A puzzling crime puts the cat amongst the pigeons in a small Welsh town

Two boys get a huge fright when they discover the body of a man whilst exploring a disused railway tunnel.

To DCI Matt Lambert it is not clear how the man, who was not killed at the remote location, got there. And there are strange markings on his chest - signs of torture.

When another body is found in wasteland some days later, Matt knows something big is going down in the quiet community nestled in the valleys of south Wales.

It couldn't come at a worse time, as Matt would like nothing more than to be with his newborn baby daughter Bethan, and partner, ex-superintendent Fabia Havard.

In fact, Fabia is similarly distracted. Her close friend, local vicar Cath Temple, is getting pestered and harassed by a new member of her congregation.

Can Matt and Fabia put their crime-solving heads together and work out what is really going on in Pontygwyn?

MURDER OF A SCOUNDREL is the sixth novel in Pippa McCathie's bestselling series of murder mysteries. It was partly written before her sad death in 2023, and has been expertly completed by Nicola Clifford, author of a nine-book series, THE WELSH CRIME MYSTERIES.

The full list of books in Pippa McCathie's series, in order of publication, is as follows:

1. MURDER IN THE VALLEYS
2. MURDER AT THE OLD ABBEY
3. MURDER BY THE RIVER USK
4. MURDER IN A WELSH TOWN
5. MURDER OF A GENTLEMAN
6. MURDER OF A SCOUNDREL