Murder on Oxford Lane

De: Tony Bassett

Narrado por: Colin Mace

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?

©2022 Tony Bassett (P)2022 W. F. Howes Ltd

Engrossing story

The team solving the murder is one I look forward to getting to know better, and the narrator made them come alive. Starting the second book now.

Murder on Oxford Lane

I honestly enjoyed this book. The Characters were clearly developed and had such realistic attributes therefore easy to believe
Highly recommend this listen/read.

Enjoyed

Wraps up very nicely! The story is solid, the characters are relatable and the performance is well done.

A charming first novel (?)

Good beginning and will listen to the next one, as I am needing a break from a gripping / epic book before moving onto the next Ken Follett. This is cute and light - not overly suspenseful, and with some major oversights (why did the cops not pick up on the fact that the victim told his mom his wife was having an affair? Why did they never interview the people the reverend mentioned were there when the next victim mentioned she’d seen something? Etc). The police procedural was slow and clunky but maybe because it’s village cops, and not, say the Dublin squad or the Yard? The worst part was that they considered themselves so smart! Still, this has potential to get better, and the village life is very nicely described. Promising!

Very impressive characters

So glad I found this book! Really enjoyed the plot and all of the various characters and their development. The narration was perfect.!

Good storyline

This was free… and worth the time. Good storyline and reading. I’m downloading the next one.

A Model of Superb Writing Skill applied to a popular genre

Immersed in rich Welsh culture. A real discovery of a fresh new author in the genre populated by authors who write a new novel about detective teams solving crimes in remote geographical areas of the British isles, like the Fens. This work by Rhys Dylan is psychologically sharper, written with narrative details that enrich the drama rather than distract from the complexity of plot. Already purchased a 2nd novel by the author!

Excellent Characters and Plot

Good police procedural set in the heart of England. Sympathetic back stories for heroine and her boss, newbie with a stalker and experienced senior detective family man. Evokes sweet and tough aspects of semi-rural British contemporary life in an endearing and enduring country town near Birmingham. I confess I have a weakness for British/Indian young detectives. The who done it was classic. Very well done voice-acting as well.

Solid police procedural

The chief protagonists were given enough backstory in this start to a series to make them interesting, but not so much as to overwhelm the main plot.

I’ll be interested to see how this series progresses.

Although the narration was generally good, Roscoe sounded very much like he just flew in from Australia at many points.

Two less satisfactory points are (stop here as they are potential plot spoilers):
1. Sunita‘s nearly angelic sympathy for a very bad actor.
2. The other was the failure to charge an assailant who, in fact, contributed to a murder.

A really well written book

It has been awhile since I read/listened to a book that was this good. All the characters were likeable and developed. It was refreshing to have an inspector, Roscoe, who didn't drink, wasn't in a nasty divorce, did not have a disfunctional relationship with his kids, mo money problems or problems following procedure, and got along with his coworkers, but he was not boring. His wife very supportive and independent kids the same. His sergent and other members of the team were equally well thought out. There were two stories running simultaneously. One which involved sergent Sunita Roy, used as an avenue to develop her character and the other was the main murder mystery. I thought I guessed the murderer which wasn't the obvious choice, but was wrong. Good ending, summed up but still open for more installments. Looking foward to the next in the series. Also appreciated that writing/story was more complex than a cozy mystery but not as gruesome/violent as others. Also appreciated that no fowl language was used or needed.