REVIEW: Murder on Oxford Lane by Tony Bassett

Murder on Oxford Lane (Midlands Crime Series #1) by Tony Bassett

Genre: Crime fiction

Read: 20th March 2022

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Published: 9th January 2022

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

The peace of a Midlands village is upset when local businessman Harry Bowers doesn’t return from choir practice.

More concerned than the man’s own wife, it would seem, investigating officer Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy becomes convinced he has been done away with.

But there is no trace of the man, just a litany of evidence of an ailing marriage and a nose-diving business venture.

In charge of her first serious case, DS Roy will struggle to win the respect of her colleagues – in particular her Brummie boss, DCI Gavin Roscoe. All that whilst fighting off the intentions of an increasingly desperate suitor.

Who had it in for the budding chorister? And is Roy tough enough to break down the defences and prejudices of Middle England?

MURDER ON OXFORD LANE is the first book in a series of crime fiction titles by Tony Bassett. Look out for his second book, THE CROSSBOW STALKER.

MY REVIEW:

I told myself "no more series!" I have enough to keep up with as it is. But MURDER ON OXFORD LANE, the first in a cosy new series set in the West Midlands between Birmingham and the picturesque Cotswolds, was such an easy read it was a delight. I felt like I was watching a Midsomer Murders episode unfolding, it had that type of feel to it, even if some of the dialogue was cliched in parts. But I didn't care. It was purely a pleasure to read and I enjoyed it which, for me, is what reading is all about. Pleasure and escape.

The journey begins in the Warwickshire village of Norton Prior (it even sounds like a Midsomer county village) when property tycoon Harry Bower fails to turn up to choir practice one cold winter's evening. Last seen in the local shop, Harry then disappears never to be seen again. However, when the police get the missing person brief on his disappearance, Harry has been missing over a week. So why did it take his wife so long to report it?

DCI Gavin Roscoe, who also lives in the nearby village of Queensbridge where his wife Helen owns and runs the popular Apollo Tearooms, has been tasked along with his new sergeant Sunita Roy to investigate Harry's disappearance. It seems he is friends with the Assistant Chief Constable who would like a timely result. But the investigation stalls with no clear sign of what has become of Harry. Roscoe is sure his wife knows more than she is letting on but Sunita isn't completely convinced.

And then reports of a body found in the River Avon come in. Could it be Harry?

DS Sunita Roy is working her first case with her boss DCI Roscoe and, after a shaky start, the two form a camaraderie and easy working relationship. However, Sunita is dealing with her own issues of an ex-boyfriend who refuses to take no for an answer and continues to hound her and stalk her relentlessly, despite being issued with a harassment order. Nevertheless, Sunita's colleagues prove their worth in looking after their own whilst trying to locate the missing businessman and hunting down a ruthless killer. When a second murder takes place, Roscoe and Sunita begin to look at the investigation from a different angle.

All the while, the police must sift through the evidence, question witnesses and narrow down their list of potential suspects. Someone, somewhere knows something. But the question is - who?

MURDER ON OXFORD LANE is an easy read filled with twists and plenty of red herrings to keep the reader engaged throughout. The village of Norton Prior was like a scene out of Midsomer Murders complete with the village rector and Grade II listed church. One could be forgiven for thinking it was Barnaby and Troy (or maybe Jones) investigating the crimes at hand. The camaraderie was such that it truly had that easy feel to it. And the absence of angst among the ranks and the stereotypical alcoholic divorced detective made for a refreshing change. The fact that Roscoe is happily married with two teenagers was as refreshing as his camaraderie with his team.

The writing was a little different to what I am used to and some of the dialogue could be clunky, if not cliched, but that mattered to me not. Not when it drew me in so intently and kept me absorb throughout. Whilst the identity of the killer was a mystery to me, the whereabouts of Harry Bower was not. I had that worked out when a passing comment made me latch on and say to myself "That's it!" Of course, it took Roscoe a lot longer, an afternoon nap and a glib comment from his son to arrive at the same conclusion.

I thoroughly enjoyed MURDER ON OXFORD LANE and will certainly look out for further adventures between this new dynamic duo - Roscoe and Sunita. While not a cosy mystery as such, it does have some elements of one and is perfect for fans of easy reading crime fiction such as J.R. Ellis, Sheila Bugler, Pete Brassett and Faith Martin.

I would like to thank #TonyBassett, #TheBookFolks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #MurderOnOxfordLane in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Tony Bassett, a former Fleet Street journalist, has written a gripping series of crime novels set in the Midlands. They all feature Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Roscoe, an experienced detective and family man, and his sergeant, law graduate and resourceful problem-solver Sunita Roy.

Murder On Oxford Lane (book one in this Midlands crime series) and its sequel The Crossbow Stalker were published in the spring of 2022. A third book has been completed (although not published yet) and Tony is currently working on a fourth. The series of novels is published by The Book Folks, who specialise in producing crime fiction.

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. When he reached his teenage years, growing up in Tunbridge Wells, his local vicar staged one of his plays, about Naboth's Vineyard.

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. Then, in March 2020, the spy novel The Lazarus Charter, was released. 

Tony, who has written two other novels which are as yet unpublished, has five grown-up children who live in South Wales. He is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists. He lives in South-East London with his partner Lin. 

 

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