A Killing in November: book one in the Oxford crime series

A Killing in November: book one in the Oxford crime series by Simon Mason. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781529415674.

Ryan Wilkins grew up on a trailer park, a member of what many people would call the criminal classes. As a young Detective Inspector, hes lost none of his disgust with privileged elites - or his objectionable manners. 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 wouldnt think they would get on. They dont. But when a young woman is found strangled at Barnabas Hall, theyre forced to. Rich Oxford is not Ryans natural habitat. St Barnabass irascible Provost does not appreciate his forceful line of questioning. But what was the dead woman doing in the Provosts study? Is it just a coincidence that on the night of her murder the college was entertaining Sheik al-Medina, a Gulf state ruler linked to human-rights abuses in his own country and acts of atrocity in others? As tensions rise, things arent going well. Ray is in despair. Ryan is in disciplinary measures. But their investigation gradually disentangles the links between a Syrian refugee lawyer now working in the college kitchens, a priceless copy of the Koran in the college collection and the identity of the dead woman. 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.