Val Penny Books In Order

Publication Order of Edinburgh Crime Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Jane Renwick Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Val Penny is an American crime thriller novelist who makes her home in SW Scotland. She is the mother of two adult daughters and lives with her husband and two felines. As for her education, she went to Edinburgh University where she graduated with a Law degree before she proceeded to Napier University for her MSc. Over the years, she has worked a variety of jobs from lecturer, hairdresser, azalea farmer, waitress, banker, and lawyer. However, she had always dreamed of being the owner of a candy store and becoming a ballerina when she was a child. But since she could not achieve those dreams, she decided to turn her hand to the writing of novels, short stories, and poetry. While she mostly writes fiction works, she has also been dabbling in nonfiction.

Growing up, Val Penny was a listener as well as a teller of stories. She used to spend many Sunday afternoons with her sister while her mother read them classic stories. She had a particular fondness for Arthur Ransome’s Amazons, Jane Austen’s Emma, and Charles Dickens Oliver Twist. The first story Penny ever told was when she was six or seven years old. It was a story about a horse she pretended to own that was stolen by thieves who were eaten by a wild lion. She would then progress to coming up with little narratives for her little sister after her mother switched off the lights just when they were about to go to bed. Val was very good at coming up with adventure stories that had some very smart children who solved some very intriguing mysteries. Most of her stories were a combination of the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton and The Patridge Family the TV series from the 1970s. One of these stories Val transcribed into a book that she illustrated and still has to this day.

As an adult, Val Penny spent many years writing lectures and professional papers. When she re-married she moved from the Scottish capital Edinburgh down to South West Scotland. After resigning from her job and getting diagnosed with breast cancer, she had to undergo some debilitating treatments. She had to deal with a suppressed immune system from all the radiotherapy and chemotherapy and for many months, she could not indulge in things she loved such as walking, swimming, and traveling. Since TV got old so fast, she got back into her old love of reading. During her downtime, she voraciously reviewed and devoured every book she could get her hands on. As she got better and her energy started to come back, her husband challenged her to write a book since she believed she was such a good judge of books. It took Val three years to write Hunter’s Chase her debut novel. She got much encouragement and advice from the likes of Peter Robinson and Michael Jecks which was instrumental in her success.

Once she was done writing her manuscript, Val Penny sent it to two traditional and independent publishers believing they would be happy to publish it. Back then she did not know how hard it was to get a manuscript get accepted by a publishing house. Fortunately, both companies sent her a reply saying they were willing to publish her manuscript and she was over the moon. It was from this that was born the Edinburgh Crime Mysteries which now has at least five titles.

Val Penny published her first novel Hunter’s Chase in 2018. The work introduces Hunter Wilson a hunter by nature who is determined to keep his city safe no matter what. He recently learned that someone has been flooding Edinburgh with cocaine and he has to find that source. However, he is diverted to a homicide mystery when a corpse is found on the property of a golf course. A few days after the post mortem a second murder is committed right under Hunter’s nose but the worst is yet to come. With a young woman’s life under threat, he needs familiarity only for the higher-ups to send him a new man Detective Constable Tim Myerscough. It is even worse since the man is the son of Sir Peter Myerscough the former Chief Constable his nemesis. Hunter’s patience and perseverance are tested time and again making for a thrilling story.

The next story of Val Penny’s Edinburgh Crime Mysteries is Hunter’s Revenge. In this outing, Hunter Wilson is determined to avenge the senseless murder of his friend. He had been shocked when he was sent to the scene of a homicide to find that it was George Reinbold his colleague and friend. Who would want to harm the old harmless man? What was even more interesting was that he had a book worth $23,000 sent to him that morning. There is also the matter of intense security at his home. To get to the bottom of the mystery, Hunter will have to look into George’s past and his present to track down the killer. When a new consignment of cocaine floods through the city, Hunter finds a courier who leads him to a criminal gang. But he will still need the help of Sir Peter Myserscough the former Chief Constable and Ian Thomson the local gangster to get to the bottom of the mystery. Hunter’s patience and perseverance are yet again tested in what is one of the most intense crime thriller stories.

Hunter’s Force by Val Penny is a work in which Detective Hunter Wilson is trying to keep Edinburgh safe even as he is being hunted. Hunter Wilson was woken up by his son in the early hours of the morning. Cameron says that his roommate had been killed and the big mystery is, who would want to kill the young woman who had arrived in the capital a few days earlier. Since the police services recently went through a major reorganization, he will have to call in the Major Incident Team. He would have loved to participate but he finds himself targetted by someone from his past intent on vengeance. Despite his experience, he goes missing leaving his colleagues and superiors in limbo. In the meantime, his team has to work closely with the Major Incident Team to try to resolve the homicide of the young college student.