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The Dangerous Stranger
DI Ryan Wilkins Mysteries (Book 5)
- Author
- Simon Mason
- Narrator
- Matt Addis
- Publisher
- Quercus
- Publish Date
- 12 March 2026
- Run Time
- 10 hours 31 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Rating
- 3.0 (1 review)
What to expect
'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, however: 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 do: 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 RAY:
'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' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Critics Review
-
A terrific writer
Peter May
-
An electrifying read replete with feints and false leads.
Saga
-
Excellent . . . DI Ryan Wilkins, the unlikely Sherlock in a shell suit, is an enduringly brilliant creation
Mail on Sunday
-
One of the highlights of the genre . . . impressive as well as highly entertaining, and has real depths of emotion
Literary Review
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
What makes The Dangerous Stranger so addictively readable is the vividly delineated characters, and despite it being the fifth in the series, the narrative unspools like a standalone thriller . . . there is a curious layer of black-humour that makes the narrative sparkle and pages turn with impatience - because little is what it seems
Shots
-
Startling . . . Mason is an exceptional storyteller, basing ingenious plots on events that mirror life
Times
-
Mason is becoming a master of the modern British police procedural and his double act is one for the connoisseurs
Crime Time
-
Brilliantly complex characters and plot laden with twists and turns
Sun
-
Mason is a superb storyteller, accurately depicting the deprivation that coexists with Oxford's dreaming spires
Guardian (Best Recent Crime and Thrillers)
-
One of the genre's outstanding new writers . . . his funny, thoughtful books are gems
Telegraph (Best Crime Fiction)
-
A highly topical and enjoyable page turner
Daily Express
-
Mason's Oxford-based detective duo, spanning the social spectrum, is one of the best characterised since Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe
Barry Forshaw, FT
-
No wonder Mason is now compared to Colin Dexter
The Oldie
User Reviews
Book 3.0
Narration 3.0
- No written reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Simon Mason
- Narrator
- Matt Addis
- Duration
- 10 hours 31 minutes
- Release Date
- 12 March 2026
- ISBN
- 9781529439625
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Quercus
- Genre
- Classic crime and mystery fiction, Crime and / or mystery fiction, Thriller / suspense fiction
- Rating
- 3.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 3.0(1 review)
Synopsis
'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 CravenOn 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, however: 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 do: 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 RAY:'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' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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