillian Pearson could translate the short message for him before the card was sent off to the forensic lab.
I thoroughly enjoyed solving this mystery along with DI Wilson and his officers as they tackle crime in the darker side of Scotland. My favorite character is Hunter Wilson. He is not perfect but he is smart and likeable.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Val Penny’s crime novels, form the bestselling series of DI Wilson Series set in Edinburgh.
She is an American author living in SW Scotland with her husband and their cat.
BLURB
Behind Edinburgh’s genteel facade, a killer is settling an old score . . .
An elderly man is shot dead on his own doorstep in the leafy suburb of Gilmerton. One bullet. Point-blank range. A professional hit on a harmless old man who lived a simple life collecting rare books.
Detective Hunter Wilson knows the victim. George Reinbold was once head of Crime Scene Investigations. He’s one of their own. What Hunter can’t understand is why George’s modest flat is fortified with reinforced doors, bomb-blast curtains and a Cold War pistol under the bed.
That same morning, a young woman vanishes from a luxury car showroom. No struggle. No witnesses. Just a discarded coat and a missing blue Volvo.
Two cases. One killer?
In a city where everyone guards their secrets, the past has come knocking.
Detective Hunter Wilson must catch a murderer who has waited a lifetime to strike.
LINKS TO BUY
US https://www.amazon.com/GILMERTON-absolutely-gripping-Detective-Mysteries/dp/1805736906
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/GILMERTON-absolutely-gripping-Detective-Mysteries/dp/1805736906
KINDLE
US https://www.amazon.com/GILMERTON-absolutely-gripping-Detective-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0H2Z8VK2M
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/GILMERTON-absolutely-gripping-Detective-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0H2Z8VK2M
WEBSITE
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
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