Crime debut set in seamy underbelly of town
Gambling, blackmail, ladies of the night, and murder, are all part of the fare in a journey back in time to the seamy underbelly of Victorian life in the debut crime novel of Shrewsbury author Leslie Scase.
Called Fortuna's Deadly Shadow, it is inspired by his Italian and English ancestors who settled in South Wales in the 19th century, and a town where coal and iron were king.
“South Wales was a melting pot of people and cultures, and that’s what I wanted to convey in the book,” said Leslie.
“It was a magnet for workers from Wales, England and beyond, all seeking a better life.”
The story begins in 1893 with a train crash and in the chaotic aftermath a killer covers the trail of a murder.
Two years later Inspector Thomas Chard from Wem arrives in Pontypridd, and his arrival from rural Shropshire coincides with a grisly discovery of a body in the River Taff. The newcomer has to find his feet amid the rudimentary police procedures of the time.
“We tend to associate Victorian crime novels with the fog-filled streets of Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper-like characters, but Leslie has chosen Pontypridd, a rather unassuming town, as the dark and brooding setting for Fortuna’s Deadly Shadow,” said Susan Roberts, Editor of publishers Gomer Press.
Leslie, who was born and educated in South Wales,and worked in local industry before travelling widely across Britain during a long career in the civil service. He is a keen fly fisherman and real ale enthusiast.
Fortuna’s Deadly Shadow is priced at £8.99, and is available at bookshops and online from gwales.com.
