A Killing in November - by Simon Mason (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA GOLD DAGGER 2023

'As great a contribution to the noble British genre of detective fiction as any writer for decades' Stephen Fry
'This moody, atmospheric novel is full of surprises' Sunday Times (Crime Book of the Month)

Ryan Wilkins grew up on a trailer park, a member of what many people would call the criminal classes. As a young Detective Inspector, he's lost none of his disgust with privileged elites. But he notices things; they stick to his eyes. His professional partner, DI Ray Wilkins, of affluent Nigerian-London heritage, is an impeccably groomed, smooth-talking graduate of Balliol College, Oxford. You wouldn't think they would get on. They don't.

But when a young woman is found strangled at Barnabas Hall, they're forced to.

Rich Oxford is not Ryan's natural habitat. St Barnabas's irascible Provost does not appreciate his forceful line of questioning. But what was the dead woman doing in the Provost's study?

As tensions rise, things aren't going well. Ray is in despair. Ryan is in disciplinary measures.

A Killing in November introduces an unlikely duo from different sides of the tracks in Oxford in a deftly plotted murder story full of dangerous turns, troubled pasts and unconventional detective work.

READ THE NEXT DI RYAN WILKINS MYSTERY, THE BROKEN AFTERNOON NOW!

Review Quotes

This is a terrific crime novel, with a startlingly original protagonist we're going to see a lot more of. Oxford's mean streets just got meaner.--Mick Herron

[T]his is a very individual piece of work, with a satisfying plot involving Syrian refugees, snobbish dons and nimble interaction between the ill-assorted protagonists. There is real craftsmanship at work here.--Financial Times

A real page-turner . . . the relationship between the two detectives is beautifully developed, and it's brilliantly plotted and very funny--Wiltshire Life

It's a brave writer who sets a new crime series in Inspector Morse's Oxford but Mason has come up trumps with chalk-and-cheese cops DI Ryan Wilkins and DI Ray Wilkins...It's well plotted and very funny. *****--The Sun

Mason has reformulated Inspector Morse for the 2020s. The murder mystery is worthy of Colin Dexter but the result is less bookish and more bolshie--The Times (Best Crime Book of 2022)

Mismatched cops probe a college murder in this funny and well-plotted debut--Sun Scotland (Book of the Year)

My favourite crime novel of the year was Simon Mason's A Killing in November . . . it was enhanced by deft prose and the detective duo of social misfit Ryan Wilkins and the Balliol-educated Ray Wilkins.--BookBrunch

My favourite UK series.--M W Craven

Simon Mason has reformulated Inspector Morse for the 2020s. This angelic two-year-old son, Ryan Jr ("Is it hard being a daddy?"), are superb and his relationship with Ray, a snob with a heart of gold beneath the sharp suit, shows huge potential. The good news is they'll be back.--Mark Sanderson, Times (Best New Crime Fiction for Jan 2022)

Simon Mason's Ray Wilkins crime novels are my latest addiction. I wait impatiently for each one. What are the triple pillars of any great story? Character, Plot and Language. In the twin heroes of his novels (both called Wilkins and so unalike: they somehow create together one immortal police detective) he has created characters for the ages. His plots race thrillingly around an Oxford you never knew existed. His language though ... without exhibiting a trace of "writerly" self-consciousness, he is capable of phrase-making and description of the very highest quality. Those three perfect pillars support truly memorable crime novels, as great a contribution to the noble British genre of detective fiction as any writer for decades.--Stephen Fry

The story has modern relevance, ingenious plotting, vivid characterisation, a touching father-son relationship and impressively accurate city geography.--The Times (Audiobook of the Week)

This has a TV series written all over it.--Daily Mail

This moody, atmospheric novel is full of surprises, with subplots about sexual harassment and the impact of the Syrian civil war.--Sunday Times (Crime Book of the Month)

This moody, atmospheric novel is full of surprises.--Sunday Times (Crime Book of the Year)

Mason avoids the obvious tropes, and rather movingly focuses on Ryan's relationship with his young son. Well plotted, too. It's the first in a series: start now and avoid the rush.--Guardian (Best Holiday Reads)

Mason has reformulated Inspector Morse for the 2020s--The Times (Best Books For Summer)

Ryan Wilkins is about as far removed from George Smiley as a protagonist can be, he may in time become as memorable. He's an extraordinary creation, and demonstrates that even in the most suspenseful thrillers, character is king--The Spectator

The first novel in a promising new police series set in Oxford that explores the working relationship between a chalk-and-cheese detective duo.--Sunday Times Crime Club (Star Pick)

About the Author

SIMON MASON has pursued parallel careers as a publisher and an author, whose YA crime novels Running Girl, Kid Got Shot and Hey, Sherlock! feature the sixteen-year-old slacker genius Garvie Smith. A former Managing Director of David Fickling Books, where he worked with many wonderful writers, including Philip Pullman, he has also taught at Oxford Brookes University and has been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Exeter College, Oxford.

A Killing in November is the first book in the DI Ryan Wilkins Mysteries which Stephen Fry has said is 'as great a contribution to the noble British genre of detective fiction as any writer for decades'.