Welcome to Front Page Fridays Week-67. On Fridays I showcase the first page of a new book.
My Front Page Fridays Week-67 guest is Leslie Scase with the first page of his re-released historical thriller Fatal Solution, book 2 in the Inspector Chard Mysteries series.
Here’s the opening:
ONE
The mining village of Cilfynydd – two miles north of Pontypridd – 23rd June 1894
George Butcher made his way reluctantly towards the pit head. He trudged through the boggy ground, his boots collecting mud. As he felt the rain trickle down the back of his neck, he grumbled to his best friend.
‘I don’t know Dai, there’s got to be more to life than this. Just enough to keep food in our bellies and a roof over our heads. I don’t know how the married men manage.’
‘Worry about that when it comes to it. You’re too ugly and skinny to get married,’ Dai teased. Then he became serious. ‘Anyway, we can do bugger all about it. Last year’s strike showed that. All we got was the risk of being cut up by the cavalry, the bastards. We can’t do anything when half the mine owners are magistrates and can call in the troops.’
‘Let’s face it, here we are on a Saturday afternoon in the height of Summer when we should be having fun. Instead, we’re going underground, to work like navvies until we go home in the middle of the night.’
‘Well at least we’ll be dry.’
‘Too bloody dry. They haven’t been watering the mine regularly and nothing is properly inspected.’
‘Keep your voice down or you’ll be sent home without pay.’
Other men were making their way to the pit-head ready for their afternoon shift, some to repair the underground roadway and others to clear up the dust. The great wheel was already turning, fetching the morning shift up from the bowels of the earth. Over fifteen hundred men had been working below ground, hacking coal with their mandrels; and loading the trucks pulled by sturdy, uncomplaining pit ponies.
About Fatal Solution
1896, a body is found in the burnt out remnants of a workshop, in a village still shaken from a terrible industrial tragedy two years previously. Inspector Chard’s attempts to solve the mystery of the dead body are interrupted by the discovery of two men, mysteriously struck down whilst sat on a bench close to the river. When the cause of death is discovered to be a deadly poison, the suspects (including the inspector’s lover) need to be tracked down relentlessly. The savage murder of a prostitute adds to the complexity of the case. Industrial espionage, revenge and a vicious sexual predator are all obstacles for the good inspector as he seeks the Fatal Solution.
Purchase Link
About the Author
Leslie Scase is a former Customs and Excise officer, born and educated in south Wales but now living in Shropshire. He is a member of the Crime Writers Association and of the Crime Cymru writers collective.
The Inspector Chard Mysteries, are crime thrillers set in the heyday of Victorian Britain.
Leslie regularly gives talks on crime in the late Victorian period, has appeared at many literary festivals and been interviewed on BBC radio. His interests include military history, cooking, real ale, football and rugby union.
Social Media Links
https://www.facebook.com/InspectorChard?locale=en_GB
Threads
https://www.threads.com/@lesliescaseauthor?hl=en-gb
@lesliescaseauthor
I hope you enjoyed reading Front Page Fridays Week-67. Please come back next time when I’ll be featuring a different author and the first page of their book.
And please take a look at books already featured on Front Page Fridays:
1. Blood Ribbons by Lin Le Versha
2. Fatal Blow by Brian Price
3. Can I Trust You? by Rob Gittins
4. The Last Bird of Paradise by AJ Aberford
5. Never Forgive You by Hilly Barmby
6. The Mists of Pencarrack Moor by Terri Nixon
7. The Thief of Joy by Stacey Murray
8. Edge of the Land by Malcolm Hollingdrake
9. The Mind of a Murderer by Michael Wood
10. The Midnight Man by Julie Anderson
11. Dark Road Home by Sheila Bugler
12. Her Charming Man by Rachel Sargeant
13. Wedding Bells at the Lakeside Hotel by Linda Huber
14. Dark Island by Daniel Aubrey
15. The Shame by Maureen Myant
16. Dead Mile by Jo Furniss
17. The Violin and Candlestick by David Jarvis
18. New Memories by S.E. Shepherd
19. Young Blood by Victoria Gemmell
20. Private Investigations by Rob Gittins
21. The Car Horn revolution by A.J. Aberford
22. What Lies Beneath by Maureen Myant
23. A Safe Place by Stephanie Carty
24. Fatal Image by Brian Price
25. Run For Your Lies by A.A. Abbott
26. A Walk in the Park by Natalie Kleinman
27. A Storm in a Teacup by Rachael Gray
28. The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James
29. A Death in the Afternoon by Julie Anderson
30. Justice by Madalyn Morgan
31. Let Me Out by Amanda Brittany
32. A Pocketful of Poisons by Brian Price
33. Tribute by Madalyn Morgan
34. Mistress of the Manor by Cara Clayton
35. Waves of Change in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Chistensen
36. A French Inheritance by Jennifer Bohnet
37. Beneath the Same Moon by AS Andrejevic
38. The Fallen by Maureen Myant
39. The Bad Women by Jennie Ensor
40. Lies Between Friends by AA Abbott
41. Fatal Shot by Brian Brice
42. The Alibi by Katharine Johnson
43. The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn
44. If I Were You by Helen Matthews
45. (Not Quite) Done With Dating by Bella Osborne
46. Poison at the Wild Haggis Bookshop by Jackie Baldwin
47. Beattie Cavendish and the Highland Hideaway by Mary-Jane Riley
48. Missing… Rose Malone by Linda Huber
49. Fiasco by Nicola Kelsall
50. 27 Church Street by A.J. Hobart
51. The Girls of Maple Close by Amanda Brittany
52. Growing Old Disgracefully by Karen King
53. Meet Me At Apple Blossom Lane by Anita Faulkner
54. Festival Days by Julie Anderson
55. The Conservatory by Anthony Aberford
56. Her Rising Star by Rachel Sargeant
57. Wonderful by Louise Beech
58. Safe Space by Beck Lewis
59. The Boy in the Photograph by Hilly Barmby
60. One Little Lie by Charlotte Leonard
61. Come Fly With Me by Natalie Kleinman
62. The Silent House by Lynda Renham
63. An Ordinary House by Rae Starling
64. House of Lies by Helen Matthews