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DI Ryan Wilkins #5
The Dangerous Stranger: the latest instalment in the pacy, Oxford-set DI Ryan Wilkins series
Not yet published
Expected 12 Mar 26**PREORDER THE LATEST DI RYAN WILKINS MYSTERY NOW**
'This is absolutely first class' Stephen Fry
'Simon Mason has created crime fiction's most entertaining double act in decades' Mick Herron
'Move over Morse' Val McDermid
'My favourite UK series' M W Craven
On a warm and pleasant evening in Oxford, gentle city of poets and scholars, rioters outside a hotel full of asylum seekers set a young refugee on fire. The city - the country - convulses in shock. Is this who we are? It's international news of the very worst kind, and the Chief Constable demands immediate and exemplary action in bringing the perpetrators to justice. The detectives leading the investigation fill him with misgivings, DIs Ryan and Ray Wilkins (no relation), Thames Valley's detective pantomime horse, one Oxford-educated, the other Oxford-trailer park. He doesn't understand why they work together. 'Do they even get on?' 'Somehow that doesn't seem necessary,' their Superintendent replies.
Who burned the boy alive? Was it a far-right extremist? Was it an ordinary person who had simply gone along to watch and got caught up in the emotion? Could it even be one of the children who were there? Deploying a range of investigative skills, some standard, some unconventional and some frankly nuts, the Wilkinses do what they results with chaos. But when they discover that the victim was not an asylum seeker after all, or even a resident of the hotel, the whole investigation kicks into a completely different configuration.
READERS ARE LOVING RYAN AND
'Loved it, what a wonderful read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Really, really enjoyed and was sorry to finish it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Have really enjoyed the whole series' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'If you like Slow Horses, either the books or the Apple series, this book is for you' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Set in present day Oxford, England, it is Morse times two' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Can't put these books down' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'A real un-putdownable page turner . . . A tremendous read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This is absolutely first class' Stephen Fry
'Simon Mason has created crime fiction's most entertaining double act in decades' Mick Herron
'Move over Morse' Val McDermid
'My favourite UK series' M W Craven
On a warm and pleasant evening in Oxford, gentle city of poets and scholars, rioters outside a hotel full of asylum seekers set a young refugee on fire. The city - the country - convulses in shock. Is this who we are? It's international news of the very worst kind, and the Chief Constable demands immediate and exemplary action in bringing the perpetrators to justice. The detectives leading the investigation fill him with misgivings, DIs Ryan and Ray Wilkins (no relation), Thames Valley's detective pantomime horse, one Oxford-educated, the other Oxford-trailer park. He doesn't understand why they work together. 'Do they even get on?' 'Somehow that doesn't seem necessary,' their Superintendent replies.
Who burned the boy alive? Was it a far-right extremist? Was it an ordinary person who had simply gone along to watch and got caught up in the emotion? Could it even be one of the children who were there? Deploying a range of investigative skills, some standard, some unconventional and some frankly nuts, the Wilkinses do what they results with chaos. But when they discover that the victim was not an asylum seeker after all, or even a resident of the hotel, the whole investigation kicks into a completely different configuration.
READERS ARE LOVING RYAN AND
'Loved it, what a wonderful read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Really, really enjoyed and was sorry to finish it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Have really enjoyed the whole series' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'If you like Slow Horses, either the books or the Apple series, this book is for you' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Set in present day Oxford, England, it is Morse times two' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Can't put these books down' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'A real un-putdownable page turner . . . A tremendous read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
387 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication March 12, 2026
2 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Simon Mason
57 books246 followersSimon Mason was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, on 5 February 1962. He was educated at local schools and studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He splits his time between writing at home and a part-time editorial position with David Fickling Books, an imprint of Random House and publisher of his 2011 children's novel, Moon Pie.
He is the author of the Quigleys series for young readers: The Quigleys (Highly Commended in the UK's Branford Boase Award), The Quigleys at Large, The Quigleys Not for Sale, and The Quigleys in a Spin. He has also written three adult novels.
Simon lives in Oxford with his wife and two children.
He is the author of the Quigleys series for young readers: The Quigleys (Highly Commended in the UK's Branford Boase Award), The Quigleys at Large, The Quigleys Not for Sale, and The Quigleys in a Spin. He has also written three adult novels.
Simon lives in Oxford with his wife and two children.
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