‘Murder in Oxford’ by Christina Koning

Published by Allison & Busby,
22 May 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-74903231-9 (HB)

Frederick Rowlands lost his sight while serving in the First World War, but he has reconstructed his life with the help of St. Dunstan’s, the charitable institute that rehabilitates and supports war-blinded servicemen. Now it is 1942, and the Second World War is at its height. Rowlands works for the charity that had helped him. He is happily married, with three much-loved daughters, two of whom are grown up and also working to win the war; Rowlands knows that secrecy is essential, but it still frustrates him that his daughters cannot tell him any details of what they are doing.

Rowlands, his wife and his mother-in-law are living in Brighton, having lost their London home in the Blitz. He has also become a successful detective, who has solved several murders and has also worked with MI5, the British Security Service; he owes his success to his skill in using his remaining senses to investigate, which helps to compensate for his lack of sight. At the start of this investigation, Rowlands has made the arduous train journey to Oxford, to stay at Brasenose College, at the urgent invitation of his old friend and fellow war veteran, Sir Ian Fraser, who had also lost his sight in the previous war and had then founded St. Dunstan’s. Rowlands feels deeply grateful to him, and they have become good friends, which is the reason he has obeyed Fraser’s request to come to Oxford to help him. Fraser thinks that they are alone, and ignores the growls of his guide dog, as he explains that he has been told that there is a traitor operating in the college, who is feeding information to the enemy. Fraser wishes Rowlands to talk with his friend, who is a professor at Brasenose but also has connections to the vital intelligence centre at Blenheim Palace, a few miles outside of Oxford. Fraser and Rowlands make an appointment to meet the man after the college dinner but, when they reach his room, they are minutes too late. The enemy agent has acted with speed and ruthlessness, and Fraser’s friend has been stabbed in the back with his own paper knife.

While Fraser hurries to summon help, Rowlands is left alone with the victim and hears his dying words, in which he mentions a green file. As well as the overwhelming smell of fresh blood, Rowlands is also aware of the odour of damp, scorched cardboard. When he is interviewed by the police, Rowlands finds himself in a difficult position. He is aware that the police inspector in charge of the case is suspicious of him, unconvinced by his reason for leaving his family so close to Christmas to visit a college that he had never previously attended. However, he feels unable to tell the police about the possibility of a serious security problem, which means that his only option is to investigate for himself.

Despite the risks involved, Rowlands decides to go to Blenheim Palace, and try to persuade the people in charge to listen to his concerns. Luck is with him, and he meets an old acquaintance with whom he has worked before, and she trusts both his instincts and his discretion. Despite this valuable help, more violent deaths occur at Brasenose College, and as the situation becomes more desperate, Rowlands himself is violently attacked; and a young friend of his, who is determined to help discover the truth, is also placed in peril. However, whatever the cost to himself or his colleagues, Rowlands has to continue because the future of his country’s survival is at stake.

Murder in Oxford is the ninth book in the Blind Detective series. It is a fascinating book, with superb period detail, and an intricate plot that uses the deception, divided loyalties and pressures of the Second World War to add to the tension and distrust. All the central characters are engaging, and Rowlands is a courageous, determined and intelligent protagonist. Although the disadvantages of his blindness are not downplayed, he makes use of the senses that have become sharper since he lost his sight, notably his sense of smell and his ability to listen with unusual concentration to the spoken word. Murder in Oxford is a very enjoyable read, which I recommend. 
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Reviewer:  Carol Westron

Christina Koning was born in Kuala Belait, Borneo, and spent her early childhood in Venezuela and Jamaica. After coming to England, she was educated at the University of Cambridge, Newcastle College of Art, and the University of Edinburgh, eventually settling in southeast London. Line of Sight the first in Blind Detective series, is set during the 1920s in the aftermath of the First World War. There are now ten books in this series.  She has worked extensively as a travel writer and literary critic – notably as Books Editor for The Times and Cosmopolitan, and on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour - and was a judge for the Society of Authors' McKitterick Prize for three years. As an academic, she has taught Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and University of London.  She has also taught at Cambridge University's Institute of Continuing Education at Madingley Hall and was Editor of Collected, the Royal Literary Fund's magazine. Christina Koning has two grown-up children and lives in Cambridge.  

Carol Westron is a Golden Age expert who has written many articles on the subject and given papers at several conferences. She is the author of several series: contemporary detective stories and police procedurals, comedy crime and Victorian Murder Mysteries. Her most recent publications are Paddling in the Dead Sea and Delivering Lazarus, books 2 and 3 of the Galmouth Mysteries, the series which began with The Fragility of Poppies.  

www.carolwestron.com