In Knives We Trust

by Geoff Brookes

An atmospheric murder mystery set in Victorian Swansea in 1880.

Evokes a convincing portrayal of life in a nineteenth century Welsh town.

A plot which uses authentic locations and voices.

The first in a series featuring Inspector Rumsey Bucke.

Inspector Rumsey Bucke, a still-grieving widower, must find Daniel Guy who has tried and failed to murder his own wife. He tracks him steadily through the murky streets of Swansea’s poorest communities, with little help from a corrupt and incompetent police force. Two fatal stabbings, which may or may not be connected, put Bucke’s position under threat from a scheming superior. However, he finds the will and the support to change his life from an unlikely source, the wife of a prime murder suspect. As he finally confronts his own sorrow, he discovers that terrible secrets lurk beneath the surface of the ordinary lives around him. No one can ever escape from the secret burdens they carry with them.

But there are unknown figures lurking in the shadows and Bucke is drawn into the dangerous world of international politics, with assassins playing out a clandestine war on the streets of the town, ready to kill the innocent to protect themselves. As he desperately runs out of time to prevent another murder, Bucke has to find the answers which have eluded him. Who is the murderer? Is it Daniel Guy? Is it someone else? Just how many murderers are there? There is a bigger question for him too. If, as they say, justice is blind, are there occasions when the law should be blind too?

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About the Author

Geoff Brookes

I was born in 1951 in Sheffield and graduated from Leicester University in 1972. I completed my teacher training in Birmingham and began my teaching career at Gateway Sixth Form College in Leicester.

We moved to Swansea in 1981, initially, as a Head of English in Dillwyn Llewelyn Comprehensive School and then worked as Deputy Head teacher in Cefn Hengoed Community School in the city for 20 years, which included a short period of time as Headteacher. I left the school in 2011 and spent the next three years working for the local authority. I finally retired in March 2014.

I started writing with occasional pieces for the Independent newspaper and then became a regular columnist for the Times Education Supplement. In 2011 I was nominated as Columnist of the Year (Business Media Category) in the PPA Awards for my work with the TES.

I have written study guides for English literature students and books about educational issues such as dyspraxia. I now write about local history following the publication of Stories in Welsh Stone;The Secrets within 15 Welsh Graves in 2008. I have subsequently published Welsh Bloody History Swansea, Swansea Then and Now, Swansea Murders, Welsh History Strange but True, Swansea in 100 Dates for The History Press. Swansea in the 1950s and An A to Z of Swansea were published by Amberley Publications. Swansea in 50 Buildings will be published in October 2018. I have also written two guidebooks, 50 Gems of Mid Wales and 50 Gems of South West Wales.

I have a featured column in Welsh Country Magazine where I write about gravestones across Wales and the stories they tell.

I am married to Liz, a retired midwife. We have four children, eight grandchildren and an expensive wine habit. The habit, not the wine. Obviously.