The Broken Afternoon

by Simon Mason

Published 2 February 2023

'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


Lost and Never Found

by Simon Mason

Published 18 January 2024

'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.


A Voice in the Night

by Simon Mason

Published 16 January 2025

The dynamic duo of Simon Mason's acclaimed Ryan Wilkins Mysteries return in an explosive oxford-set mystery.

'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