Category Archives: book review

book review

Review of The Ring: Follow Fortuna’s Journey

Fans of historical fiction will want to read “The Ring,” an anthology of short stories that stretches from 44 BCE to present day. The one detail that links them all is a gold ring that brings its wearer luck — good and bad. Created over 2000 years ago in Rome, the ring was inscribed with the name and symbol of Fortuna, the capricious goddess of fate. 

All profits from the book’s sale will benefit The Reading Agency, a UK-based charity that “inspires social and personal change through the proven power of reading.” In keeping with that mission, “The Ring” is dedicated to librarians.

Follow Fortuna’s journey with those who wear the ring in different parts of the world via the anthology’s ten interconnected stories, which makes for an interesting read.

Alistair Forrest’s “The Wheel of Fortune” starts the series with a Roman patrician in 44 BCE. In other stories, a knight removes the ring from the enemy he killed. A soldier gives his ring to a child during the Thirty Years War.  

Here’s a bit from Graham Brack’s “A Matter of Balance,” set in 1386 in England, that hints at what might happen to the ring William is wearing. William slid the ring off once more. It came off easily because William had slender fingers. “Damsel’s fingers,” his father used to say. “Good for embroidery perhaps but nought else.”

The ring moves here and there until a jeweler brings it with him when he emigrates to New York City in 1872 — in Robert Bordas’s story, “The Bequest.” The man who pawned it never came back. He claimed the ring had magical power, bringing luck to its deserving owner but destroying those who are not worthy.

Author Val Penny

Of course, my interest in reading and reviewing this anthology increased when I learned Val Penny contributed a story using characters from her Edinburgh Crime Mysteries, including one of my favorites, D.I. Hunter Wilson. 

I am eagerly waiting for Val to release her next book in that series, so I was happy to read about Hunter’s connection to Fortuna. He and Meera Sharma are visiting New York City, an engagement trip financed by a very wealthy person, when the ring enters his life. I am not going to spoil what happens but “Hunter’s Luck” is a fine conclusion to Fortuna’s stories in this anthology.

Contributors for this anthology are: Alistair Forrest, Fiona Forsyth, Jacquie Rogers, Alistair Tosh, Graham Brack, Eleanor Swift-Hook, Mark Turnbull, Maggie Richell-Davies, Robert Bordas and Val Penny.

Here are the links to buy “The Ring” on paperback and Kindle.

US readers: https://www.amazon.com/Ring-anthology-historical-short-stories-ebook/dp/B0F3DV7BPG

UK readers: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ring-anthology-historical-short-stories-ebook/dp/B0F3DV7BPG

This review is part of the Reading Between the Lines blog tour. No compensation was given for this review.

Standard
book review

Book Review: Hunter’s Rules

First, a full disclosure: I have read every book Val Penny has written. The reason is easy. I enjoy the characters she has created, especially the smart and oh-so likable DI Hunter Wilson, and the trouble she gives them. That is certainly true of Hunter’s Rules, the sixth in this series set in Edinburgh, Scotland, which begins with a shocker of a scene.

During a romantic night out, DI Hunter Wilson and Dr. Meera Sharma find a woman lying in a hotel’s elevator, bleeding and with her eyes removed. This is not the first time a woman has been found this way, but unlike the previous victims, she is alive. And that helps Hunter and crack his team of investigators in their hunt for the perpetuator in this fast-moving read.

But Val throws in an interesting twist to the plot: making Hunter a suspect. Loyal readers will know — or hope — he is not guilty, but he has to not only solve this horrendous crime, but prove his innocence.

Val cleverly lets readers into the perp’s head with italicized excerpts throughout — just enough so we know he’s a madman but not enough to figure out who he was.

Also, the victim’s positive attitude as she recovers from her unimaginable injuries is a moving and original storyline.

By the way Val Penny is an American author living in SW Scotland. Her novels are published by SpellBound Books Ltd.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to the next in the DI Hunter Wilson Crime Series. Get cracking, Val.

Here’s the link to buy Hunter’s Rules:

For UK readers:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D7ZPBJDX

For US readers: https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Rules-Wilson-thriller-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0D7ZPBJDX

Want to learn more about Val Penny? Here’s the link to her website: https://www.valpenny.com

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

Standard
book review, Hunter's Blood

Review: Hunter’s Blood by Val Penny

D.I. Hunter Wilson is at it again in Hunter’s Blood. This is the fourth in Val Penny’s thriller crime series featuring that smart detective, and fans, like myself, hope she keeps it going as he is such a likable and multi-faceted character.

I enjoyed being immersed in the darker culture of Scotland, which Val handles so well. (By the way, she is an American who moved to that country.) Because this is a crime series, that includes an active drug scene, with a dangerous influx of cocaine into Edinburgh. 

As the title implies, an investigation involving the death of three women is personal for Hunter Wilson. One victim is a beloved aunt, the second a critical witness in a recent case, and the third, a woman who helped Hunter when he was at a vulnerable time in his life. As he tells a colleague, “Do you see what I mean, sir? I feel guilty by association.”

Hunter is a little distracted given the death of his aunt, but I had confidence that his strong Scottish work ethic and integrity would help him get the job done. (No spoilers here.) My only complaint about Hunter’s Blood is that I would have welcomed reading more about him in this book.

Another critical element to the book’s plot is Edinburgh’s crime scene, focusing on the people who are bringing addictive drugs into the city. Readers of the series will recognize the players. 

One of the subplots I found intriguing was the crash of a van that occurs early in the book. A woman, who was the driver, is trapped inside the van with a dead body without rescue for a long time, and gives a first-person account. Yes, there is a link to the book’s plot, and the poor woman’s distress is portrayed so well.

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

Hunter’s Blood Blurb

Mutilation and murder outrage DI Hunter Wilson, especially when he knows the victims.

He learns three elderly women have died in mysterious circumstances and is horrified to realise that he is the only person who has met each of them.

Hunter scrutinizes the evidence but must accept help from the Major Investigation Team when he investigates the triple murder.

He is amazed that the breakthrough comes from an unexpected witness.

What did she hear? 

Hunter confronts the perpetrators and fights for the victims’ rights – even when the crime has been committed with the best of intentions.

Here are the links to Val Penny’s books

Hunter’s Chase – https://geni.us/ic7r

Hunter’s Revenge – https://geni.us/a13c

Hunter’s Force – https://geni.us/f5eJb

The First Cut – https://linktr.ee/spellboundbks

Hunter’s Blood – https://tinyurl.com/8rrpp59x

Standard