Pagan Rite by Leslie Scase

 

Our Rating 4 ⭐

You Can Buy Pagan Rite...here

You Can Find Out More About Leslie Scase...here

280 Pages

First published 2026

• The Blurb...

1897
Inspector Thomas Chard is sent to investigate the discovery of a mutilated corpse feared to be the work of Jack the Ripper. His investigation leads him to a ‘Festival of the Unknown’ and when a second murder occurs, rumours of demons and hell-hounds flood the public’s imagination. With the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations fast approaching, Chard has to fight his prejudices to deal with psychics, fortune-tellers, druids and scientists in order to expose a deranged killer.

• Our Review...

This is the fifth in the Inspector Chard series, the others being 

Fortunas Deadly Shadow

Fatal Solution

Sabrina's Teardrop 

Flames of Anarchy

Each has a slightly different taste but all under the genre of Victorian Industrial Noir. I dont actually know if thats a thing. I may have just made it up, but it sums up the field of expertise that the author writes in. I use the word expertise deliberatley. The author includes a section on his research at the rear of the book and it is almost as fascinating as the fictional narrative. So why do i keep coming back to this series, and why this book in particular. Well theres a few reasons..

Atmospheric Verisimilitude: Scase doesn't just describe the setting; he makes you smell the coal dust and feel the damp Welsh mist. The tension between the burgeoning industrial world and the deep-seated "old ways" of the hills is the book's strongest asset.

The Protagonist: Thomas Chard remains a refreshingly grounded lead. He isn’t a "super-sleuth" with flashes of divine inspiration; he’s a methodical, dogged, and often weary investigator who relies on local knowledge and persistence.

The "Pagan" Element: The title isn't just window dressing. Scase explores the revival of Druidic traditions and neo-paganism in the 19th century with historical nuance, avoiding the "occult thriller" clichés while keeping the stakes high.

"Pagan Rite" is a slow-burn procedural that rewards patient readers. While it helps to have read the previous books  Scase provides enough context that this functions well as a standalone mystery.

The story is set against the backdrop of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. While the British Empire is celebrating its height, Pontypridd is gripped by fear. A mutilated corpse is discovered, and the brutal nature of the crime immediately sparks a media frenzy, with headlines suggesting that Jack the Ripper has moved to the Valleys. As Chard investigates, he finds himself caught between two worlds: The Rational: A group of scientists and Victorian sceptics trying to debunk the supernatural and The Mystical: A "Festival of the Unknown" arriving in town, featuring fortune-tellers, psychics, and a revived interest in ancient Druidic rituals.

Some of the key themes and elements are mass hysteria: When a second murder occurs, the public’s imagination runs wild with talk of "hell-hounds" and demonic entities. Scase brilliantly captures how quickly a rational community can descend into panic when traditional beliefs are challenged. The clash of eras: The book highlights the friction of 1897—a time of rapid scientific advancement (the rise of forensic thought) clashing with a desperate nostalgia for ancient Celtic "pagan" roots.  The "Ripper" shadow: By invoking the specter of the Whitechapel murders, Scase raises the stakes for Chard, who has to solve the case quickly to prevent a full-scale riot during the Jubilee celebrations.

It may be a bit selfish but I also like the series because I know the locale in which it is set. I have drunk in the Llanover Arms. I have walked over the old bridge in Ponty. I have been on the Gower many times. Geographical experience always adds a little to the experience of reading a book. I recently found a website that suggests books set in the place that you are about to visit. Isnt that a good idea! The link is Trip Fiction

Unlike the earlier books, which focused more on industrial espionage (Fatal Solution) or anarchist plots (Flames of Anarchy), Pagan Rite is much more atmospheric and eerie. Chard is a fantastic "fish out of water" here; he is a man of facts and evidence who is forced to navigate a world of "miracles" and mysticism to find a very human killer. 

• Selected Quotes...

The tiny pistol’s hammer made a gentle click as it was cocked and placed against skin and bone. A crack, no louder than the sound of a snapped twig went unheard as the bullet found it’s mark…… then oblivion ………… at least for a while……

he’s a simple-minded soul, but pretty. It was her sixteenth birthday and fruit ripe for the plucking.’ ‘A chip off the old block!’ laughed the magistrate.

‘She asked about someone, and I consulted the cards. It was this one,’ said Sibylline, turning over the one in her hand, ‘the ten of swords.’ Chard looked at the image of a figure lying on the ground, pierced by blades, and felt a shiver through his spine.

Bugger won’t talk, despite walking into the wall a few times.’ ‘You know I don’t approve of prisoners having “accidental” injuries,’ admonished the inspector. ‘But as he’s a lying bastard of a killer, I’ll let it pass, just this once.

• If You Liked This Then You May Like.

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Sinister Inheritance by Graham H Miller

 

Our Rating...4⭐s

You can buy Sinister Inheritance...Here

You can find out more about the author...Here

• The Blurb...

Melinda Lewis was the sole survivor when her family was murdered twelve years ago. She went on to die four years later. Which leaves Jonah Greene wondering why he's seen her in a cafe in France.

Anthony Bailey appears to have died in his sleep. But he leaves behind a property empire, and a widow that no-one in his family has ever met.

These are two of the cases that Jonah Greene must wrestle with when he returns from a break in France, while the powers that be try to shut both cases down. As the politics get more complicated, Jonah must use all his skill to investigate under the radar, and ensure justice is done.

• Our Review...

At last he is back.. "The Canton Columbo, The Shoestring of Splott." After 6 long years Jonah Greene, the Cardiff Coroners Officer returns to tackle not one but two cases of dodgy inheritance.

After recently reading a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, reading Sinister Inheritance felt like having a meal of fish and chips, after having a week on the froi gras and port. Simple but tasty but just what was needed after such a rich diet. 

So we have two potential perps (as the kid's say.) in one, if the person of interest is guilty they may have had provocation and mitigating circumstances. The other perp in the second crime is just an out and out wrong un. Contrast the two and even though both crimes are similar we view them in very different ways.

In the main case there is very little face to face confrontation. So much so that there is no direct dialogue between Jonah and his adversary until the last scene. This, I feel actually adds to the narrative. It has a feel of a cold war submarine war film. Both combatants, probing from a distance finding each others weakness. Imagine fighting an enemy you can't see.

I like the fact that Jonah is a semi-insular soul. Yes he has acquaintances and relationships. Yes he works for the coroner but he is a department of one. He doesn't spend a great deal of time with any one group or even one person including his wife. He is of his time I think in that he is in large part a loner, and he is comfortable with that. This seems to be the trend in modern society. 

Oops I'm rambling again. Back to the book. I really enjoyed it, as I knew I would. It bears the hallmarks of Graham H Miller, intriguing, interesting and easy to read.

This is Jonah's third outing after "The List" and "Buzzard House" both twisty police procedural novels. Once again in my head Jonah is operating in my head in the same literal universe as DI Mandy Wilde in the novels of Jacqueline Harret and possibly DI Mark Fagin books by Jason Chapman. I can get all the murder mystery I want without leaving Glamorgan, Gwent and Powys!

Graham H Miller never lets you down. But please don't make us wait another six years for the next instalment. 

• Selected Quotes...

Despite the warmth and friendly atmosphere he felt a sudden melancholy. It was the forced recognition that his children were growing up, forging their own lives. He knew they'd always need him, but not as much as previously. He'd be someone in their lives, just not at the centre of it.

November in Wales was never going to be good for someone’s mental health.

'I know it's not fashionable and probably doesn't fit in with modern restorative justice theories, but some people are just born wrong. With something missing. They are evil. Hundreds of years ago they'd have been driven out of villages or hanged. Now, they just walk among us.

closure.' He chuckled to himself although there was no humour in it. 'Stupid American phrase. What are those parents meant to do, once they get the news? Their only child was killed. Once they know, are they supposed to close that chapter? Just forget and get on with their lives.'

• If You Liked This Then You May like...

Chasing Shadows by Matthew J Evans (review...here)

Death by intent by Jacqueline Harret (review...here)

Close to Death by Anthony Horrowitz (review...here)

Banquet of Beggars by Chris Lloyd

 

Our Rating 5⭐s

You can buy Banquet of Beggars...Here

You can find out about the author...Here

• The Blurb...

In Paris 1940, survival means sacrifice. Like most in the city, Detective Eddie Giral has already lost so much under Occupation: the people he once loved, the job he once believed in.

And his latest investigation into the murder of a black-marketeer has made it clearer than ever: Eddie is no longer just catching criminals. He's working for them. Because when a German trader is the next to die, the authorities decide it's innocent civilians who will pay the price - unless Eddie can find the killer in time.

As hunger grows, tensions rise and a fierce rebellion brews, Eddie will tread a dark path between doing whatever it takes to live with the enemy... and also with himself.

• Our Review...

This is the third in Chris Lloyd's "Occupation series" following The Unwanted Dead and Paris Requiem. Reviews for these two novels can also be found on this blog. All feature the anti hero Eddie who I have previously labelled "a tough, vulnerable, relentless, thug of an honest cop." And yes he is still all those things and yes he is still played by a French Bob Hoskins in my head. 

I am running out of superlatives for this series. I religiously follow only 2 series of books and the Occupation series is the only I have given 5 stars for every review.

Again its a murder mystery set in occupied Paris in 1940/41, but this time the investigation follows the murder of a local black marketeer who has been profiting at the misery of the starving citizens of Paris. Later another murder is committed linked to the Black Market. There are numerous plot twists and turns before Eddie can work out who the killers are. If the whodunnit plot were to be lifted from this novel and placed in a modern setting then it would still be a very good if not excellent mystery but the absolute beauty (and genius) of this book and the others is the setting.

Eddie is a good cop with a good heart but he is a bad man. . His situation is finely balanced like an elephant on a see saw. The crooks hate him because he is a cop, the citizens hate him because they think he is a collaborator, The Wehrmacht hate him because he may be resistance and the Gestapo hate him because well just because he's not a Nazi. The old joke springs to mind... It's not paranoia, if they really are out to get you, and the situation he finds himself in is akin to a paranoid's fever dream.

I feel I must give special mention to the first chapter mini spoiler alert coming. but not really a big one as its only about the first chapter. Act 1 Scene 1 Eddie wakes up in a sweaty underground room, parched and exhausted. He licks moisture of the walls.... Immediately the reader thinks prison cell. As the scene unfolds french people are encamped with him, the reader switches to thinking air raid shelter. Eventually it becomes clear the reason why he is there is something very different. The author cunningly guides us through this mini mystery tour with just descriptions of thoughts and feelings till you get a feeling of waking up somewhere where you cant remember from the night before. It's a very carefully thought out false trail, he intentionally gives us mental breadcrumbs to follow to lead us into the  assumptions of "Oh he is in a prison cell." quickly followed by "Oh he is in an air raid shelter." The author knows what he is doing in planting the thoughts in our minds. False trails., obfuscation and frustration, he sets the tone right at the start of the book Wonderful example of an opening chapter.

Again the authors research is amazing. Actual dates, timings, events, processes, of occupied Paris, these are the things that he is good at. These are our black and white lines and the colour is added through Eddie and his emotions and thoughts through out his adventures. It is every bit a spellbinding mixture as Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, it's just that the era and country are different.

 The feeling of oppression and never ending stress living under the constant pressure of an institutionally psychopathic regime makes for a teeth clenching, heart pounding read. I have mentioned before how Eddie is like a 1920s LA noir detective but thrust into an alien backdrop of occupied Paris. The narrative also reminds of Orwell's authoritarian hell-scape of 1894. The terror of saying the wrong thing, of thinking the wrong thing, of being the wrong colour or just being in the wrong place. How could you conduct an honest murder investigation in this world. An Eddie type would be your only hope.

Of course occupied 1940s Paris, or Orwell's 1984 aren't the only fascist games in town. Trump's USA is coming to the boil and it is terrifying. I'm off to buy some guinea pigs ready for the incoming world collapse and subsequent right wing terror.  Oh guinea pigs? You'll have to read Banquet for Beggars. I promise you will never look at a guinea-pig in the same way again.

Another great book in a great series.

• Selected Quotes...

"If they cut the meat allowance any further, I might even become fashionable."

"Butter was the new cocaine."

"you know my boys Eddie. They wouldn't hurt a fly." "I know they wouldn't." She backed away to close the door. They'd be too fucking stupid stupid to hit it."

"This is not how we do things Judge." "This is how we do things now. This is an opportunity for France. A chance to sweep away the old." "You mean things like justice and law?" "Wasters and hopeless people. The ones who offer nothing and take everything." "I've got a few names for you."

• If You Liked This Then You May Like...

The Gathering Storm by Alan Jones. (our review..here)

• About The Author...

Chris was born in an ambulance racing through a town he’s only returned to once, which probably explains a lot.

Straight after graduating in Spanish and French, he hopped on a bus from Cardiff to Catalonia where he stayed for the next twenty-odd years, first in the small and beautiful city of Girona, then in the big and beautiful city of Barcelona. He’s also lived in Bilbao, pre-empting the Guggenheim by a good few years, and in Madrid, where his love of Barcelona football club deepened. During this time, he worked as a teacher, in educational publishing, as a travel writer and as a translator. He still spends part of his day translating lofty and noble academic and arts texts.

Besides this, he also lived in Grenoble for six months, where he studied the French Resistance movement, a far deeper and more complex subject than history often teaches us and one that has fascinated him for years.

He now lives in his native Wales, where he writes crime novels and translates stuff.

The result of his lifelong interest in World War 2 and resistance and collaboration in Occupied France, The Unwanted Dead (Orion) is Chris’s first novel set in Paris, featuring Detective Eddie Giral. The series will see Eddie negotiate his way through the Occupation, trying to find a path between resistance and collaboration, all the time becoming whoever he must be to survive the ordeal descended on his home.

He also writes the Elisenda Domenech series (Canelo) set in Girona, featuring a police officer in the devolved Catalan police force. The head of an experimental Serious Crime Unit, she fights the worst of human excesses in the most beautiful of settings.

When he’s not writing or trying to keep up with his reading pile, Chris loves travelling, languages, red wine, Wales and Barça at football, Wales at rugby, cryptic crosswords, art, rock music and losing himself in European cities.

He’s especially proud to be a member of the Welsh crime writing collective Crime Cymru, the Crime Writers’ Association and the Society of Authors.

Death By Intent By Jacqueline Harret

Rating 4⭐s

You can buy Death By Intent...here

You can find out more about Jacqueline Harret...here

• The Blurb...

A woman’s decomposing body. The Church of ‘Forgotten Souls’. A dubious priest.

Di Mandy Wilde has a new case on her hands.

Was the death natural? Can she solve the mystery under the critical gaze of her ex-fiancé, DCI Lucas Manning?

And who hated Barbara Vixen enough to kill her?

• Our Review...

Death by Intent is book 4 in the D.I. Mandy Wilde series and yes I have read all 4! and in order! 

First up what a brilliant cover! Very memorable. 

We open with the putrefying corpse of an old lady. Another of those terrible cases you hear of, where an elderly person, all alone in the world with no friends or family dies on their own of natural causes and lays for weeks until by chance they are discovered. Or was it natural causes and what was this old lady like. We automatically think of old ladies are gentle, caring and benign. But who was this woman in her life.

This is the challenge for Mandy and her team. Josh, Olivia and Helen. each with their own skill-set and personality. However this time Mandy is hampered by the appointment of a DCI to follow and scrutinise her every move following her maverick ways on previous investigations. Mandy needs to up her game and this time stay the right side of the line. There is one major obstacle to this in that the watchdog DCI is her former fiance. In addition Mandy has issues at home. Mandy looks after her teenage niece Tabitha, and now Tabitha's mother and Mandy's errant, black sheep of a twin sister is back on the scene. It cant get any more powder keggy can it? Oh yes it can and its all going to kick off! 

I'm trying not to give spoilers, suffice to say numerous suspects are investigated and false paths explored and red herrings swallowed whole. One of the characters, Father Michael, a long haired, tattooed con man who had turned to God and seen the light and became a preacher in particular resonated. He reminded me of Russell Brand. 

I must say I'm very impressed by the work ethic of the South Wales Police force in the Mandy Wilde universe. No stone, no matter how minute is left un-turned, no trivial piece of information left un-scrutinised. I know its fiction and in the real world cases like these would be basically binned. Which brings me to the essence of the Mandy Wilde novels.

In the Mandy Wilde novels the writing conveys throughout a sense of reverence for justice, and not just black and white legal justice. They revere the full rainbow spectrum of all encompassing social justice. When we get to a denouement in a Mandy Wilde novel we don't just get to find the perpetrator and the reason why they did it but more than that again we get the heritage of that person, the difficult decisions in terrible circumstances, that eventually led to that fateful decision to commit a crime. Situations that could have been vastly different if only someone or society as a whole cared. Often in Mandy's world, and i should think in real life too, the perpetrator is actually the biggest victim. If we all lived in a world with the pervading feel of the justice in  Mandy Wilde novels the world would be a much better, more caring place. 

I must say it took me a while to get into the groove of a Mandy Wilde novel. I was used to more dramatic novels, with big explosions, car chases and gruesome murders but as I read more I found myself settling into and enjoying Mandy's world. If you drew a Venn diagram with Columbo, and Cathy Come Home, then Mandy Wilde is the sweet spot in the middle. On first impression a Mandy Wilde novel is like a placid pond but once you go under the surface you see the fight for life in society in all it's glory and all it's heartache. 

Looking forward to Mandy 5

• Selected Quotes...

Barbara Vixen was dead long before the fireworks announcing the New Year exploded across the Cardiff sky. It was the second of January

You can’t charge someone for not caring enough. It’s not like a neglected child.

Damn. A boa constrictor couldn’t feel more controlling than Lucas hanging closer to her than spandex.

You try to poach my best detective, make him think you’re the best thing since bloody chocolate massage cream,

Hi, I’m Michael. I’ve done some bad things in my life, and I’ve been punished for them. Men punished me but God saved me. He made me see the error of my ways. Through the love of God and his son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, I have seen there is a different path. A path where I can do some good in the world and help others

 

• If You Liked This Then You May Like...

The List by Graham H Miller

Crimson Snow by Jason Vowles 

The Couple at No9 by Claire Douglas

• About The Author...

Jacqueline Harrett was born and brought up in a small village in Northern Ireland. After living in various places in South Wales she settled in Cardiff with her husband of many years, Lola the mad cat and Speedy, an ancient and territorial tortoise. Her two grown-up children – critical reader and technical advisor – live nearby.

As an only child she was a voracious reader and loved stories. Her father was a wonderful storyteller, encouraging her to tell her own stories and developing her love of oral stories. This was the inspiration behind her mini-book, Tell Me Another… Speaking and Listening Through Storytelling and her PhD on the effects of oral stories on young children’s language and imagination.

Jacqui has always been a writer but it wasn’t until 1997 that she started publishing her work with articles in English in Wales and then in the TES. A book for teachers, Exciting Writing, won the UKLA author award. As a former teacher and academic, she published and gave presentations on the value of story for children’s development.

After retiring from academia, Jacqui concentrated on more creative writing, attending classes and developing the craft. She had stories published in anthologies (Honno, MTP) and flash fiction online, and hidden in the depths of her computer are many other stories, a novel, novella and books for children. Like reading, writing is an obsession.

With her friend and colleague, Janet Laugharne, she has written a novel, What Lies Between Them, to be published in February 2022 under the pseudonym J. L. Harland.

Jacqui’s debut, The Nesting Place, was started in lockdown and the culmination of several different elements. It started with Katherine Stansfield’s excellent Crime Writing courses at Cardiff University, pre-pandemic. Then, during lockdown, a further course with Writing Magazine’s James McCreet, when the ideas began to take shape and the feedback from James helped with the process of producing the novel.

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

The Dead Will Beckon by Jason Chapman

 

346 pages

You can buy The Dead Will Beckon...Here

You follow Jason Chapman's Face Book page...Here

You can follow Crime Cymru...Here

• The Blurb...

Detective Inspector Marc Fagan thought he had left the past behind when he departed Abergavenny, South Wales, many years ago. But life has a haunting way of pulling you back in, and when a chilling murder rocks the tranquil town, fate decides to test Fagan's resolve. In this gripping crime thriller, "The dead Will Beckon," Fagan finds himself confronting not just a sinister present but also the darkest secrets of the town’s past.

After decades of solving crimes in the big city, Fagan returns to his childhood hometown only to face an unexpected case. A woman has been brutally murdered. Fagan is stunned to discover that the victim is none other than his long-lost girlfriend from forty years ago - a love he thought he had buried with his youth.

Haunted by memories and unresolved emotions, Fagan delves deep into the dark past of Abergavenny, now a place he barely recognizes. The once-familiar faces and streets seem shrouded in secrets, and as he navigates the labyrinthine web of lies, deceit, and betrayal, Fagan realizes that the truth is far darker than he ever imagined.

• Our Review...

The Dead Will Beckon is the first the DI Marc Fagan series. Fagan returns to his sleepy home town to wind down in the sunset on his last lap after 30 years being a copper in the big city of Liverpool. But fate doesn't work like that. As soon as he arrives the body of his ex girlfriend is found. 

The book continues in an alternating timeline. One from the present when Marc is a 50+ year old copper and one from the 70s/80s where Marc is a teenager. We see how the actions of decades gone by have impacted on not just Marc but everyone in the town. 

The book is actually two investigations. Firstly the murder and then also the historic sexual abuse and susbsequent cover up. One is more complex than the other.

The narrative is very sexually driven wether it be teenagers exploring their sexuality or predatory perverts. Sex seems to be a prime motivation. This is a book that has a very dark story to tell and the language used reflects both this and also the time period of the 70s. The coarse language is both deep and extensive, see selected quotes for an example. While I can testify that this language was par for the course in that era and in that area it may well put some people off reading this book. 

I found that the story resonated with me because it is set both in the era that I grew up in and near the area that I grew up in. In addition I can see a little of Marc in me. He was abit of a bully in school and hopes that over the years he has developed into a nicer, far more rounded person, but on occasion fears that he hasn't. The author sets the scene of South Wales in 70s and 80s very well. The social structure of teenage heirarchy, whose friends with who, whose having sex with who, winners, losers, the posh and the piss poor. It's like I was back there and then. 

The choice of the mean streets of Abergavenny was an interesing one. Obviously it was the author's home town, but in the nearby valley village where I am from, we always thought of it as quite affluent. A rural area where rich farmers lived. Just goes to show eh?

After reading this you'll think my village must be twinned with Soddam and Gomorrah if it's rougher than Abergavenny. 

Marc enlists the help of his former mates for some off the books detective work, setting the scene, I'm sure, for future ensemble investigations. I liked this book even though the amount of industrial language was a slight distraction. It's my people, my tribe. Sometimes thats not a thing to be proud of. Also it does demonstrate that while the city gets all the headlines the deepest darkest secrets are in the towns and villages, and especially in the valleys.

• Selected Quotes...

Saddler hurried out of the tent and headed towards the park gates, lighting a rolled up cigarette. ‘Oi, you dull twat!’ Fagan shouted after him. Saddler turned. ‘Just in case you didn’t realise, this is a fucking crime scene. I’ll kick your bloody arse

Looks like we’ll have to examine the dog. The owner said it pissed on the body before he could pull it away.

Benny Nelson smiled at the group of girls. ‘Any of you girls want a ride home?’ ‘What’s it going to cost us?’ Susanna Jenkins asked. ‘A blow job off every one of you.’ ‘Fuck off Benny, you spastic. Go and have a wank up the Keepers like you usually do.’

Marriage was for people who wanted to throw away their careers. At least, that’s what Fagan believed.

• If You Liked This Then You May Like...

Killing Evil by John Nichol. See our review...Here

Razor Blade Tears by S.A. Crosby. See our review...Here

The List by Graham H Miller. See our review...Here

• About The Author...

Jason Chapman is a multi-talented Welsh author known for his exceptional storytelling in both the realms of science fiction and crime thrillers. He is a member of Crime Cymru. Born and raised amidst the scenic beauty of Abergavenny, South Wales, Jason's childhood was infused with a deep appreciation for the wonders of science and the allure of mysterious tales. This unique combination of interests laid the foundation for his diverse writing career, as he deftly weaves imaginative narratives that traverse the boundaries of multiple genres.

Early Life:

Growing up in Abergavenny, Jason was a curious and imaginative child, often venturing into the beautiful Welsh countryside, conjuring up stories that combined elements of science fiction and thrilling mysteries. He spent hours immersed in classic science fiction novels and crime thrillers, drawing inspiration from both genres to shape his own literary voice.

After leaving school Jason pushed his passion for writing beyond its limits Over the last thirty years has explored his never ending passion for storytelling. Refining his is storytelling techniques and gaining a deeper understanding of the intricacies involved in crafting interesting narratives.

With Grave Consequences by Jacqueline Harret

306 Pages

You can buy "With Grave Consequences...Here

You can find out more about Jacqueline Harret...Here

You can follow Crime Cymru...Here

• The Blurb...

Cardiff based, Detective Inspector Mandy Wilde is tough as they come. Nearly 6ft tall, with wild, curly hair and an attitude to match it, she spends her days (and most nights) hunting down Cardiff’s criminals. All her spare time is devoted to bringing up her teenage niece, Tabitha, who lives with her after being abandoned by Mandy’s twin sister, Joy.

• Our Review...

With Grave Consequences is the third, and I think the best so far, in the DI Mandy Wilde series.

Mandy is a tall, whip smart DI based in Cardiff with wild hair, a wild mouth and a wild twin sister, Wilde by name and so on. No filter and a gob like a cross between a potty and a machine gun.

The body of a teenage girl is found in a cemetery one cold morning by a lonely old man. Was it murder? One case quicky turns into two. The author leaves a trail of crumbs with little bits of red herrings thrown in. 

The Mandy Wilde books as a brand are little different to your average crime thriller. Yes there are crimes but, and it's difficult to articulate this, the cause of much of the ills are just society. People fall through the cracks in life and the social rescue cant't help them because the net is either thread bare or non existent. This results in desperate people doing desperate things. The bad guys here are not men in black hats or Bond villains but people who are lost and hopeless. It's crime fiction that has a social conscience and it's done well. 

In addition to a whodunnit with a social soft spot we also get a family saga. Twin sisters. One a high up cop and one bum, but the bum has the child that Mandy loves as a daughter. The sisters love each other but also resent each other and the sparks between them add zing to the whole narrative. 

It's a serious crime fiction novel but the author does have a way with funny one liners too that pepper the tale through out. Towards the end of the book the ground work is laid out for what I hope will be DI Mandy Wilde IV.

An enjoyable and polished police procedural. Knows it's audience and hits the spot.

• Selected Quotes...

“When can you do the PM? Today?” “Late afternoon. Say five? It will mean I have a valid excuse to miss the weekly dinner with my mother-in-law.” “Every cloud.” Anyone who would rather cut up a dead body than have dinner with an in-law needed some sympathy.

Olivia has been scouring the CCTV from the cemetery.” “Good God. They have CCTV there? What are they expecting? Zombies?”

his father, put a twenty-pound note into the tin and declined the raffle tickets. A show of wealth. Did he expect a round of applause? What a prick.

Having her sister back was wonderful and awful in almost equal proportions.

• If You Liked This Then You May Also Like...

The List by Graham H Miller.(Review...Here)

Missing, Prersumed by Susie Steiner

Quieter Than Killing by Sarah Hilary

• About The Author...

Former teacher and lecturer with a passion for storytelling. Retired from education but still loves learning. Writes in different genres. Crime series with DI Mandy Wilde as the detective. Women’s fiction with Janet Laugharne as J. L. Harland - What Lies Between Them.Jacqueline is a member of Crime Cymru.

The Embassy Murders by Mark Ellis

 

This book was formerly entitled Princes Gate

354 pages

You can buy The Embassey Murders...Here

You can follow Mark Ellis...Here

• The Blurb...

When a brilliant emigré scientist is killed by a hit-and-run driver and the body of an American embassy employee is washed up in the Thames, DCI Frank Merlin and his team are called to investigate.

Merlin's investigations soon ruffle feathers at the Foreign Office - the American ambassador, Joseph Kennedy, is a well-known supporter of appeasement, and has gained many powerful and influential friends in the pursuit of a negotiated peace settlement with Hitler.

The death of yet another embassy employee leads Merlin deep into the seedier quarters of wartime London, until his investigations are hampered by interfering superiors fearful of disrupting international relations. As Merlin is drawn into a web of secrets, what will the truth cost him - and Britain?

• Our Review...

The Embassy Murders is dark political crime drama that is set in the now long distant historical era of the second world war. Sadly the questions that this book asks are the same ones that we should be asking today. Indeed they are probably the same questions that should have been asked through out all history.

Namely, why do we treat people with power differently to those without power, especially when it comes to enforcing the law. Same as it ever was then. And during the early years of the Second World War the American ambassador to London had power and influence aplenty. 

Two lowly British employees of the American Embassy are murdered. Is it politically or  criminally motivated? The answers are not what you think they are. Is it irrelevant enough to sweep under the carpet? If it is hidden for the benefit of our betters, are they really our betters?

What is more important, the lives of a couple of nobodies or getting the most powerful nation in the world to fight on your side in the war? If you turn a blind eye, will it work out in the end? or could you live with the injustice. Is it a black and white issue or is it a grey area balancing act. 

The author weaves these themes wonderfully throughout his narrative. We cheer our hero Merlin on through the jungle of political interference and bureaucracy not to mention gangs of thugs, pimps and pornographers.  Merlin is a veteran of the Great War with Spanish heritage. He knows when you fight for the little people you fight for what is right. What is the point of winning a war if in doing so you lose the soul of a country.

The author does a bang up job of placing the reader in war torn London of blackouts and violent crime. For what better time to commit crime than in a blacked out city, with the best part of the police called up for active service and a population who are more concerned with bombing raids than burglaries. It's a perfect storm for the Capital's felonry. In addition the backdrop of the developing political situation is set out at a perfect pitch. There are little clues in the background of the ongoing Chamberlain/Churchill, appeasement/fight duel going on in society. Also setting the scene are a number of cameos of personalities and locations synonymous with that period. All in all the author creates a fitting landscape into which his characters and the plot is set. 

Merlin puts together, as best he can, a motley crew to chase down leads and bang on doors. He follows the twist and turns through the dark alleyways of London, while at the same time doggedly pursuing leads in the gilded halls of the rich and powerful.

If you enjoy your history, especially WW2 and you enjoy your murder mysteries, this is a very good book that will keep you entertained and questioning from begining to end.

• Selected Quotes...

People need beer to lubricate their dreams and drown their fears.

Merlin had met Mrs Gatehouse several times. A formidable lady in a formidable body.

However unlikely it may be, we don’t want the murder of an insignificant girl to queer the pitch in any way, do we?” Merlin could not help visibly bridling at this. “‘Insignificant’, sir? Are you saying you don’t want me properly to investigate the murders of ‘insignificant’ people while the war’s on?”

He still found it hard to believe that business life continued almost normally with the spectre of war, death and destruction looming larger every day, but it did. The Stock Market was as active as ever, while cargoes of oil, minerals, rubber and tea, moving largely without interference as yet over the oceans of the world, were traded freely in the commodity markets of the City. The factories of the Midlands continued to manufacture everything from cars to pots and pans. Cinemas, having been briefly closed at the outbreak of war, had reopened. Tea and cakes were still freely available at Lyons Corner Houses and cafés everywhere. People were dying natural deaths and being buried, marriages were being celebrated and, with or without benefit of the latter, babies were still being conceived. And, as he knew well, ordinary people continued to commit ordinary crimes, regardless of the latest news from Poland or France.

• If You Liked This Then You May Like...

The Unwanted Dead by Chris Lloyd

Enigma by Robert Harris

Resistance by Owen Sheers

• About The Author...

Mark Ellis is a thriller writer from Swansea and a former barrister and entrepreneur.

He is the creator of DCI Frank Merlin, an Anglo-Spanish police detective operating in World War 2 London. His books treat the reader to a vivid portrait of London during the war skilfully blended with gripping plots, political intrigue and a charismatic protagonist. 

Mark grew up under the shadow of his parents’ experience of the Second World War. His father served in the wartime navy and died a young man. His mother told him stories of watching the heavy bombardment of Swansea from the safe vantage point of a hill in Llanelli, and of attending tea dances in wartime London under the bombs and doodlebugs.

In consequence Mark has always been fascinated by WW2 and in particular the Home Front and the fact that while the nation was engaged in a heroic endeavour, crime flourished. Murder, robbery, theft and rape were rife and the Blitz provided scope for widespread looting.

This was an intriguing, harsh and cruel world. This is the world of DCI Frank Merlin.

Mark Ellis’ books regularly appear in the Kindle bestseller charts.

He is published by Headline Accent, an imprint of Headline.

He is a member of Crime Cymru, the Welsh crime writing collective, and of the Crime Writers Association (CWA).

His third book, Merlin at War, was on the CWA Historical Dagger Longlist in 2018.