First published back in December of 2022, Welsh author David Owain Hughes’ novel ‘All Roads Lead To South Wales: Book Three’ formed the third instalment into the author’s ‘South By Southwest Wales’ crime noir series, featuring the 1940’s-esque private eye Samson Valentine.
The novel was later rereleased within the ‘South By Southwest Wales: Omnibus’ (2024) which collected together the first three books within the series.
Arriving at barman Steve’s isolated cabin deep within Canaston Woods, Samson Valentine P.I. finds the place is overrun with hatchet-men. Worse still, in the master bedroom he discovers the body of Lisa Dennings tied down to the bed – dead, naked, beaten, strangled and brutally raped. All acts carried out by the five thugs waiting for him at the cabin.
Before making short work of the jugheads, Valentine learns that with Lovell now out of the way, criminal kingpin XRay has swooped in and taken over the whole shebang. The elusive mob boss is now running the entirety of the south and west. Furthermore, XRay’s allowed Lovell’s old right-hand, Cynthia, to keep control of the north – in particular Wrexham.
Additionally, Samson now has a lead on the potential whereabouts of Alice and Charlie. The pair are confirmed to still be alive and held captive by XRay. As such, once Samson has Lovell’s thugs from the west behind bars, he’ll then move on to the north and hopefully crush the remainer of Lovell’s operations there. After that, it’s XRay’s turn. Only then will XRay have Samson’s full attention.
However, Valentine’s not the only one gunning for XRay. It appears there’s a mysterious sniper stalking the Southwest Wales, taking down XRay’s thugs and operations. A highly trained vigilante hitter, somehow evading the police and doing what the good old boys couldn’t achieve.
Perhaps even more worrying, two bodies have been found with the words “The Phoenix” carved into their flesh. All of a sudden, rumours of the return on the Widower Maker are rife. Either that or a twisted copycat killer is at large. Either way, the people of Cardiff are angered and taking to the streets in their own acts of violence.
No one is to be trusted in this dangerous game of cat and mouse. The streets of Cardiff are now ablaze with rioting and violence. But to Samson Valentine, despite the chaos from so many players in this madman’s dance of murder, vengeance and criminal hierarchy, his mission is clear. XRay is at the heart of everything. XRay must be taken down.
Operations may have moved to North Wales, but eventually, all roads lead to old South Wales…
Man, has it been a journey following Samson Valentine through these three books. This third (and potentially final) instalment is another healthy serving of our favourite hardboiled private eye, doing his thing.
Of the three books, this one is possibly the most elaborate and masterfully plotted. Essentially, we have three parallel running storylines – Samson Valentine’s hunt for Alice and Charlie (who’d been captured by XRay’s mob in the previous book), and in turn bringing XRay himself down. We also have SAS trained sniper Dial-Tone on a mission for vengeance. Finally, we’ve got XRay’s old right-hand man and ex-member of ‘The Lost’ – Shaun Hatch – who’s also out for a spot of revenge against XRay for his killing of his old buddy Chris aka The Widower Maker.
Yeah, this is a crazy-ass melange of criminal mayhem and personal plots for reaping revenge. Of course, it all ends up pointing to one man and his criminal empire – XRay. Yeah, despite their being a vigilante sniper knocking off all the key thugs around South Wales, and a potential copycat serial killer on the loose again, XRay’s still the big dog in all this. The James Bond style villain who it all inevitably comes back to.
I guess one thing that should be mentioned about this third book, is you really need to have read the previous two instalments first, for this final book to make sense. Although it does have its own plot, the book takes a lot of what’s been established in the previous books for granted. As such, Hughes doesn’t waste time in explaining or repeating anything. Therefore, you need to already be familiar with the key characters, know about Valentine’s quirks and faults, and have an overall understanding of the general setup with XRay, ‘The Lost’, and The Widower Maker’s legacy.
Another thing that should be mentioned, is that the David Owain Hughes we know and love from his non-crime noir fiction (his more extreme work) is beginning to bleed into these novels more and more. Where we saw some pretty brutal stuff happening in Book Two, what we get in this third instalment is tenfold. Sexual deviancy, brutal torture, and sadistic killing are served up in bucket loads throughout. This is largely (but not exclusively) due to Shaun Hatch and his new lover, Cindy. The pair are the absolute epitome of a psychopathic serial killer duo. Lovers brought together through sadistic bloodlust. Connected through The Widowmaker’s legacy but driven by a desire to kill-for-kicks and to take revenge upon XRay for Chris’ murder.
As you’ve probably guessed by now, there’s an absolute shit tonne going on in this novel. Every chapter is packed full of twist and turns and ‘shit happening’. Violence punctuates this almost every step of the way. People die. Oh jeez, do a lot of guys and girls get snubbed out in this wild ride of multi-plotted revenge.
We also see a further change in our protagonist, Samson Valentine. His character has evolved further still, subtly dialling down on some of his old character traits which were so ingrained in Book One. Don’t worry, we still have a smattering of ‘Palookas’ and ‘Jugheads’, and a few measures of whisky knocked back in the thick of the action. Nevertheless, there’s nowhere near as much of this gritty 1940’s P.I. malarkey woven into the fabric of the tale. Instead, what we have is a book that’s far more focussed upon the unravelling storyline and its drive towards a dramatic showdown.
The result of all these tightly-sewn-together-pieces is a novel that grips you from the very start all the way to the explosive conclusion. It’s a magnificent latticework of interwoven storylines and ideas. There’s a rich and purposefully exaggerated cast of colourful characters at the forefront of all of this. As is David Owain Hughes’ calling card, each one is ingeniously unique and brings their very own traits and quirks to the table.
Quite simply put, ‘All Roads Lead To South Wales’ a bloody good rollercoaster of a read. Insanely entertaining and packed to the rafters with thrills and bloodspills. This is David Owain Hughes when he’s absolutely on form and delivering the gritty goods.
The novel runs for a total of 398 pages.
© DLS Reviews
Other ‘South By Southwest Wales’ instalments:
