crime writer, Crime/Mystery, Crime/Thriller, Novels, police procedural

A Fighting Chance DS Jane Renwick Book 2 by Val Penny #AFIGHTINGCHANCE

October 19, 2025 Melanie Leave a comment

Today at Celtic Connexions, I’m welcoming author Val Penny and her second book in her DS Jane Renwick series, A Fighting Chance.

fighting chance

Blurb

In the second Jane Renwick Thriller by Val Penny, drug cartels collide as crime boss Connor O’Grady returns to Scotland to protect his turf from rival Peggy Cheney, newly released from prison.

DS Jane Renwick and DC Brian Harris are sent to Stirling, where Jane discovers two tragic deaths—a young man and a girl—raising suspicions of a single killer.

O’Grady denies involvement, but can a drug lord be trusted?
Set in Stirling and Gartcosh, this tense police procedural thrusts Jane into the heart of a deadly turf war.

fighting chance

Book Links

PAPERBACK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fighting-Chance-Jane-Renwick-Book/dp/1917611161

EBOOK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fighting-Chance-Jane-Renwick-Book-ebook/dp/B0FHQ49SVJ

My Review

I first met DS Jane Renwick in Val Penny’s DI Hunter series. She’s now working at MIT. This assignment takes her and her team to Stirling, where she ends up embroiled in not one, but two murder cases.

I like Jane’s character. She’s smart, feisty, and someone you wouldn’t want to make angry.

It was nice to see some of the characters from the DI Hunter series mentioned as well. The Thompson family from Thompson Top Cars in Edinburgh.

I really hope there will be more DS Jane Renwick books.

fighting chance

This is the Wallace Monument in Stirling, as shown on the cover of Val’s novel. You can tour the monument and climb the 246-step spiral staircase to the very top. The view is spectacular from there. Looking straight up into the open dome also offers a good view. I’ve toured the monument, and you should add it to your bucket list.

About the Author

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.