I’m delighted to be part of Val Penny’s blog tour for ‘Hunter’s Christmas and other stories’, the latest addition to her Edinburgh crime series.
published by Spellbound
I’m a keen follower of Hunter’s team as they investigate the activities of the Edinburgh criminal fraternity, having read all the books in the series so far.
Who knew that beautiful, elegant, fascinating city Edinburgh could be so seamy? Very easily, in the hands of Val Penny! For all the miscreants in the bars, department stores, car parks, off licences and car dealerships are under the eye of DI Hunter Wilson and his highly proactive, doughnut-munching team at Police Scotland! In fact, when I consider the popular genre of Scottish Noir, I wonder whether Police Scotland have a special department dedicated to answering the queries of crime writers researching police procedures for their next book!
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
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.
BLURB
DI Hunter Wilson is looking forward to spending a holiday in India with his girlfriend Dr Meera Sharma, away from the cold, wet winter of Edinburgh. He looks to share his happiness with others when he is attacked by Santa Claus, he says.
His team swing into action to catch his attackers but then receive information about an elf found dead in a car park and a car stolen by Mrs Claus.
Are the crimes by these Christmas characters connected?
Can Hunter’s team restore peace and good will to Christmas?
Hunter’s Christmas and Other Stories includes tales about DI Hunter Wilson and DS Jane Renwick along with those about new and different characters in this gripping collection of short stories especially for crime fiction readers.
LINK TO BUY
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/
MY REVIEW
#HUNTERSCHRISTMASANDOTHERSTORIES
In ‘Hunter’s Christmas’, the first story in this collection, the team are keen to find the trio of villainous Santas who assaulted DI Hunter at the ATM, the murderer of the Elf found in the car park, and the Mrs Claus who stole the high-end vehicle from Thomson’s Top Cars. All of them need to be identified, apprehended, ushered into the interview room, subjected to questioning alongside the dubious hospitality of the cheap plastic cup of police station tea, found guilty, booked, charged and hauled off to the cells, all before the Christmas festivities start. That is the challenge. How Hunter’s team achieve this makes for a highly paced, entertaining and captivating read – all carried out with Val Penny’s familiar flair for sharp, colourful characterisation.
However, sadly I wasn’t so keen on the other short pieces in this book, except for the final story, when we are back on safe ground again with Hunter and his team in ‘The Second Chance’.
With many of the short stories, though the set-up was interesting, I found the endings very grim without my fully grasping and believing in the characters’ motivation – which, to me, is always a redeeming factor.
With Hunter and his team, and the situations they encounter, humour, a lightness of touch, and warm and engaging characterisation are all at the very heart of Val’s stories.
I look forward to the next full-length novel in the Edinburgh Crime series.
Do sign up to receive my monthly newsletter straight to your inbox, in which I share gems and snippets from my research discoveries, news and insights about the writing and publishing worlds, plus you’ll be the first to know when I have a new book coming out.
scskillman.com 
Thank you for you time taking part in the tour, Sheila.