Crime thriller is set amidst the 1980s miners’ strike in South Wales

A crime thriller by Abergavenny author Jason Chapman, will focus on the impact the 1984 – 1985 miners’ strike left upon the South Wales valleys.

The Dead Remember is the fourth instalment in the popular Detective Inspector Marc Fagan Welsh crime series.

Set in two different time periods, the story will focus on the struggle the miners faced during the strike. The threat of pit closures and unemployment. The turmoil that engulfed the South Wales coalfields during that turbulent year.

The core of the story is about family. Namely two brothers, on opposite sides of the political divide. One working, and the other striking. It’s a story of defiance in the face of changing times and a government determined to put an end to the power of the unions.

Fast forward forty years and Detective Inspector Marc Fagan is faced with a perplexing mystery. When the body of Senedd Member Alwyn Collier is found near the town of Blaenavon, Detective Inspector Marc Fagan is drawn into a complex mystery stretching back decades.

As the investigation deepens, Fagan discovers Collier may have uncovered fresh evidence linked to an unsolved double murder that happened nearly forty years ago, during the miners’ strike.

Forty years have passed since the tumultuous events of the miners’ strike. Yet its impact continues to reverberate through the region. Leaving an indelible mark on its communities and shaping their socio-economic landscape.

The miners’ strike of 1984-85 stands as a pivotal moment in Welsh history, as thousands of miners took to the picket lines in a bitter battle against pit closures and the policies of the Thatcher government. For the coal mining communities of South Wales, the strike was more than a struggle for livelihoods; it was a fight for identity and survival.

Decades later, the scars of the strike are still visible. Many former mining towns and villages in the South Wales valleys bear the brunt of economic decline, with high levels of unemployment and deprivation persisting in the region. The closure of the pits not only robbed communities of their primary source of employment but also tore apart the social fabric that had bound them together for generations.

The legacy of the miners’ strike is felt not only in the economic hardships endured by these communities but also in the collective memory of its residents. The strike left deep-seated resentment and mistrust towards the government and institutions that were perceived to have abandoned the miners and their families in their hour of need.

The Dead Remember will be available on Amazon from March 1st