A Killing in November: The Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month (DI Wilkins Mysteries)

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His novels have been shortlisted for a number of awards, including the Branford Boase Prize for Best First Children's Novel, the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Costa Prize for Best Children's Book, and have won the Betty Trask for Best First Novel and the Crimefest Prize for Best YA Crime Novel.

As a young Detective Inspector, he’s lost none of his disgust with privileged elites – or his objectionable manners. Ryan Wilkins was raised in a trailer park, had a violent alcoholic father, his girlfriend died of a drug overdose and left him with a young son. T]his is a very individual piece of work, with a satisfying plot involving Syrian refugees, snobbish dons and nimble interaction between the ill-assorted protagonists.Perhaps a second outing of the duo, with Ryan kicked out of the police force, is a more plausible endeavor. This moody, atmospheric novel is full of surprises, with subplots about sexual harassment and the impact of the Syrian civil war. In the beginning the young detective, Ryan Wilkins sounded irritating and a little over the top, like a male Vicky Pollard. Raymond is a posh Nigerian-Brit with Oxford pedigree, Ryan is a white underclass foul-mouthed chav brought up in an Oxford trailer park by an alcoholic (Oxford area has some of the worst income inequality in the UK).

It's really stretching the imagination to ask us to believe someone as 'chav' as that would get employment anywhere, leave alone in a county police force.Discretion is a venerable Oxford tradition, so too refinement and good manners; it is rare for a college to have anything so crude as a sign with its name on outside its gates. Ryan has a genuinely warm and moving relationship with his young son and a tendency to think creatively, which is let down by his inability to control his mouth or his anger. My only suggestion would be Ryan junior should be at least 3 years old with his speech and understanding- so that niggled me abit!