Val Penny’s Latest: Hunter’s Force

Val Penny and I haven’t met in real life, but I feel I know her well from her crime novels, plus our exchanges on social media and Zoom. My hope is to some day meet with her in person in Scotland where she lives. We’d have a wonderful time talking about writing. In the meantime, I have her DI Hunter Wilson Thrillers that are set in Edinburgh — including no. 3 Hunter’s Force, which was released Jan. 25 by Spellbound Books. I am quite fond of the characters she has created, especially DI Hunter Wilson.

First a little more about Val: She is an American author living in Scotland with her husband and their cat. She has two adult daughters.

Val 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. She writes poetry, short stories, nonfiction, and of course, novels. Read more about Hunter’s Force below.

BLURB FOR HUNTER’S FORCE

Hunter by name – Hunter by nature. Can DI Hunter Wilson keep Edinburgh safe when he is the hunted?

Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson is woken in the early hours of the morning by a call from his son. Cameron’s flatmate was murdered. Why would anybody want to kill a young woman recently arrived in the city?

Hunter must call in the new Major Incident Team (MIT) to lead the investigation due to the reorganisation of police services. Hunter’s ability to be involved, however, is put in severe doubt when someone from his past decides to take revenge on him. He goes missing, and his team have no idea where to look for him. Who would want to stop Hunter in his tracks?

Meanwhile, Hunter’s team must work closely with the MIT and with or without him, solve the murder in this taut crime thriller.

HUNTER’S FORCE EXCERPT

DI Hunter Wilson looked at the time on his phone before he answered the call. 4.03am. If this was some comedian from the sub-continent calling to tell him about putting in a claim for the accident he hadn’t had… Then he noticed it was Cameron calling him.

“What’s the matter, son? This is a hell of a time to phone.” Hunter whispered.

“I didn’t know who else to call.”

“What’s the matter? And it had better be good.”

“It’s far from good.” Cameron told his father of the scene that had met him and his new friends when they got back to his flat.

“She’s had what cut off? Bloody hell!”

“I know, Dad, I know. And her head has been bashed in too. What do I do?”

“Well, now we have Police Scotland in place there is a Major Incidents Team, imaginatively know as MIT, that deals with cases like this.”

“Oh, Dad no! The other girls’ll go mental. You come. Please? At least at first. I need your help.”

Hunter thought back to the days when Cameron used to ask for his help regularly: tying his shoelaces, drying him after swimming, learning to ride a bike. Those had been the golden years. It had been a long, long time since his son had sounded so desperate and pleaded for his help. It made Hunter feel good. He could help Cameron again. Brilliant!

“You’re not back on the cocaine are you, Cameron? You’re not hallucinating?” Hunter said suddenly.

“No, I’m bloody not! But thanks for the vote of confidence. Believe me, I will be if you don’t get your arse over here pronto!”

“And that’s how you ask for help from your dad? A favour? Stuff you!” Hunter shouted back.

“What is it?” a bleary voice beside Hunter said.

“Please, Dad. Just come. I need you.” Cameron sounded like a little boy about to burst into tears. “Another person’s in my flat too. I’ve never seen her before. Just come, quickly, please Dad! I can’t tell you how awful it all is here.”

Hunter got out of bed and patted Meera’ s arm. “Go back to sleep, pet. I’ve got to go and see Cameron. It’s an emergency.”

“At four o’clock in the morning? What’s wrong? Is he using again?”

“No. But he was out for the evening and got back to his home to find his flat mate dead on the floor”

“Why does he need you? Shouldn’t he call an ambulance?” Meera asked.

“It’s a bit late for that. She’s been mutilated; her head has been bashed in and the tops of her fingers cut off.”

“I’d guess she’s probably dead, right enough. But doesn’t Cameron need me more than he needs you? I’m coming with you,” Meera said in a determined voice that brooked no contradiction.

LINK: Kindle readers, here’s the link to buy Val Penny’s Hunter’s Force : DI Hunter Wilson Series: Book 3 : https://geni.us/f5eJb

Darkstroke Books, Edinburgh Crime Series

Val Penny, Scotland and her new mystery Hunter’s Rules

I have read all of Val Penny’s books in her Edinburgh Crime Mysteries Series, which is set in Scotland, where she lives. Truth be told she is originally from the U.S. So, I asked how her adopted home inspired her to write this series. Here, I will let her tell you herself and about the latest in the series — Hunter’s Rules — which will be released Jan. 1 by darkstroke books and is available now on Amazon for pre-order.

Thank you for hosting me on your blog today. It is always a pleasure to visit.

My family has been moving between the U.S.A. and the U.K. for generations. It is always a bit of a lottery as to where you end up! As for me, I have been moving East all my life. Born in Northern , I attended high school in the Mile High City of Denver then worked in Virginia before crossing the pond and marrying a Scot.

I write crime thrillers and started writing in this genre because that is what I enjoy reading. I firmly believe that to be a good author, you must first be an avid reader and it is due to my love of reading and story-telling that I began to write novels.

Hunter’s Rules is the sixth book in my Edinburgh Crime Mysteries series and there are many more to come! Although the books form a series, each works as a standalone novel, so readers can join the stories at any point.

The books are set in the beautiful city of Edinburgh which is the capital of Scotland. I chose it because it is a relatively small city and people from different walks of life and backgrounds are known to each other. That allows me to have some fun with my characters and storylines.

I am particularly proud of this book because, although the story is complete within itself, the concept follows on from a short story that I contributed to a charity anthology, Dark Scotland. The story, which is again a standalone piece, is the prequel to the novel. I hope those who read both will enjoy the conceit and those who read either will be absorbed by them.

Hunter’s Rules Blurb

A bloody scene brings Hunter and Meera’s romantic plans to an abrupt end.

A young woman was attacked in a hotel lift. She has life-changing injuries, but she is alive. Hunter notes that her wounds are like those inflicted on two women who previously died.

Can Meera keep the injured woman alive long enough for her to identify her assailant? Is the same person responsible for all three crimes? When Hunter is identified as a suspect in the crime, can he establish his innocence and lead his team to solve the crime and keep Edinburgh safe?

An excerpt from Hunter’s Rules

“Scott,” Hunter repeated. “Earth to Scott.”

“Evening, sir. This is posh, isn’t it?”

“Are you here to work or admire the décor?” Hunter asked.

“Sorry. The sarge says you need us to take witness statements.”

“Exactly so, and here comes the cavalry,” Hunter said. He smiled at Chloe Ferguson. Everyone called her Fergie. She led her team of CSIs towards him. He looked at her grim expression.

“We’ll need to get this done pronto so the hotel can have their lift back. Of course, it must be thoroughly sanitised before it’s back in use,” she said. “Anyway, Sam’s on her way. We’ll let her get her initial photos taken before we start. It looks like someone’s danced on the floor. Look at those bloody footprints in the car and all over here.” She pointed to the marks on the shiny polished floor.

“Sorry, Fergie. Hands up, that was me and Meera. We checked if the woman was still alive and when she was, Meera did what she could for her while I called you and the ambulance.”

“For fuck’s sake, Hunter. You know better.”

“I did as little damage as I could, but the victim was in a lift.”

“I know, I know. It’s just lucky the professionals are here now. Oh, and there’s Sam. Let’s give her space.”

Hunter watched the quiet photographer get her equipment ready and set to work.

“Neil, if you stay here and keep everybody away from the elevator. No mobile phone photos or films either. See anybody taking any you just confiscate their phone as containing evidence. That’ll stop the rest fast enough. Charlie, you and Scott take statements from the staff on duty in the bar and restaurant tonight. The guests too. See if you can get any descriptions of the woman and whoever she was with.”

“As we don’t know what either of them look like or names or anything, can you give us a clue, perhaps?” Scott asked.

“The woman mentioned the name Frederick. She has dark hair and was dressed in a fancy red velvet dress. A cocktail dress, I think they call it,” Hunter said. “I suppose there wouldn’t be too many red velvet dresses.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” Charlie asked.

“I was treating Meera to dinner, if it’s any of your business.”

“Well, it is. If you were having dinner at the same time as the victim, you could be witnesses. Did you see her?”

Val Penny’s books

This is the sixth book in The Edinburgh Crime Mysteries series of novels. Val Penny’s other crime novels, Hunter’s Chase Hunter’s Revenge, Hunter’s Force Hunter’s Blood and Hunter’s Secret form
the rest of this bestselling series set in Edinburgh, Scotland, published by darkstroke.

You can also start at the beginning of The Jane Renwick Thrillers with The First Cut.

Her first non-fiction book Let’s Get Published is also available now and she has most recently contributed her short story, Cats and Dogs to a charity anthology, Dark Scotland.

Author Contact Details

www.valpenny.com

https://www.facebook.com/Authorvalpenny

https://www.facebook.com/valerie.penny.739

www.facebook.com/groups/296295777444303

https://www.facebook.com/groups/167248300537409

https://twitter.com/valeriepenny

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

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/val-penny

Buy Links

mybook.to/hunterschase

mybook.to/huntersrevenge

mybook.to/huntersforce

mybook.to/huntersblood

mybook.to/hunterssecret

mybook.to/huntersrules

bit.ly/LetsGetPublished

mybook.to/darkscotland

mybook.to/thefirstcut

Character Traits, Edinburgh Crime Series, Val Penny

Character Traits: Meet DS Jane Renwick

Author Val Penny

Today, I begin a new weekly series — Character Traits — in which I invite authors to share one of the characters in their book(s). It is fitting that Val Penny, author of the Edinburgh Crime Mystery Series, which I’ve read and enjoyed, is the first to go. Val is a big supporter of other authors, including those with our publisher darkstroke books. She’s chosen DS Jane Renwick to profile. I will let Val take over.

ABOUT DS JANE RENWICK: Detective Sergeant Jane Renwick is one of the main female characters in my Edinburgh Crime Mystery Series of novels. It is, therefore fitting that in 2021 she should become the main protagonist in her own series of novels.

We first meet Jane early in Hunter’s Chase, the first of The Edinburgh Crime Mystery books. DI Hunter Wilson describes her to us.

Hunter stopped concentrating on Mackay’s summary; he let him witter on while he glanced around the room. He noted Rachael had moved to stand near the most elegant DS that Hunter had ever worked with: Jane Renwick. They stood at the far side of the room, whispering quietly together, glancing in his direction. Rachael did look tired and stressed, probably due to the early start and putting up with him. He didn’t blame her. Hunter knew he was sharp when things did not go according to his plans.

In contrast, as always, Jane Renwick was immaculately turned out, with faultless hair, nails and make-up. Hunter would have given his eye teeth to know how the woman could constantly look so spruce. He felt more like DC Colin Reid and DC John Hamilton looked: unshaven and dishevelled. Reid and Hamilton both caught his eye and he nodded acknowledgements. Hamilton brushed the crumbs of his breakfast off his face with the back of his hand as Mackay continued talking.

But Jane is not just an elegant woman, but as we learn later in that book, she is also a capable detective sergeant.

Hunter knelt, surrounded by people but completely alone. It felt like an eternity before he heard Jane Renwick’s clear voice.

“I need you all to move back. Come on now, move back. Everybody move back now and make room. Bear, Mel, move everybody back at least ten feet. Now!”

Bear used his body mass and began waving everybody back, while Mel Grant went to get Tesco staff to help. She instructed them to form a cordon of shopping trolleys to keep the inquisitive public at bay. This was probably the most interesting thing the trolley collector had done all week, Hunter thought. The lad looked so proud and took photos of his work, presumably to share later on Facebook and Instagram. Tesco supplied staff so that potential witnesses did not leave.

When I was creating DS Jane Renwick, I wanted a short recognisable first name that was neither exotic nor fashionable this would contrast with her outward attire. She is always smart and well-dressed. The surname had to be more unusual, because that is not her birth name, for Jane had a difficult start in life and grew up in the care system. The character is not based on any real-life person, but is a figment of my imagination, created to fill an important role in the police team that investigates the Edinburgh Crime Mysteries.

Jane is able, likeable, dependable but severely affected by her unfortunate start in life. She feels that this left her alone in the world, unloved and unlovable. However, we learn that she has found her life partner amongst the members of Hunter’s team in Hunter’s Chase.

Is it any wonder that she moves to the Major Incident Team where she will move forward in her own series of books?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Val Penny 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 two cats. She has a Law degree from Edinburgh University and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, lawyer, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer. However, she 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 and novels. Her crime novels, Hunter’s Chase, Hunter’s Revenge, Hunter’s Force and Hunter’s Blood and Hunter’s Secret are set in Edinburgh, Scotland, published by darkstroke. Her first nonfiction book Let’s Get Published is available now and the first book in the new series centring on Jane Renwick will be published in 2021.

CONTACT INFO:

www.valpenny.vom

www.facebook.com/valerie.penny.739

www.facebook.com/groups/296295777444303

https://twitter.com/valeriepenny

Buy Links

mybook.to/hunterschase

mybook.to/huntersrevenge

mybook.to/huntersforce

mybook.to/huntersblood

mybook.to/hunterssecret

bit.ly/LetsGetPublished

Author Interview, Crooked Cat Books, New release

Opening Scene: Hunter’s Revenge

Val Penny is the next author to be featured in my Opening Scene series, specifically for her next mystery set in Scotland, Hunter’s Revenge. Here’s how she pitches the book, the second in her Hunter series: “Hunter by name – Hunter by nature: DI Hunter Wilson will not rest until his friend’s death is revenged.”

I read the first in this series and was hooked. But then again, I am a huge fan of mysteries set in the UK. She is also a fellow author at Crooked Cat Books.

Hunter’s Revenge has a Sept. 9 release.

Here are the links to buy Hunter’s Chase and Hunter’s Revenge: myBook.to/HuntersChase and myBook.to/HuntersRevenge.

So how does Hunter’s Revenge begin? Here’s a description from Val.

DI Hunter Wilson is called to the scene of a murder. He is shocked to find the victim is his friend and colleague, George Reinbold. Who would want to harm the quiet, old man? Why was a book worth £23,000 delivered to him that morning? Why is the security in George’s home so intense? Hunter must investigate his friend’s past as well as the present to identify the killer and identify George’s killer.

Hunter also finds a new supply of cocaine from Peru flooding HMP Edinburgh and the city. The courier leads Hunter to the criminal gang, but Hunter requires the help of his nemesis, the former Chief Constable, Sir Peter Myerscough and local gangster Ian Thomson to make his case. Hunter’s perseverance and patience are put to the test time after time in this taught crime thriller.

Here is an excerpt from the prologue of Hunter’s Revenge.

The last thing Georg did on his eighteenth birthday was kill a man.

He really hadn’t meant to kill the Stasi officer in front of him, but it was him or Georg – and Georg did not want to die. It was the first time he’d seen a corpse. The streets were slick with ice. The man lost his balance and cracked his head on the pavement. Georg stared down at the body: there was blood and brains all over the pavement. He looked into the officer’s eyes. They stared blindly to heaven, but Georg knew there wasn’t a Stasi officer on earth who was going there. He looked away from death and towards his friends in horror, but when they saw what had happened, they scattered. Georg picked up the officer’s gun and began to run.

More Stasi officers appeared as the boys fled.

Georg was out of breath when he got home.

“What’s the rush, son?” his father asked.

“Shit, Dad! It’s bad.”

“You’re drunk! No language in this house, boy,” said his grandmother.

“Dad, the boys and me were leaving the bar to come home and we saw a Stasi officer”

“So?”

“We were laughing and having fun.”

“And?”

“For a laugh I knocked his hat off.”

“Idiot! You know Stasi have no sense of humour. Ever. So what next?”

“He pulled his gun and told us to stand silently against the wall.”

“And you apologised and complied, I hope.”

“I panicked and punched him. He slipped on the ice and fell over. He hit his head on the ground, and when I checked him, he wasn’t breathing. He was dead. I just took his gun and ran.”

The silence in the room was deafening.

“You did what? You fucking idiot! Did you really punch a Stasi officer? Are you mad? You know we don’t even have to openly engage in resistance to draw the attention of the Stasi and incur its retribution. Just failing to conform with mainstream society can be enough. Shit! I sired a fool.” Georg’s father’s red face reflected his rage.

“And now you are here,” his grandmother added. “You ran home, leading them straight to us. We will all die now. Thank you.”

“What is all the noise?” Georg’s mother came through from the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron. His twin sister Ingrid and younger brother Wilhelm followed her. They looked bewildered. Their father rarely raised his voice, especially not to Georg.

As his father explained the issues, Georg’s mother burst into tears.

“They will kill him,” she whispered.

About Val Penny:

Val Penny 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 two cats. She has a law degree from Edinburgh University and her MSc from Napier University.

She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, lawyer, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer. However she 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 and novels.

Her crime novels, Hunter’s Chase and Hunter’s Revenge are set in Edinburgh, Scotland, published by Crooked Cat Books. The third book in the series, Hunter’s Force, follows shortly.

Val Penny on social media:

www.authorvalpenny.com

www.facebook.com/valerie.penny.739

www.facebook.com/groups/296295777444303

twitter.com/valeriepenny