View source for A Voice in the Night (A D I Wilkins Mystery) by Simon Mason

{{infobox1
|title=A Voice in the Night
|sort=Voice in the Night
|author=Simon Mason
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Crime
|summary=It's the fourth book in this Oxford-based crime series and it's a cracker.  Highly recommended.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=368
|publisher=riverrun
|date=January 2025
|isbn=978-1529425901
|website=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Mason_(author)
|cover=1529425905
|aznuk=1529425905
|aznus=1529425905
}}
There's a new Superintendent in Thames Valley — DCS Wainwright—and she's young, ambitious, and ruthless. She talks a good talk about work/life balance and family values, but as far as she's concerned, she has two main problems, and they're both called DI Wilkins.  Ray Wilkins is of Nigerian descent, Baliol educated and always immaculately dressed.  He's married to Diane and has twin sons.  Management's opinion of him is that he thinks too highly of himself and his last boss felt that he needed more experience at what he called 'the wet end'.  Ryan Wilkins comes from a trailer park - in fact, it could be said that he's never really left it.  He lives in shell suits and tracksuits, always in vivid colours.  Previous management was adamant that he should ''never'' be given responsibility.  Wainwright feels that she would be best shut of both of them.

Ryan's certain that he and Ray should have been given the investigation into an armed raid at the Pelzer which resulted in the death of a security guard but it's been given to DI Hare - or 'that dipstick Hairless' as Ryan refers to him.  Hare's obviously in Wainwright's good books and basking in the sunshine.  Ray and Ryan get the investigation into the death of an elderly professor, who seems to have left home in his pyjamas and was found dead on the lawn of a hotel a couple of miles away.  It's not thought that this will be a particularly significant investigation.  Wainwright feels that it's perfect for the Wilkins.

Of course, that's not the way it turns out.  Ryan thrives on disorder and dysfunction and somehow Ray is dragged along in his wake, doing his best to make everything look tidy and considered.  The writing is superb - parts of all the books are laugh-out-loud funny, but this isn't cosy crime written for the comedy market.  It's a serious, complex plot, with excellent characterisation which stands comparison with the best in the genre.

As well as reading the book (for which I'd like to thank the publishers) I treated myself to an audio download.  It was an easy decision as the narrator is my all-time favourite narrator, [[:Category:Matt Addis|Matt Addis]].  He has a superb range of voices but manages never to intrude between the story and the listener.  I started listening one evening - and didn't give up until the early hours of the following morning when I finished the book.  There's a jaw-dropping twist in there which I didn't see coming.

I have read a suggestion that this will be the last book in the series.  I do hope that's wrong as this is one of my must-read crime series.

You could read the books as stand-alones, but why would you want to?  You'll get more out of the series if you read the books in [[Simon Mason's D I Wilkins series in Chronological Order|chronological order]].  Just saying.

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