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Detectives Roy and Roscoe #1-7
Detectives Roy & Roscoe Mysteries Books 1-7
Seven twisty mysteries set in Warwickshire. A county of quiet villages, church spires and old resentments. The heart of England has a dark side.
When violence breaks through the calm, Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Roscoe and Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy are sent to pick up the pieces.
Roscoe has spent his life on the job. He’s a Brummie in his fifties. Patient, dryly humorous, unfailingly courteous.
Roy is newly promoted. Quick-thinking and direct, sometimes too ready to challenge the rules.
Their investigations take them from a doctor murdered in the woods with a barbecue carving fork, to a crossbow killing on the edge of town, and a footballer’s son kidnapped from a manor house and chained in a cellar.
In the first book, Harry Bowers disappears on his way to choir practice one winter night in the peaceful Warwickshire village of Norton Prior. His wife Margaret appears strangely unmoved. DCI Roscoe and DS Sunita Roy of Heart of England Police soon find that the apparently tranquil community hides multiple layers of jealousy and betrayal.
Includes all seven gripping novels:
• Murder on Oxford Lane
• The Crossbow Stalker
• Murder of a Doctor
• Out for Revenge
• Heir to Murder
• It Never Rains
• Not My Valentine
When violence breaks through the calm, Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Roscoe and Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy are sent to pick up the pieces.
Roscoe has spent his life on the job. He’s a Brummie in his fifties. Patient, dryly humorous, unfailingly courteous.
Roy is newly promoted. Quick-thinking and direct, sometimes too ready to challenge the rules.
Their investigations take them from a doctor murdered in the woods with a barbecue carving fork, to a crossbow killing on the edge of town, and a footballer’s son kidnapped from a manor house and chained in a cellar.
In the first book, Harry Bowers disappears on his way to choir practice one winter night in the peaceful Warwickshire village of Norton Prior. His wife Margaret appears strangely unmoved. DCI Roscoe and DS Sunita Roy of Heart of England Police soon find that the apparently tranquil community hides multiple layers of jealousy and betrayal.
Includes all seven gripping novels:
• Murder on Oxford Lane
• The Crossbow Stalker
• Murder of a Doctor
• Out for Revenge
• Heir to Murder
• It Never Rains
• Not My Valentine
2132 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 20, 2025
655 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Tony Bassett
13 books34 followersTONY BASSETT is a former journalist who worked on regional and national newspapers in Britain for more than 40 years. He mainly reported on crime, show business, human interest and consumer topics. Now retired, he writes crime fiction.
Tony is best known for his series of novels set in the West Midlands featuring Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Roscoe, an experienced detective and family man, and his sergeant, law graduate and resourceful problem-solver Sunita Roy.
THE LATEST novel (Book 8) begins with a retired nurse escaping to her hotel room looking for peace after a rowdy birthday party in a Warwickshire town. But to her horror, through a window, she witnesses a brutal crime — a young woman being strangled in another part of the building.
Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy — visiting the hotel while attending a wedding — is first on the scene, and quickly realises this isn’t a random attack. The victim, glamorous social media star Candy Goodhope, was living a double life — and everyone close to her has something to hide.
When events take a further sinister turn, she and her boss, DCI Gavin Roscoe, are obliged to look back at past lives to find a motive for murder.
THE FIFTH book in the series, Heir To Murder, was judged first in the Mystery and Suspense (Police Procedurals) category in the American Fiction Awards in June 2024.
The other titles in the collection (all published by The Book Folks) are: Murder On Oxford Lane, The Crossbow Stalker, Murder Of A Doctor, Out for Revenge and It Never Rains.
Tony has in addition written a stand-alone thriller Seat 97, about a man shot dead at a London concert hall, which was published by The Book Folks, while two further works (the crime novel Smile Of The Stowaway and the spy novel The Lazarus Charter) were published by The Conrad Press.
Tony first developed a love of writing at the age of nine when he produced a junior school magazine. A few years later, his local vicar in Tunbridge Wells, Kent staged his play about the Biblical story of Naboth's Vineyard.
At Hull University, Tony was judged Time-Life Magazine student journalist of the year in 1971.
Tony, who has five grown-up children, is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists. He lives in South-East London with his partner Lin.
*** A great value Kindle boxset collection of the first SEVEN books is now available under the title DETECTIVES ROY & ROSCOE MYSTERIES BOOKS 1 - 7.
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FX2HGSQX/
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FX2HGSQX/
Tony is best known for his series of novels set in the West Midlands featuring Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Roscoe, an experienced detective and family man, and his sergeant, law graduate and resourceful problem-solver Sunita Roy.
THE LATEST novel (Book 8) begins with a retired nurse escaping to her hotel room looking for peace after a rowdy birthday party in a Warwickshire town. But to her horror, through a window, she witnesses a brutal crime — a young woman being strangled in another part of the building.
Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy — visiting the hotel while attending a wedding — is first on the scene, and quickly realises this isn’t a random attack. The victim, glamorous social media star Candy Goodhope, was living a double life — and everyone close to her has something to hide.
When events take a further sinister turn, she and her boss, DCI Gavin Roscoe, are obliged to look back at past lives to find a motive for murder.
THE FIFTH book in the series, Heir To Murder, was judged first in the Mystery and Suspense (Police Procedurals) category in the American Fiction Awards in June 2024.
The other titles in the collection (all published by The Book Folks) are: Murder On Oxford Lane, The Crossbow Stalker, Murder Of A Doctor, Out for Revenge and It Never Rains.
Tony has in addition written a stand-alone thriller Seat 97, about a man shot dead at a London concert hall, which was published by The Book Folks, while two further works (the crime novel Smile Of The Stowaway and the spy novel The Lazarus Charter) were published by The Conrad Press.
Tony first developed a love of writing at the age of nine when he produced a junior school magazine. A few years later, his local vicar in Tunbridge Wells, Kent staged his play about the Biblical story of Naboth's Vineyard.
At Hull University, Tony was judged Time-Life Magazine student journalist of the year in 1971.
Tony, who has five grown-up children, is a Life Member of the National Union of Journalists. He lives in South-East London with his partner Lin.
*** A great value Kindle boxset collection of the first SEVEN books is now available under the title DETECTIVES ROY & ROSCOE MYSTERIES BOOKS 1 - 7.
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FX2HGSQX/
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FX2HGSQX/
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 26, 2025
Absolutely perfect crime novels
I congratulate Bassett on the publication of this compendium. I am a fan of his crime fiction and have read and reviewed several of the books in this collection.
His writing is excellent, his characters colourful, and his plots are always exciting.
What I like most about Bassett’s novels is the (what seems to me to be) realistic police procedures, the great characters and the great plots. The working lives of the characters are portrayed realistically. Bassett’s policemen have believably cop-like dialogue and avoid clichés (donuts, etc). We never lose sight of the people while the plot is gathering facts. The large cast of coppers and suspects all have inter-connecting stories, and we see fascinating peeks inside the suspects’ private lives.
Bassett is a master of suspense. We find out the clues at the same time the detectives find them, meaning that the pacing is comfortable, slowly developing, then a rush of drama. As in real life, some of the leads don’t pan out, which gives it a true-to-real-life feel. Not everything is done by our heroine; also as in real life, there are multiple officers involved.
We’re never given too much all at once, and usually about three-fourths into the story, just when it’s getting almost too complicated to follow, we are given a summary of the suspects, clues and alibis through the mouths of the police in a team operational briefing. So, we never have to think, ‘hang on, what was that clue back on page 23?’ Bassett is skilled at weaving necessary backstory into the dialogue. You probably get enough clues to solve the crime yourself, although I usually don’t.
I like that his main detective, Sunita Roy, is of non-Anglo heritage, making her a little bit out of ordinary from what we’re used to. She’s an interesting woman as well as police detective. Though she’s not full of herself, she has a keen mind, and when cracks the case, it’s usually because she has done a bit of lateral thinking that her bosses haven’t considered. The crime is always solved in some innovative way.
I congratulate Bassett on the publication of this compendium. I am a fan of his crime fiction and have read and reviewed several of the books in this collection.
His writing is excellent, his characters colourful, and his plots are always exciting.
What I like most about Bassett’s novels is the (what seems to me to be) realistic police procedures, the great characters and the great plots. The working lives of the characters are portrayed realistically. Bassett’s policemen have believably cop-like dialogue and avoid clichés (donuts, etc). We never lose sight of the people while the plot is gathering facts. The large cast of coppers and suspects all have inter-connecting stories, and we see fascinating peeks inside the suspects’ private lives.
Bassett is a master of suspense. We find out the clues at the same time the detectives find them, meaning that the pacing is comfortable, slowly developing, then a rush of drama. As in real life, some of the leads don’t pan out, which gives it a true-to-real-life feel. Not everything is done by our heroine; also as in real life, there are multiple officers involved.
We’re never given too much all at once, and usually about three-fourths into the story, just when it’s getting almost too complicated to follow, we are given a summary of the suspects, clues and alibis through the mouths of the police in a team operational briefing. So, we never have to think, ‘hang on, what was that clue back on page 23?’ Bassett is skilled at weaving necessary backstory into the dialogue. You probably get enough clues to solve the crime yourself, although I usually don’t.
I like that his main detective, Sunita Roy, is of non-Anglo heritage, making her a little bit out of ordinary from what we’re used to. She’s an interesting woman as well as police detective. Though she’s not full of herself, she has a keen mind, and when cracks the case, it’s usually because she has done a bit of lateral thinking that her bosses haven’t considered. The crime is always solved in some innovative way.
November 7, 2025
Very good!
I found the author's literary style fluid, visual, and very easy to follow. He describes the English landscapes so naturally that you can almost imagine yourself walking through those villages full of mystery. His dialogues feel so real that they surprise you without exaggeration. In addition, each book has its own tone, so it never feels repetitive.
I loved the story and especially the protagonists, the main couple, the experienced Gavin Roscoe and the newly promoted Sunita Roy, who are one of the series' greatest successes. He is patient, observant, and has a very British sense of humor; she is impulsive, brave, and not afraid to question the rules. Together they form a team with great chemistry, which makes their investigations as interesting as the stories themselves.
If you are a lover of classic mystery, then this book is for you. With its British air of intelligence, irony, and suspense, charismatic characters, and tension-filled settings, you will definitely love this collection.
I found the author's literary style fluid, visual, and very easy to follow. He describes the English landscapes so naturally that you can almost imagine yourself walking through those villages full of mystery. His dialogues feel so real that they surprise you without exaggeration. In addition, each book has its own tone, so it never feels repetitive.
I loved the story and especially the protagonists, the main couple, the experienced Gavin Roscoe and the newly promoted Sunita Roy, who are one of the series' greatest successes. He is patient, observant, and has a very British sense of humor; she is impulsive, brave, and not afraid to question the rules. Together they form a team with great chemistry, which makes their investigations as interesting as the stories themselves.
If you are a lover of classic mystery, then this book is for you. With its British air of intelligence, irony, and suspense, charismatic characters, and tension-filled settings, you will definitely love this collection.
November 6, 2025
I had an incredible time reading these books, each plot and each crime captivating. The author has a remarkable talent for crafting compelling stories, as each book and each crime offers something entirely different and ingenious. The character development is wonderful; the detectives gain experience with every page, leading them to solve crimes with ever-increasing audacity. Following the characters' lives kept me thoroughly entertained, and I was particularly drawn to Gavin Roscoe's story. This crime novel undoubtedly has much to offer each of us. It's a fantastic book with incredible value that kept me engaged from beginning to end. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an unforgettable experience.
November 8, 2025
I really enjoyed these seven crime stories with very dark things happening. I like this dynamic of having a new adventure in each story and having the same main characters and the funny contrast between each other and how well that compliments. One is bold and the other calmer and steadier. They are really entertaining stories, lots of kidnapping and strange deaths, and many suspects in the cases.
A very nice book, it is simple to read but at the same time, it has everything to make a fun read and flipping pages to know how everything turns up.
Overall, very engaging stories, everyone into detective style mysteries will enjoy it as well.
A very nice book, it is simple to read but at the same time, it has everything to make a fun read and flipping pages to know how everything turns up.
Overall, very engaging stories, everyone into detective style mysteries will enjoy it as well.
November 9, 2025
From my perspective the detective story is one few would want to miss! I have to confess that this series in particular had me hooked from start to finish! Each of the stories is well crafted, the characters are unforgettable, and it's easy to get lost in the plot. Complex enough to make the reader guess but simple to understand without losing track of the action.
Tony Bassett is a truly talented author; he manages to paint vivid pictures of Warwickshire County without getting bored in the slightest.
I really will miss Inspector Gavin Roscoe and Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy when I finish these books. I enjoyed them immensely and I hope other readers will too.
Tony Bassett is a truly talented author; he manages to paint vivid pictures of Warwickshire County without getting bored in the slightest.
I really will miss Inspector Gavin Roscoe and Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy when I finish these books. I enjoyed them immensely and I hope other readers will too.
October 25, 2025
The box set of the first seven books by Tony Bassett, Detectives Roy and Roscoe Mysteries has just been released, and I can thoroughly recommend them. The author devotes a lot of time to developing the characters and he seduces the reader into wanting to know how it ends. The author intrigues the reader by twisting the narrative so that the reader never knows what is coming next! DCI Gavin Roscoe leads the investigation but it is the sharp brain of DS Sunita Roy that searches all aspects of the cases, leading to conclusions that are far from obvious.
November 17, 2025
Being totally truthful these books are good, but... they are rather formulaic. By that I mean they all follow a set pattern i.e. Roscoe forms a theory and hits on a suspect. Roy however has doubts, follows her instincts and low and behold she is correct and solves the case! It rather begs the question "how on earth did Gavin Roscoe ever make DCI?" Other than that these books aren't too bad at all.
October 31, 2025
I've read each of these books individually and the back story of the characters links seamlessly across the series cleverly. A terrific compilation from a gifted crime writer that seems too good to miss.
November 19, 2025
Great reading
Every story a well researched one lots of red herrings and sergeant Roy a revelation.The various books keep you wanting more.I'm looking for books 8 onwards.
Every story a well researched one lots of red herrings and sergeant Roy a revelation.The various books keep you wanting more.I'm looking for books 8 onwards.
December 5, 2025
Excellent
I thoroughly enjoyed reading all seven books a very well tighten novels. It was nice to see a woman as the lead
I thoroughly enjoyed reading all seven books a very well tighten novels. It was nice to see a woman as the lead
December 28, 2025
Riveting!
A masterpiece of intrigue, twists and turns, and character developments. I simply couldn't stop reading books 1 through 7 and now excitedly ready to start reading book 8.
A masterpiece of intrigue, twists and turns, and character developments. I simply couldn't stop reading books 1 through 7 and now excitedly ready to start reading book 8.
January 23, 2026
Read them all
Great stories with compelling people. The books wind with many possible villains! The answers are never easy or Straight forward. Read them all, there're great!!!
Great stories with compelling people. The books wind with many possible villains! The answers are never easy or Straight forward. Read them all, there're great!!!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews