DI Wilkins Mysteries
3 total works
'Move over Morse. Simon Mason Oxford crime novel breathes fresh life into the police procedural' Val McDermid
'There is no one else like him' Mark Sanderson The Times/Sunday Times Crime Club
A DI RYAN WILKINS MYSTERY
A SHOCKING DISAPPEARANCE
A four-year-old girl goes missing in plain sight outside her nursery in Oxford, a middle-class, affluent area,
her mother only a stones-throw away.
A TRIGGERING RESPONSE
Ryan Wilkins, one of the youngest ever Detective Inspectors in the Thames Valley force, dishonourably discharged three months ago, watches his former partner DI Ray Wilkins deliver a press conference, confirming a lead.
A DARK WEB
Ray begins to delve deeper, unearthing an underground network of criminal forces in the local area. But while Ray's investigation stalls Ryan brings his unique talents to unofficial and quite illegal inquiries which will bring him into a confrontation with the very officials who have thrown him out of the force.
Praise for the DI Ryan Wilkins Mysteries
'Mason has reformulated Inspector Morse for the 2020s' The Times
'Start now and avoid the rush' Guardian
'Ryan and Ray go from strength to strength, and this, their third outing, is the best yet. Simon Mason has created crime fiction's most entertaining double act in decades' Mick Herron
Oxford, city of rich and poor, where the homeless camp out in the shadows of the gorgeous buildings and monuments. A city of lost things - and buried crimes.
At three o'clock in the morning, Emergency Services receives a call. 'This is Zara Fanshawe. Always lost and never found.' An hour later, the wayward celebrity's Rolls Royce Phantom is found abandoned in dingy Becket Street. The paparazzi go wild.
For some reason, news of Zara's disappearance prompts homeless woman Lena Wójcik to search the camps, nervously, for the bad-tempered vagrant known as 'Waitrose', a familiar sight in Oxford pushing his trolley of possessions. But he's nowhere to be found either.
Who will lead the investigation and cope with the media frenzy? Suave, prize-winning, Oxford-educated DI Ray Wilkins is passed over in favour of his partner, gobby, trailer-park educated DI Ryan Wilkins (no relation). You wouldn't think Ray would be happy. He isn't. You wouldn't think Ryan would be any good at national press presentations. He isn't.
And when legendary cop Chester Lynch takes a shine to Ray - and takes against Ryan - things are only going to get even messier.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT LOST AND NEVER FOUND
'If you like intelligent crime novels, with excellent characters, then try this series' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'A fast paced, entertaining read which is very enjoyable' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'An excellent, very readable crime novel' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Another gripping tale from the first to the last chapter' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
DEEP DECEPTION. TWISTED FATE.
'As great a contribution to the noble British genre of detective fiction as any writer for decades' Stephen Fry
Thames Valley has a new Superintendent - DCS Wainwright - young, charismatic and ruthless, charged with pushing through big reforms. Her in-tray is full of problems - and at the top of the pile is the problem of Wilkins and Wilkins.
Trailer park boy DI Ryan Wilkins, interesting looking in baggy trackies and over-large lime-green puffa. In his personnel file is a handwritten note scribbled by the outgoing Super: 'Do not, repeat not, give him responsibility.' And posh boy DI Ray Wilkins, improbably handsome in navy blazer and tan chinos: 'Thinks too highly of himself. More experience needed at the wet end.' Their previous investigations - though somehow successful - were models of disorder and dysfunction. The new Super needs to take action.
There's been a shocking murder in the heart of Oxford, the stabbing of a security guard during an attempted armed robbery. Meanwhile, an elderly professor of linguistics goes missing from his home in cosy Iffley Village.
The high-profile murder investigation can be safely handled by reliable detective DI Hare. The entry-level enquiry into the wandering academic can be given to the problem duo, with instructions to keep it simple. But when the body of the professor is found, still dressed in his pyjamas and dripping wet, spreadeagled on a hotel lawn miles from home, things get a little unexpected for the Wilkinses. Will Ray keep on top of the brief? Will Ryan keep it together?
PRAISE FOR SIMON MASON
'Terrific' Mick Herron
'This moody, atmospheric novel is full of surprises' Sunday Times (Crime Book of the Month)
'[W]ell plotted and very funny' Sun
'This has a TV series written all over it' Daily Mail