Deceived by the Light cover art

Deceived by the Light

DI Bob Willis, Book 1

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About this listen

An innocent man framed. A case closed. A serial killer free to kill again.

It is 1985. Detective Inspector Mungo ‘Bob’ Willis is being forced out of Avon and Somerset Police on medical grounds. His career is in tatters, his body broken, his mind shattered, and his partner—DS Lizzie Harper—dead in a sting operation gone wrong.

Their last case is closed, but Bob is convinced an innocent man has been framed, leaving a serial killer cruising the A303 with impunity, free to target lone women who have broken down by the roadside late at night.

The killer knows the police aren’t looking for anyone else in connection with the murders. What they don’t know is what Bob will do next.

And when another woman is killed in horrifyingly similar circumstances, Bob launches his own—unofficial—investigation. Can he stop a sadistic killer before they kill again? And again…

©2025 by Damien Boyd. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Crime Crime Thrillers Mystery Police Procedurals Private Investigators Thriller & Suspense Murder

Critic reviews

“Narrator Nicholas Boulton brings Detective Bob Willis to life perfectly.… As the story is told in the first person, the listener feels increasingly drawn into it. Boulton's rich West Country accent mirrors the setting.… Boulton's talent for characterization shines, especially his dialogue, for which he creates a variety of accents and gently delivered humor. His timing is spot-on, allowing the tension to build as the plot unfolds.”—AudioFile Magazine
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Thought the style was quite refreshing.. From the head of Bob...his musings etc. The story was pretty compelling and a few interesting twists especially at the end. The only bit i thought was a bit odd and unnecessary was the riot with the hippies. I'd be interested to listen to his next cold case if he takes the job.

Great narration and gripping story

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Really excellent story with an amazing and compelling protagonist.
Really looking forward to the next novel

First class writing

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Fantastic beginning to a new original series , great main character, looking forward to seeing his character develops !!

Wow

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A new crime series set in England's South West in the mid 1980s but very different from most: DI Mungo 'Bob' Willis is convinced that the wrong man, killed by a lorry when when he jumped from a road bridge, is not the man who had mutilated and murdered three women including his police partner,attacked after breaking down on the A303, and is determined to discover the truth. Unfortunately, he himself was hospitalised for three months after being hit by another car, memory impaired, and was no longer on active duty.

The investigation is told in the first person which puts the reader straight into Bob's head, in a position of discovery as the fast paced and unusual story unfolds. Different, fascinating and hard to put down, it is narrated by Nicholas Boulton, his performance further enhancing the pleasure of the tale with each character voiced individually and the character of Bob himself portrayed with feeling..

This has been my first encounter with author Damien Boyd, and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I look forward to book two in this series and meanwhile intend to seek out a previous series he has written.

"I've started so I'll finish."

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A twisty gory story with killers being killed by their own kind of killers, innocent victims, army and police coverups, car chases, set in the time of the Irish troubles; what more could you want in a detective story!

A twisty story right to the end.

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