A Killing in November: a razor-sharp Oxford mystery

Detective Inspectors Ryan Wilkens and Ray Wilkens are thrown together as partners due to the them having the same lat names. One is a black fairly upper middle class, refined man and the other is definitle not, growing up in a trailer park among the criminal element. He is ill-mannered on pupose usually just tso show his disdain of the priviledged elite. Two people could not be more diametriccaly opposite each other. The term chalk and cheese comes to mind.
When a woman is found strangled to death in an Oxford college, these two are thrown together to solve the crime. Their methods are different and their styles are different. Neither likes or apprecites the other but they do like the way they can solve crimes together.
I enjoyed this who done it immensely. It forced the reader to not only try and solve the crime but to delve into the understanding of people who buck against stereotypes. I think anyone would enjoy this. Also be sure to get your hands on the next in the series, "The Broken Afternoon", which revolves more about Ray Wilkens while "The Broken Afternoon" revolves more around Ryan Wilkens.

Thank you to @ReadingAgency and @Riverrun_Books for providing free copies of the book for Macclesfield Library Reading Group to read and review. Here are the thoughts of our members –
• Mostly we found this to be pretty contrived and full of painful cliches. We could see a mile off how the story was going to develop but in the end it was a really superfluous character who committed the crime. We’d all really bought in to the red herrings and thought it was definitely something to do with terrorists so it was nice, in a way, to be surprised by the ending, even if it was still a bit random
• Our main preoccupation was how Ryan even got into the police, never mind becoming a DI?! After all, a person can only suspend disbelief so far when it comes to dramatic license! There is absolutely no way any professional organisation would put up with Ryan’s behaviour – maybe if he was particularly brilliant as a detective, he would be allowed some leeway but he’s not a maverick, he was just obnoxious. Perhaps if Ryan wasn’t a police officer but rather a PI or even a concerned citizen, he would have worked better as a character. Also his gratuitous swearing was unnecessary. We did really like his little boy though!
• The domestic abuse storyline was really well done – this part felt very atmospheric and frightening and could have been expanded into a book by itself
• Interestingly, no serving police officers were mentioned in the acknowledgements
• The author (or perhaps the publisher) seemed to want to emulate the Morse novels but this book just isn’t in the same league. Again this was possibly just the publisher, but the novel seems to be ripe for adapting into a TV drama, especially because the author keeps referring to Ryan as ‘trailer trash’ which is a purely American term
• Overall it was an easy read, ideal for the beach, but sadly pretty forgettable

A quick read and a promising start to a new series. I wasn't sure at first, with DI Ryan Wilkins seemingly such a stereotypical chav character and partner Raymond Wilkins (yes, really, same surname) his opposite, Oxbridge, affluent middle class, smart dresser, handsome, etc. It almost defies credulity Ryan could be a policeman (a sad reflection on our supposedly meritocratic society), however if you stick with the novel quickly you come to realise there's a lot more to him than appearances suggest. I should mention, too, Raymond also ticks the diversity box, as a black officer.

Although the setting is Oxford we are a long way from Inspector Morse. By far the most appealing aspect of the book is the developing relationship between Ryan and Raymond and together they make a good team. Mason explores the two sides of Oxford: privileged and elitist vs deprived and marginalised. For good measure he throws in the dubious ways modern universities must operate to secure funding, human trafficking, racism and Islamophobia. Ryan is a very good police officer with a natural talent for seeing connections and putting evidence together. Initially hostile, Raymond, a bit of a stuffed shirt by-the-rules man, sees this while acknowledging his (Ryan's) tendency to lose control, antagonise authority figures who dismiss him down to appearance, and risky rule-breaking behaviour.

All in all a refreshing take on the police procedural crime novel. What really sold me on Ryan is his role as a tender loving father to 2-year old Ryan Junior. Their delightful conversations reveal a totally different side to the belligerent young man with a chip on his shoulder and no manners. Some reviewers say young Ryan is unbelievably grown up for a toddler but I disagree. Ryan Senior is a remarkable character and I can't wait for the next book

First of all, thanks to the publishers for sending us copies of this so we could all read the same book for a change. It's Book 1 in the series and we loved it!

It introduces Detective Inspectors Ryan and Raymond Wilkins. They are not related and the accident of them sharing the same rank, surnames and initials leads to Ryan mistakenly being called in the middle of the night to a posh Oxford college, where the body of a young woman has been found. Even before daylight he has managed to offend and insult everyone he comes into contact with, from the provost down to the college porter.

The provost has friends in high places and complains loudly to them, so within a matter of hours Raymond – suave, sophisticated and considered a safe pair of hands – has taken over the murder investigation, with Ryan demoted to deputy. The men are chalk and cheese. Raymond goes by the book, one step at a time, and Ryan, for all his aggression and rudeness is an instinctive policeman, capable of making inspired jumps of logic.

The case is complicated, but this is a novel where the characters hold sway. Both Raymond and Ryan are glorious creations, beautifully drawn and entirely human. Ryan is the star turn, waltzing through the story creating mayhem wherever he goes. But Raymond isn’t his straight-man. His character is slowly revealed as the story progresses and he’s far more complicated than first appears.

Another delight is Ryan’s young son – also called Ryan – a wise and funny toddler. The relationship between father and son is an anchor in the story, bringing pause to the police work, and occasionally used as a device to re-set the plot. Do read this if you can!

I actually liked this.
Ryan is a very different type of policeman and it made a rather refreshing change to your more established type of character. I have to say that the plot was not exactly the most plausible having a detective behaving in the manner that Ryan does but the overall pairing with Ray makes me interested enough to go on to read the second installment in this series.