Book Extract: It Never Rains by Tony Bassett

I’m so pleased to be welcoming Tony Bassett back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book,  It Never Rains – book six in the Detectives Roy and Roscoe crime fiction series.

It never rains but it pours . . .

When a ruthless gang burgles the home of a Premier League football player, DCI Gavin Roscoe and DS Sunita Roy suddenly have a murder and a kidnap on their hands.

The footballer’s stepson, Marcel, is taken from the palatial property whilst it is being ransacked, and his bodyguard is shot, stone cold dead.

To help them with their task, DI Parkes from the National Crime Agency’s Kidnap Unit joins the investigation but he has very different ideas about how the operation should be run.

While rain lashes the surrounding countryside, tempers rise, as do the flood waters.

Can the police track down this dangerous gang, unmask its malevolent ringleader, and reunite the boy with his family before it’s too late?

Tony has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy. 

*****beginning of extract*****

Chapter 16

Three detectives – DCI Gavin Roscoe, DI Joseph Parkes and DS Sunita Roy – are visiting footballer Jean-Jacques Beauvais and his wife Camille at their mansion near Worcester. The couple’s son Marcel has been kidnapped and the family have just received a message and video from the gang holding him.

Roscoe was meanwhile concerned about drafting a proper response to the text message.

‘Shall we sort out a reply now?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ said Jean-Jacques. ‘What do you suggest?’

‘Just keep it simple,’ said Parkes. ‘I suggest you say, “Thank you for your message and for keeping Marcel safe. We await further instructions.”’

‘All right,’ said the footballer. ‘I will send that now.’

Parkes stepped across the room and took the phone from the Frenchman.

‘Allow me,’ Parkes insisted as he typed out the words. He handed it to Roscoe for his assent.

The chief inspector nodded his approval and Parkes pressed the ‘Send’ key.

They did not have to wait long. Jean-Jacques received a text back saying, ‘Message not delivered’.

What does this mean, Chief Inspector?’ he asked.

‘Well, it could mean a number of things,’ Roscoe replied. ‘It could mean the phone’s been turned off, in which case the message will be received when it’s next switched on. Or it could mean they’ve ditched the phone.’

‘Ditched? What is this?’ asked Jean-Jacques.

‘Discarded,’ said Roscoe.

Parkes interrupted. ‘They may be using what’s called a burner phone,’ he explained. ‘Such a phone can be thrown away after use by criminals to evade detection by police.’

The footballer nodded.

‘Don’t worry about this,’ said Roscoe. ‘The people who have your son will almost certainly be contacting you again soon and next time, just as certainly, they’ll be demanding money. Have you got the funds available?’

‘Yes, of course,’ replied Jean-Jacques.

Sunita had been listening quietly throughout the conversation.

‘Mr and Mrs Beauvais,’ she said. ‘I was wondering how you both feel about the video?’

‘Very upsetting,’ Jean-Jacques admitted. ‘Excuse me. I need to speak to my wife in private for a moment.’

The French couple stepped out of the room and could be heard holding a heated conversation in the hallway.

‘Clearly the video was taken in a bedroom somewhere,’ Parkes told the chief inspector, glancing out of the window at the stone steps and the lawn beyond. ‘But there’s little in the way of clues. He’s dressed in a blue shirt. You can see part of a white sheet. These things don’t tell us very much.’

‘Yes. It could have been taken anywhere,’ Sunita agreed. ‘We know the room has a modern double-glazed window with the very latest kind of handle, and it has a blue, striped window blind like those sold at the Mondales department store in Queensbridge.’

‘Very well observed, Sergeant,’ said the chief inspector. ‘Anything else?’

‘Only the pizza box,’ she replied.

‘What pizza box?’ asked Parkes.

‘Just at the bottom of the video we can see a corner of a cardboard pizza box decorated with pink spots. The only shop in that corner of Warwickshire that serves pizzas in that kind of box is the Pink Palace Pizza Company, which is close to the Troutbeck Estate.’

Sunita glanced round at everyone in the room. The chief inspector was full of admiration for her keen perception, but Parkes was unimpressed.

‘Don’t know how important any of that is,’ he said dismissively. ‘People have to eat.’

As the couple resumed their seats, Parkes turned to Jean-Jacques. ‘I suggest you wait for an hour or two and then send your message again to the gang. Let us know later if you’re still having problems.’

‘Certainement. But I must mention something, if you please,’ said the footballer.

‘Of course,’ said Parkes.

‘We are so desperate in finding our son that we are looking to hire a private detective from France,’ he said.

‘I wouldn’t recommend that,’ said Parkes. ‘That could only make the investigation more complicated.’

‘Added to that,’ said Roscoe, ‘a French investigator who’s unfamiliar with the Midlands, together with our language, culture and legal procedures, would find it a struggle. Please leave it to us. We know the kind of men we’re dealing with. We know the territory where they’re operating. We’re confident that it won’t be long before your son is safely back with you again.’

Jean-Jacques leaned back on the settee.

‘You say this,’ he said, ‘but it is now three days since Marcel was taken. Apart from this phone message and video, nothing’s changed. You think Marcel may be in Queensbridge, but you don’t know that for certain. In France, we would have had a big meeting with the press. Our boy would have been seen on television and in the newspapers.’

Parkes nodded. ‘We hear what you’re saying, but a decision’s been taken at senior level to maintain a news blackout for now. This means details of Marcel’s abduction won’t be reported in the national newspapers or on TV until such time that we consider it appropriate. News reports can make the situation more complicated. The ransom demanded can be driven up. Victims’ families can face extra pressure. Certain comments in the media could cause the abductors to act irrationally.’

‘The inspector’s right,’ added Roscoe. ‘We’ve publicised Marcel’s disappearance only in the local area, where we firmly believe him to be. The police locally have issued leaflets bearing Marcel’s photograph and posters have been put up. Our incident room at headquarters is receiving calls all the time.’

While this conversation had been going on, Sunita had been watching Camille’s behaviour. She had been shaking her head and muttering some words in French repeatedly since viewing the video.

Sunita detected the words, ‘Ce n’est pas mon fils.’

The chief inspector tapped her on the arm. ‘What’s she saying?’ he asked his sergeant.

‘She’s saying the boy in the video isn’t her son,’ Sunita replied.

*****end of extract*****

About Tony Bassett –

Tony 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. They feature Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Roscoe, an experienced detective and family man, and his sergeant, law graduate and resourceful problem-solver Sunita Roy.

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 novel concerns a peer of the realm’s son found axed to death after a row over loud music. Two years earlier, his older brother mysteriously disappeared while hiking in Spain.

The series is published by The Book Folks, an independent London publisher specialising in crime fiction.

Other books in the series (in order) are: Murder On Oxford Lane, The Crossbow Stalker, Murder Of A Doctor and Out for Revenge.

His stand-alone thriller Seat 97, about a man shot dead at a London concert hall, has also been published by The Book Folks.

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 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.

Say hello to Tony via X and Facebook.

It Never Rains was released on 9th September 2024. Click to buy on Amazon UK and Amazon US. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.