Flames of Anarchy by Leslie Scase

 

Rating...4⭐s

288 pages

You can buy Flames of Anarchy...here

You can find Leslie's face book page...here

You can find out about Crime Cymru...here

• The blurb...

After a plot to assassinate the Czar of Russia is foiled by government agents, Inspector Thomas Chard is tasked with finding a lone assassin who may be being protected by a gang of anarchists somewhere in Glamorganshire. Having just returned to Pontypridd from Shrewsbury, where he was fighting to clear his own name, Chard is more concerned with rebuilding his career. But events soon overtake this aim and Chard’s efforts to find the assassin are frustrated by a series of apparently random murders. As the anarchists plot to promote unrest, the body count begins to grow. Soon a local politician is amongst the dead. Tensions rise as the anarchists fight amongst themselves, with one group’s actions becoming increasingly more extreme. Still the killer's true objective remains a mystery... one that Chard must solve, and quickly.

• Our review...

This is the fourth outing for our flawed, Victorian police offer Inspector Chard. This is the third one I've read and as I sat down to begin reading I realised it felt like I was looking forward to settling down to and old friend and an entertaining evening. A bit like when Bake Off comes back on the telly in the autumn. 

We find Chard a free man  and back in Ponty after his experiences in Shrewsbury in Sabrina's Teardrop. He may be free and back but he is still in the doghouse both with his boss and his colleagues. Luckily for Chard before he returns home a home-office fixer taps him up to do some "special branch" type work in South Wales where the is a suspected terror cell being formed. Chard is charged with locating a former college friend who may or may not be involved. As always with Leslie's writing the past reflects the present and with current spate of rioting with a religious/ethnic background his finger is again bang on the pulse. Just swap islam/asian/MDL or christain/white/EDL for catholic/Irish/Fenian and you've gone from 1895 to 2024 by the end of the page. Thus proving the old adage "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes."

Chard must keep his MI5 secret while he goes about his day job. His current task being to develop a report into the feasibility of a plain clothes CID force in Glamorganshire. Thus he is able to travel throughout the county with impunity. As he draws closer to the quite frankly embarrassing attempts at revolution by the hapless band of Glamorgan anarchists (for those of  a certain age think Citizen Smith and you get the picture) as series of seemingly unconnected, grisly murders take place that are loosely linked to the crew. Is there an assassin hidden their ranks.

As Chard uncovers clue after clue pressure mounts from the Home Office and the pace increases to a frenetic chase. The authors two main attributes are research and plot and he displays both to the maximum in this novel. The Victorian method of CPR is an eye opener! Another enjoyable romp from the Welsh Arthur Conan Doyle.

• Selected Quotes...

And there's the problem. People like that in charge, firing whoever they want.It's the same everywhere.Those who have no common sense lording it over us. Poverty and destitution for all working men. That's what they want.

As  you are aware the participants are allocated an argument to defend, and they do so regardless of  their own personal beliefs. the object is to win the debate. That's all that matters. They carry that principle on to the House of Commons. Whether an issue is right or wrong is of no concern..

• If you liked this, then you may like...

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

Victorian Murders by Jan Bondeson

The Malvern Murders by Kerry Tombs

• About the author...

Leslie Scase is the Shropshire-based author of  the Inspector Chard Mysteries, crime thrillers set in the heyday of Victorian Britain. The first novel Fortuna’s Deadly Shadow was published in 2020. The second, Fatal Solution, was published in May 2021. Sabrina’s Teardrop, a thriller set mainly in Shropshire and Birmingham was published on 10th October 2022. An advocate of the ‘classic’ murder mystery genre, Leslie is also a keen historian, which is reflected in the authenticity of his novels.

Born and educated in South Wales, Leslie worked in local industry before travelling widely across the UK during a career in the Civil Service. His first novel was inspired in part by his Italian and English ancestors having settled in South Wales in the late nineteenth century. A keen fly fisherman and real ale enthusiast, he lives close to the Welsh border, in the county town of Shrewsbury