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

His latest novel, VOICES FROM THE DEAD (Book 8) begins in the picturesque Warwickshire town of Queensbridge where a retired nurse escapes to her hotel room from a rowdy birthday party, looking for peace. But to her horror, through a window, she witnesses a brutal crime — a young woman being strangled in the new wing of the building.

Detective Sergeant Sunita Roy —attending a wedding in the same hotel — is first on the scene, and quickly realises this isn’t a random attack. The victim, glamorous beauty influencer Candy Goodhope, was living a double life — and everyone close to her has something to hide.

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 books in the series (in order) are: MURDER ON OXFORD LANE; THE CROSSBOW STALKER; MURDER OF A DOCTOR; OUT FOR REVENGE; HEIR TO MURDER; IT NEVER RAINS; NOT MY VALENTINE; and VOICES FROM THE DEAD.

A Kindle boxset of the first three books was published in May 2024 under the title THE MIDLANDS MURDERS: Detectives Roy & Roscoe box set (Books 1 – 3). The first seven books were also issued as a Kindle boxset in October 2025 with thee title Detectives Roy & Roscoe Mysteries 1 – 7. All the books have been released by London publishers The Book Folks, part of Joffe Books.

Tony has also written a stand-alone thriller, SEAT 97, about a man shot dead at a London concert hall (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 staged his play about 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.