Today I’m pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for Hunter’s Secret. I’m sharing a guest post from author Val Penny, with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and, of course, to Val Penny for writing her guest post!

Blurb:

Hunter has a past. Hunter has a secret. Can he unravel his past, keep his secret and keep Edinburgh safe?

Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson is called to the scene of a murder. DCs Tim Myerscough and Bear Zewedu found a corpse, but when Hunter arrives it has disappeared, and all is not as it seems.

Hunter recalls the disappearance of a dead body thirty years earlier. The Major Incident Team is called in but sees no connection – it is too long ago. Hunter is determined to investigate the past and the present with the benefit of modern DNA testing.

Tim has other problems in his life. His father, Sir Peter Myerscough, is released from jail. He, too, remembers the earlier murder. There is no love lost between Hunter and Sir Peter. Will Hunter accept help from his nemesis to catch a killer?
Hunter’s own secret is exciting and crucial to his future. Will it change his life? And can he keep Edinburgh safe?

Guest Post:

Val Penny writes about the importance of books and reading in her life.

Reading and Writing and Books

Thank you so much for inviting me to your blog today. I am excited that my fifth novel, Hunter’s Secret, has been published. When I was a child telling stories to my little sister before we went to sleep, I never imagined it would come to this. Having said that, I have always enjoyed making up tales and reading about imaginary lives. 

When I teach writing, I always say that the first thing a good writer should do is read, voraciously and widely. Authors should not confine themselves to their own genre but read anything and everything – from the side of the cornflakes packet at breakfast in the morning to quality newspapers, trashy magazines, classic novels, Shakespeare plays and modern short stories.  

I think it is important to make sure you, as a writer, are exposed to different styles of writing and various uses of language. It is also critical to read non-fiction as well as fiction so that you have a rounded view of the world.

I enjoy reading and I read a great deal of crime fiction which is the genre that I write. But, in line with my own advice to others I also read widely in other disciplines. I have recently read and enjoyed the historical saga The House of Grace by Patricia M Osbourne, the non-fiction book Born a Crime by Trevor Noah and re-read Shakespeare’s play Mid-Summer Night’s Dream. Each of these entertained me, but also exposed me to different uses of language. I hope that will make my own novels more interesting to my readers.

However, in the event of a disaster, if I could only save one book, I would choose the book of prose poetry, The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. It is a book of 26 prose poetry fables written in English by the Lebanese-American Christian poet and writer Kahlil Gibran. It was originally published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf and is undoubtedly Gibran’s best-known work. The book’s 26 prose poems are written as if they are delivered by a wise man, Al Mustapha. He is about to set sail for his homeland after 12 years in exile on a fictional island. As he prepares to go the people of the island ask him to share his wisdom on the big questions of life including love, family, work and death.

In Hunter’s Secret, my main protagonist, DI Hunter Wilson is keeping secrets rather than confiding in those closest to him. The reader becomes aware of the damage this inflicts on his psyche. Gibran believed that both the amazing and ugly aspects of life on Earth must be embraced for each individual to gain knowledge, truth and harmony within themselves and with others. It is a soothing, mindful book that I often return to and reflect upon.

I love being given the opportunity to write my books and share my stories with my readers. I am thrilled by how well received The Edinburgh Crime Mysteries have been and hope that the most recent novel, Hunter’s Secret will be widely enjoyed too.

Reading is the greatest gift after sight and speech. It allows me to share imaginary events, information, and views with others. Likewise, when I read, I can escape to faraway places or fictious worlds. Reading can provide the company of characters when I am alone and the quiet of solitude when life is busy. 

One of the things my husband and I like to do on vacation is each to choose two books to take with us. We read our own and then swap. He has introduced me to Lee Child and Bernard Cornwell while I have lent books by Peter Robinson and Linwood Barclay to him. It is fun to share favourite books and discuss the novels. I am also not above taking a copy of my most recent novel with me and leaving it in the hotel library! It is exciting to see how long it takes to disappear.

Reading provides me with great joy and much interest however, news stories in the real world often provide unusual ideas and backgrounds for my novels! Thank you for inviting me to your blog today. I do hope your readers enjoy Hunter’s Secret.

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Hunter’s Secret is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: