Most of you who know me are aware that I’m an avid reader. I
gulp books down like there is no tomorrow, and it’s no wonder because at the
last count, I had 1,422 eBooks in my Kindle and 133 audiobooks lodged in my
phone and I daren’t count the number of paperbacks and hardbacks that seem to
be holding up the walls of my house. I’ve never been really good at maths but
even I know I’ll need several lifetimes to get through that lot.
That makes prioritisation important when selecting my next
read, and that means I turn to my favourite authors first. And, when one of my
favourite authors publishes a new book that tends to increase my stock of books
to get through and I never know whether to cheer or cry. All I know is that
I’ve got to get it.
So, why am I telling you this? Well, it’s simple really, Val
Penny has just published her new book The First Cut and I really, really
want it.
Here is the blurb to The First Cut and I’d lay bets it will whet your appetite.
It's hard to escape a brutal past.
A vicious killer is on the loose and victims include an academic and members of Edinburgh's high society.
DS Jane Renwick is banished to the sidelines of the case and forced to look on impotently when the hunt for the killer ramps up, because the Murder Investigation Team finds out that the killer is her relative.
Has someone from Jane's birth family returned to haunt her? Is one of her relatives involved? Where will the killer strike next?
This gripping police procedural is set in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The exciting novel is the first in Val Penny's new series of Scottish thrillers.
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| Edinburgh |
Now you’ve had the taster, here is a wee excerpt:
“Don’t
know that name, but there’s nobody else here right now. I’m working. Please
just go away.”
He
felt the blow of dismissal, like everybody had always dismissed him. How dare
they? How dare he? This foreigner didn’t even belong here. None of them did.
None of them deserved the time of day, never mind the air they breathed. He
would soon stop all that.
He
smiled and took a few steps into the room.
“What
you busy with? It’s late to be working.” He walked around the desk, took out
his blade, and punched it into his victim’s carotid artery with practised
precision. He dragged the blade across the neck to slice the artery, a quick
second slice to make sure, but the first cut was the deepest. He made no
errors, no mistakes. There was no hesitation. His victim stared at him,
clutching his throat as the life blood ran out of him. All over the desk, all
over the laptop computer, all over the important work that had required his
dismissal. The blood sprayed over the desk, spattered the bookcase and into his
mouth. That tinny, metallic taste he had come to enjoy. He would need to wipe
his face before he left the room. It was a lucky break that he had a packet of
tissues.
He
smiled as his victim held his neck, the struggle, the gurgle, the death rattle
of the man who tried to hold the life sustaining liquid in his body. They all
did that. Again, ridiculous. It would never work. Not for long. It splashed
through his fingers and onto the floor. That carpet hadn’t been up to much
before, and it wasn’t worth shit now.
The
man flopped over the desk. He wondered if that action had broken the laptop.
Not that he really cared, the computer would come with him anyway. He grimaced.
Having to rummage through the bloody pockets to get the phone was nasty, but he
didn’t want to leave anything behind. Good! Got it first time. A decent one. It
would get a bob or two.
He
chuckled as he thought how confusing this would be, because this one didn’t fit
with the profiles of the other victims at all. It wasn’t possible, this one had
nothing to do with anything. Maybe it was a good thing he had missed her. Good
name he came up with too, Joy Tuesday. Pity nobody would ever know or be able
to share it. Poor Policeman Plod. This one would make no sense, yet they would
have to make it fit.
He
left as quietly as he had come, laptop under one arm, phone in his pocket,
bloody blade in his belt. Then he saw her, the right fucking woman, whatever
her name was, he couldn’t remember now because of the excitement. The green
flash at the front of her hair was quite endearing. This evening, she had had a
lucky escape, but he would be back.
 |
| Edinburgh Castle |
And if you don’t know Val Penny, here is a wee bit about
her:
 |
| Val Penny |
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.
Chris Longmuir
