The Broken Afternoon
As seen:
By Simon Mason
avg rating
1 review
‘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
Reviews
Macclesfield Library Reading Group
Many thanks to @ReadingAgency and Riverrun Books for providing the library with free copies to read and review.
Here are the thoughts of our members -
“Love the characters, their interactions and their differences – it really made the story seem more believable and accessible”
“The story is pacy and exciting and I seemed to finish the book in no time! I was glued to my seat and stayed up late to finish it! I particularly liked the drip-feeding of clues before the race to find the culprit reaches its conclusion. I didn’t like that the two main characters have the same name though, I found this confusing and unnecessary”
“In a world filled with detective stories both on TV and in books, Simon Mason’s The Broken Afternoon stands out as a fast-paced rollercoaster of a novel. I haven’t read the other book in this series but I’ll be borrowing it from the library as soon as I can. Loved it!”
“I really enjoyed the setting of Oxford – the author really evokes a sense of place. There’s an obvious parallel to be drawn with Morse, but Simon Mason’s book does stand up to scrutiny, although not quite in the same class as Colin Dexter. Still a very enjoyable read, would recommend”
“I found the subject matter disturbing and difficult but Mason handled it carefully and it didn’t ultimately put me off enjoying the novel”
“A tense, twisty novel which had me gripped from the start”
“I haven’t read the first book in this series but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment of The Broken Afternoon at all – it was an easy read, with relatable characters and an exciting conclusion and I was able to dive straight in without feeling I’d missed a step”
“The characters made this novel for me – I liked the chalk and cheese relationship between the two Wilkinses who are investigating the crime and how they are friends of a kind”
“I was already a fan of this series so was very pleased to read the second book for reading group. I did prefer the first book overall, mainly because of the dark subject matter of this book but it was still a great book. Very enjoyable”
