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A former Rhymney resident has released the latest instalment in her detective series set in the Rhymney Valley. 

Gaynor Torrance, who is a best-selling author in Amazon’s Kindle Store, has now written six books in her Detective Jemima Huxley thriller series, which is set in South Wales. 

Her latest book, The Rhymney Valley Killings, is located in the Rhymney Valley – a place with many memories for her. 

Gaynor Torrance lived in Rhymney in her youth and attended Rhymney Comprehensive School before leaving to study psychology at university.

She said: “Books have always played such a huge part in my life. I recall my first visit to Rhymney Library as a child. It was my very own Roald Dahl ‘Matilda’ moment – I wanted to read every book they had.”

She continued: “My obsession with literature has remained. Though now, I get to allow my imagination to run riot every day, as I create new cases for Jemima to solve.”

In this, the sixth book in the series, newly promoted DCI Jemima Huxley faces her most challenging case when she’s called to an unsettling scene where two men have been found dead.

As she leads a team to investigate the deaths, she encounters resistance from the local police and a potential link to unexplained youth fatalities.

Gaynor works with Joffe Books, an independent London publisher, and is soon to work on a new set of crime novels.

She said: “It’s set in the Wye Valley and will have a very different feel to the Detective Jemima Huxley series. But there are still more Jemima Huxley thrillers to come.”

Gaynor is set to write further books in the series, with book number seven set to be published in 2024.

The Rhymney Valley Killings was released by Joffe Books on December 12, 2023.