"Our team of trained offices have spent hundreds of hours probing every aspect of this case, and yet we've drawn a blank. This has proved an extremely challenging month. What we're hoping for now is some publicity so we can flush out this killer and resolve both cases".
Murder on Oxford Lane by Tony Bassett is a murder mystery, with a strong police procedural element.
This is the first book in a cosy crime series, set in the West Midlands. The countsryside setting and the passions brewing in picturesque villages will remind you of Midsomer Murders. There is a strong emphasis on the investigation, conducted by the police team.
One cold and frosty evening local businessmand and property developer Harry Bowers arrives home for a quick bite before rushing to the choir practice in the church hall. Only he never makes it to the practice. He was last seen in the local newsagent's, and afterwards seems to have vanished without any trace.
The wife takes her time to report her husband's disappearance. What has kept her so long to make a phone call to the police?
DCI Gavin Roscoe lives in the nearby village of Queensbridge, where his wife Helen runs the popular local tearooms. Roscoe and his team, including Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy, investigate the disappearance of the businessman.
This is Sunita's first case with Roscoe. After a shaky start and a criticism from her boss, Sunita starts to show initiative. She is also dealing with personal issues, as her ex is stalking her relentlessly. At first she tries to be kind to him, asking to stop sending her text messages.
"She felt sorry for him, standing alone in the darkness, begging to be readmitted to her life. But she knew she must stand firm. Arun Halder... was no more than a relic from the past". However, Arun is a pest who cannot accept the truth that the relationship is over.
Despite the personal issues, Sunita shows her mettle. She is convinced that Harry Bowers has met a sinister end.
The more they dig into the businessman's life, the more secrets they uncover. His marriage has been a failure on both sides, and his business is in trouble as well.
Then the body is found floating in the marina. Is it Harry Bowers?
DS Roy is struggling to win the respect of her colleagues. Slowly, her boss who at first thinks her lack of practical experience might hold her back, realises that she is going to fit in quite well.
It looks like the Midlands hasn't moved on with the times. The men in the community and even workplace are patronising and condensending. Sunita's been addressed to as a young lady, my dear Sergeant, a lady Sergeant etc.
What's happened to the vanished chorister? And who's the man found in the river? Is Sunita Roy resilient enough to stand up to the prejudices of Middle England?
The story focuses on the police investigation which is gripping and insightful. The working relationship between Roscoe and Roy is evolving as the investigation progresses.
Murder on Oxford Lane is a well-plotted police procedural. It is an easy read, with an intriguing storyline and a supreme setting.
Purchase Link
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-OXFORD-LANE-gripping-suspense-ebook/dp/B09Q3L5YFT/
https://www.amazon.com/MURDER-OXFORD-LANE-gripping-suspense-ebook/dp/B09Q3L5YFT/
This post is part of the blog tour for Murder on Oxford Lane.
Many thanks to Tony Bassett, The Book Folks and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!
Author Bio –
Tony Bassett, a former Fleet Street journalist, has written a gripping series of crime novels set in the Midlands.
The first book in the series is called Murder on Oxford Lane. Published by The Book Folks, it concerns the disappearance of a property tycoon from a sleepy Warwickshire village.
Middle-aged DCI Gavin Roscoe and his relatively inexperienced sergeant, DS Sunita Roy, are confronted by suspicious deaths as they struggle to uncover what has happened to the businessman.
The second book in this Midlands crime series, The Crossbow Stalker, will be released shortly.
Tony decided to set this string of novels in Warwickshire and Worcestershire after spending many happy years working as a newspaper reporter in Worcester.
He first developed a love of writing at the age of nine when he and a friend produced a magazine called the Globe at their junior school in Sevenoaks, Kent.
At Hull University, Tony was named student journalist of the year in 1971 in a competition run by Time-Life magazine and went onto become a national newspaper journalist, mainly working for the Sunday People in both its newsroom and investigations department.
His very first book to be published, the crime novel Smile Of The Stowaway, was released in December 2018. It concerns a Kent couple who harbour a stowaway and then battle to clear his name when he is charged with murder.
Then, in March 2020, the spy novel The Lazarus Charter, was released. It involves foreign agents operating in the UK. The book has kindly been endorsed by Marina Litvinenko, widow of the murdered Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, and by Stan and Caroline Sturgess, parents of the innocent mother-of-three poisoned with novichok in Salisbury in 2018.
Tony, who has written at least four other novels which are as yet unpublished, has five grown-up children. He is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists. He lives in South-East London with his partner Lin.
Social Media Links –
www.facebook.com/tony.bassett.92505
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