Hunter’s Secret starts when Hunter is a young lad, making you wonder how it relates to the job he does as DI now, thirty years later. Hunter Wilson and his younger brother stumble across a dead body, but when they return with the police the body has disappeared. Thirty years later, a similar incident happens, and Hunter has to face his past.

Val Penny, the author, has done a great job, weaving several secrets into the story. I kept wondering about Hunter’s Secret, and each time, there was another secret that popped up! Hunter’s Secret has some wonderful characters, from the quiet and sensible to the loud and overbearing. Some of them I remembered from other books and it was nice to see them again. The characters are different, and Val makes great use of their personalities and little quirks.

Hunter’s Secret is set in Edinburg, and I loved how the city was brought to life. There are quieter areas and busy pubs with different people all milling around. Hunter’s Secret, at least one of his secrets, is making him visit various places around Edinburgh.

Hunter’s Secret has a lot of police skills come into play and the eye for detail is brilliant. So many little facts are woven into the story, making it easier to be right in the middle of it all. Not just the buildings and the people, but the same is true for police procedures. The amount of research makes me shudder! But Val has done a wonderful job in making it simply part of the story without slowing anything down.

The book deals with respect and kindness, and Val has brought the theme up to date, with police intolerance and the way minorities can be treated. Hunter’s Secret brings out different personalities and the way they treat those around them who are different. The book makes you wonder, “Would you treat a suspicious death differently, based on who is murdered?” Are some lives more easily forgotten?

Hunter’s Secret weaves together the two murders, thirty years apart, and soon other things are falling into place. There are some characters that I struggled with, wondering how they fit in the picture, but it all became clear… And it kept me reading, for I could see how their testimonies or their friends would fit into the story any moment now, so I had to keep turning pages!

There are some 18+ scenes in Hunter’s Secret and the theme is LGBTQ+ relationships and treatment as well as the prejudice they receive.

I received a copy via Reading Between the Lines but was under no pressure or obligation to write a favourable review.