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Alan
Banks - Detective Chief Inspector, Yorkshire,
England
"Close to Home""Trevor had been working for well over two hours when he thought he saw something sticking out of the dirt. Leaning forward from his seat and rubbing the condensation from the inside window of the cab, he squinted to see what it was, and when he saw it, it took his breath away. He was looking at a human skull, and what was worse was that it seemed to be looking right back at him." In some ways, this book is really three stories. The first is that it's a bit of biography. We get to see a lot of Bank's personal life, his childhood as he explored the places where he grew up and the scene where he was attacked. This is the 13th Inspector Banks novel and so seeing more about this Inspector's past will be a treat for readers who've enjoyed Banks in the past. The two mysteries are not really Bank's case, although he helps as much as he can, and is instrumental in unraveling them both. Detective Inspector Anne Cabbott is hunting for the missing boy, DI Michelle Hart is tracking down the clues to discover what really happened to Graham Marshal. For a long time both cases seem their own entities, for what can a recent kidnapping have to do with a body that's been buried for well over a decade? Robinson deftly juggles these stories, making some compelling parallels and contrasts that keep the book flowing well. Anne makes a mistake that may well have cost Luke his life, while a killer has broken into Michelle's house, leaving the sliced up dress of her dead little girl on her bed as a warning. These details define and humanize the two female characters as they both struggle to prove their competence and their courage against an enemy that seems to have no motive. I think the threading of the three stories and the interrelationship between the three characters really shines. Accompanied by an almost audible soundtrack of music reflecting the author's diverse tastes, it twists the story into different directions giving the reader a constantly changing and intriguing perspective. (Reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer 01-29-03)
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| Read a conversation with Peter Robinson about the Detective Banks series at MostlyFiction.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bibliography (with links to Amazon.com):Inspector Banks Series:
Other:
(back to top) Book Marks:
(back to top) About the Author:
His first novel, Gallows View (1987), introduced Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. It was short-listed for a best first novel award in Canada and for the John Creasey Award in the U.K. Most all of his previous novels have been nominated for many awards. No Past Reason Hated, Cure for Love, and Innocent Graves each won the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award for best novel. In a Dry Season was nominated for the Arthur Ellis and Edgar awards and won the Anthony Award, and was named a New York Times Notable Book. His most recent Inspector Banks novel, Aftermath, was an international bestseller. Peter lives in Toronto with his wife, Sheila Halladay, and enjoys music,
walking, reading, travel, good food and good wine. He has also been known
to down a pint of beer now and then. |
©1998-2003 MostlyFiction.com |
Peter
Robinson was born in 1950 and grew up in Yorkshire, England. After
getting his B.A. Honours Degree in English Literature at the University
of Leeds, he went to Canada and first took his M.A. in English and Creative
Writing at the University of Windsor, with Joyce Carol Oates as his tutor,
then a Ph.D. in English at York University. 
