What starts out as another day in the seemingly innocuous life of a family of stamp dealers quickly spins out of control in a tale of deceit and secret cover-ups. Initially an honest venture and a way to kill time for the Cheshire family, their dealing sees them caught in the centre of a web of power-hungry outsiders. Money doesn't make the world go around, but in the most deprived of communities, it certainly helps. In fact, around these parts people will do whatever they can to ensure they aren't left wanting, even if it means orchestrating a series of grisly "accidents" to get what they're after. In the first of a series of crime novels, The Stamp of Treachery establishes a world built on corruption, violence and despair that keeps the emotional humanity of the characters front and centre. Setting up people and plots that would later reappear in Tony Buckingham's next novel, Valentine's Day, the gritty universe of the author's superbly crafted criminal underbelly is realised for the first time in the pages of the The Stamp of Treachery. Built on a large ensemble of vibrant and distinct characters, The Stamp of Treachery provides a heartfelt and often funny look into an imaginative and expansive world dense with criminality, betrayal and unlikely heroes. With some of the best cops on the force stumped, it's up to a Watson and Holmes inspired duo to pick up the slack to solve a crime that isn't quite as cut-and-dry as everyone first thought.