The Broken Afternoon

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.<BR><BR> At three o'clock in the morning, Emergency 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.<BR><BR> 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.<BR><BR> 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.<BR><BR>And when legendary cop Chester Lynch (Black female Deputy Chief Constable from the wrong side of the tracks) takes a shine to Ray - and takes against Ryan - things are only going to get even messier.

A Guardian best crime and thriller book of 2024<BR><BR>'Mason has been mainlining Simenon for a while, and it shows' Mick Herron<BR>'The very definition of unputdownable' David Peace<BR>'It's like the provincial British version of Maigret' Clare Chambers<BR><BR>Bournemouth 2008, the height of the financial crash. Don Bayliss, a timid and well-mannered accountant, vanishes after leaving his office before a scheduled meeting. His wife is both perplexed and distraught. His clothes are found discarded at the mouth of Poole Harbour.<BR><BR>After seven years of searching with no firm leads, the investigation is closed, and Don is presumed dead.<BR><BR>Until, sorting through his possessions, his wife finds a garish business card of one Dwight Fricker and decides it must be of some importance. Now more than eight years after his disappearance Dorset Police call in the Finder and the cold case is reopened.<BR><BR>The Finder begins with the last sightings of Don on the day he went missing, hearing how he seemed in a hurry, somewhat distracted? He unearths a string of overlooked clues that lead him to face the unlikely friendships that Don had made, the somewhat overbearing nature of Mrs Bayliss, the secrets that haunted him in his home life and the mistakes that led to him being investigated at work.<BR><BR>The Case of the Lonely Accountant is a dark and rich mystery that centres upon one lonely man and reveals the distance between those who are missing and those who are lost.

MACHT PLATZ FÜR DEN MEISTER - GARVIE SMITHS DRITTER FALLAmy Roecastle ist umwerfend schön, reich, egoistisch - und spurlos verschwunden. Sie hat ihren bissigen Hund mitgenommen und noch etwas anderes. Etwas Tödliches. Und Inspector Singh hat natürlich weder eine Spur noch irgendeine Ahnung. Zum Glück gibt es Garvie Smith, den faulsten, aber nun mal klügsten Kopf in Five Mile und Umgebung. Denn wie sich herausstellt, geht es längst nicht mehr nur um Amy - sondern auch um Mord. Und nebenbei muss Garvie aufpassen, sein Herz nicht zu verlieren. Wer kann das schon gebrauchen?'Besser kann man Detektivromane einfach nicht schreiben.' CRIME REVIEW

Der große SPIEGEL-Bestseller: die düstere Welt der Oxford University, eine Tote und zwei Ermittler wie Feuer und Wasser ...DI Ryan Wilkins kennt die Universität Oxford nur aus der Ferne. Aufgewachsen in einem Trailerpark ist ihm diese elitäre Welt so fremd wie suspekt. Nun führt ihn der grausame Mord an einer jungen Frau ausgerechnet in die ehrwürdigen Hallen eines der Colleges - und an die Seite seines Namensvetters, des smarten DI Ray Wilkins, Spross einer wohlhabenden nigerianisch-britischen Familie und Oxford-Absolvent. Das ungleiche Team muss herausfinden, wer die Unbekannte ermordet hat, deren Leiche im Arbeitszimmer von Sir James Osborne, dem Prorektor von Barnabas Hall, gefunden wurde. Die Ermittlungen erfordern Takt und Fingerspitzengefühl, beides nicht gerade Ryans Stärken. Dafür ist er ein brillanter Beobachter. Gemeinsam mit Ray stößt er auf Verbindungen zwischen der Toten und einer alten Schuld, die bald weitere Opfer fordert ...'Simon Mason feiert mit seinem einzigartigen Ermittlerpaar einen Triumph!' The SunAls bester Spannungsroman des Jahres für den Gold Dagger nominiert.

Die Abschlussklausuren stehen bevor, aber Five Mile steht unter Schock. Ein Schüler wurde auf dem Schulgelände erschossen aufgefunden und kein Motiv weit und breit. Garvie Smith - moralisch verkommen, stinkfaul, aber leider genial - wollte sich gerade dazu durchringen, ein bisschen für die Klausuren zu lernen. Aber es ist ja nicht mit anzusehen, wie dumm sich Kommissar Singh wieder mal anstellt. Garvie ist der Einzige, der weiß, wo man suchen muss - zum Beispiel bei der Exfreundin seines besten Freundes. Klausuren? Welche Klausuren?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA GOLD DAGGER 2023<BR><BR>'As great a contribution to the noble British genre of detective fiction as any writer for decades' Stephen Fry<BR>'This moody, atmospheric novel is full of surprises' Sunday Times (Crime Book of the Month)<BR><BR>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. <BR><BR>But when a young woman is found strangled at Barnabas Hall, they're forced to. <BR><BR>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? <BR><BR>As tensions rise, things aren't going well. Ray is in despair. Ryan is in disciplinary measures. <BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>READ THE NEXT DI RYAN WILKINS MYSTERY, THE BROKEN AFTERNOON NOW!

**PREORDER THE LATEST DI RYAN WILKINS MYSTERY NOW**<BR><BR> 'This is absolutely first class' Stephen Fry<BR> 'Simon Mason has created crime fiction's most entertaining double act in decades' Mick Herron<BR> 'Move over Morse' Val McDermid<BR> 'My favourite UK series' M W Craven<BR><BR> On a warm and pleasant evening in Oxford, gentle city of poets and scholars, rioters outside a hotel full of asylum seekers set a young refugee on fire. The city - the country - convulses in shock. Is this who we are? It's international news of the very worst kind, and the Chief Constable demands immediate and exemplary action in bringing the perpetrators to justice. The detectives leading the investigation fill him with misgivings, however: DIs Ryan and Ray Wilkins (no relation), Thames Valley's detective pantomime horse, one Oxford-educated, the other Oxford-trailer park. He doesn't understand why they work together. 'Do they even get on?' 'Somehow that doesn't seem necessary,' their Superintendent replies.<BR><BR> Who burned the boy alive? Was it a far-right extremist? Was it an ordinary person who had simply gone along to watch and got caught up in the emotion? Could it even be one of the children who were there? Deploying a range of investigative skills, some standard, some unconventional and some frankly nuts, the Wilkinses do what they do: results with chaos. But when they discover that the victim was not an asylum seeker after all, or even a resident of the hotel, the whole investigation kicks into a completely different configuration.<BR><BR><BR>READERS ARE LOVING RYAN AND RAY:<BR><BR> 'Loved it, what a wonderful read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐<BR> 'Really, really enjoyed and was sorry to finish it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐<BR> 'Have really enjoyed the whole series' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐<BR> 'If you like Slow Horses, either the books or the Apple series, this book is for you' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐<BR> 'Set in present day Oxford, England, it is Morse times two' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐<BR> 'Can't put these books down' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐<BR> 'A real un-putdownable page turner . . . A tremendous read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐<BR>  

Ein neuer Fall für das einzigartige Ermittlerteam aus Oxford von SPIEGEL-Bestsellerautor Simon Mason.Für Rachel Clarke beginnen an einem strahlenden Sommertag in Oxford die dunkelsten Stunden ihres Lebens: Ihre vierjährige Tochter Poppy verschwindet, während Rachel kurz abgelenkt ist. Niemand will etwas gesehen haben. Sofort wird die Polizei eingeschaltet, und auch Ryan Wilkins nimmt Anteil an der Suche. Zwar ist er vom Dienst suspendiert, sodass nur sein Ex-Partner DI Ray Wilkins offiziell ermittelt, doch Ryan kann nicht tatenlos bleiben. Zumal ihn ein Ereignis in der Nacht nach der Tat nicht loslässt: 'Mick Dick', ein Kleinkrimineller, kommt bei einem Unfall ums Leben, nachdem ihn irgendetwas in Panik versetzt hatte. Ryan ahnt, dass Mick in Poppys Verschwinden verwickelt war. Und er nutzt seine Kontakte in Oxfords Unterwelt, um das Mädchen zu finden, bevor es zu spät ist ...'Simon Masons Beitrag zum edlen Genre des britischen Kriminalromans gehört zu den besten der letzten Jahrzehnte.' Stephen FryAuf der Times-Liste der besten Spannungsromane des Jahres.

I Wilkins, Ryan e Ray, sono l'uno l'opposto dell'altro. Ray, ispettore in carriera della polizia di Oxford, è bello, elegante, soave nei modi, figlio della borghesia nera in ascesa sociale, e i dirigenti puntano molto sul suo avvenire; l'ex detective Ryan è un bianco cresciuto in un campo caravan, è di aspetto trasandato e con difficoltà a governare la rabbia, tanto che è stato allontanato dalla polizia per motivi disciplinari, e adesso lavora come guardia giurata in un parcheggio notturno per furgoni. Capita al bel Ray un caso spinoso, che fra l'altro stride fastidiosamente con la sua situazione matrimoniale. È sparita Poppy, una deliziosa bambina sfuggita al controllo della madre all'uscita dall'esclusivo asilo che frequentava. Non se ne cava un ragno dal buco, ma la fortuna di Ray è che Ryan, in privato, s'è intestardito dietro la morte di un suo vecchio compagno di scuola che, appena prima di essere travolto da un pirata della strada, gli ha lanciato uno strano messaggio. Mentre Ray annaspa, Ryan imbocca una linea d'indagine tortuosa e irregolare che conduce per vie traverse a connettere le due brutte verità. C'è un destino che unisce i due poliziotti, simboleggiato anche dalle vicissitudini della loro vita familiare e sentimentale. Queste scorrono sullo sfondo del romanzo (Ray è un ragazzo padre di un bambino per il quale va pazzo; Ryan aspetta due gemelli ma il suo matrimonio vive un momento difficile) e danno un quadro un po' malinconico della vita quotidiana della città inglese, che ricorda le atmosfere e l'intelligenza dell'ispettore Morse di Colin Dexter. Das Urheberrecht an bibliographischen und produktbeschreibenden Daten und an den bereitgestellten Bildern liegt bei Informazioni Editoriali, I.E. S.r.l., oder beim Herausgeber oder demjenigen, der die Genehmigung erteilt hat. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.