Book excerpt: This cathedral and university city in southern Wales hides a long and violent history—from Roman gladiators to current crimes of passion. This book contains twenty-one separate stories all based in the Newport and district area. Anyone fascinated by the mindset of a murderer will enjoy this book. Whether you are a budding Miss Marple or an aspiring Inspector Morse, here is a look inside the criminal mind, the unmasking of means and motives, and the struggles and successes of detective work. From the Roman citizens who used Newport’s countryside as their dumping ground to a sword-fencing duel in the 1650s, from a mass murder in Westgate Square to a man found shot dead in his office, author Terry Underwood tackles the centuries-old criminal history of this city on the River Usk. “The man known for his books about Newport . . . has turned his hand to chronicling the city’s notorious murders.” —South Wales Argus