From Publishers Weekly
This 11th book about Yorkshire police officer Alan Banks is disappointing after 1999's Edgar-nominee, In a Dry Season, but contains enough elements of the familiar formula to satisfy dedicated fans. DCI Banks, his romance with police colleague Annie Cabbot having cooled off, is seriously thinking of asking his wife, Sandra, to end their separation and give the marriage another try. He's also applied to the National Crime Squad to escape his loathsome boss, Chief Constable Riddle. But just as Banks is packing for a weekend train jaunt to Paris, the wretched Riddle calls to ask a favor. Riddle's nine-year-old son, snooping around on the Internet, has come upon a naked picture of his 16-year-old sister, Emily, who ran away from home and disappeared into the London drugs and smut cesspool. Despite their mutual hatred, BanksArealizing what it took for Riddle to ask for his help in finding the girlAjust can't refuse. This part of the story works well; Robinson makes no attempt to soften the nastiness of the stupid, resentful and politically ambitious Riddle or the apparent coldness of Riddle's wife. But things begin to get more complicatedAand less believableAwhen the powerful London criminal with whom Emily has been living appears to be implicated in murder and business fraud in Yorkshire. Too many plot coincidences and clich?s (a man is described as being "bald as a coot" twice) finally work against Robinson's greatest strength: his ability to keep Banks an interesting, realistic and changing human being. Agent, Dominick Abel. 6-city author tour. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The latest installment in the Alan Banks series, and the sequel to the Edgar-nominated In A Dry Season [BKL Mr 15 99], again expands the boundaries of the traditional English village with Robinson's canny exploration of contemporary evil and his wry characterization of a detective who remains a mystery to himself. Chief Inspector Alan Banks, whose children he admits to ignoring until their problems grew too great, finds his domestic situation of estranged wife, rogue son, and rebellious teen daughter looking rosy compared to that of his archenemy and boss, Chief Constable Riddle. Six months after Riddle's 16-year-old daughter, Emily, ran away from a posh boarding school, her younger brother discovers her, naked, on a pornographic Web site. Despite his longstanding detestation of Banks, Riddle begs him to find out what has become of his daughter. Banks must investigate as a private citizen, because of Riddle's fears for his own reputation, complicating his tour of the London high-end drug world that Emily now inhabits. Banks discovers the precariousness of Emily's position in her new life and, more disturbingly, the grotesque truth behind a facade of perfect family life. A cunningly constructed plot, enhanced by Robinson's engaging descriptions and insights. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A great read for those dark and stormy nights." -- Library Journal
"I thought IN A DRY SEASON was his best until I finished COLD IS THE GRAVE..." -- Boston Globe
"Superbly crafted." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"A cunningly constructed plot, enhanced by Robinson's engaging descriptions and insights." -- Booklist
"Full of twists and surprises....Robinson shows he has only begun to dig into the personality of his tenacious, thoughtful inspector." -- Chicago Tribune
"...a page turner. Expect to stay up late. It's very hard to put down." -- Wichita Falls, TX, Times Record News
"A winner....returning to the world of Banks is, as always, a pleasure." -- Houston Chronicle
"Sharply nuanced pain, hard-won wisdom, and moral complexity everywhere...Mystery-mongering at once as sensitive and grandly scaled as P.D. James's." -- Kirkus Reviews
From the Back Cover
The nude photo of a teenage runaway shows up on a pornographic website, and the girl's father turns to Detective Chief Inspector Alan banks for help. But these are typical circumstances, for the runaway is the daughter of a man who's determined to destroy the dedicated Yorkshire policeman's career and good name. Still it is a case that strikes painfully home, one that Banks—a father himself—dares not ignore as he follows it's squalid trail into teeming London, and into a world of drugs, sex, and crime. But murder follows soon after—gruesome ,sensational, and, more than once—pulling Banks in a direction that he dearly does not wish to go: into the past and private world of his most powerful enemy, Chief Constable Jimmy Riddle.
About the Author
One of the world’s most popular and acclaimed writers, Peter Robinson is the best-selling, award-winning author of the DCI Banks series; he has also written two short-story collections and three stand-alone novels, which combined have sold more than ten million copies around the world. Among his many honors and prizes are the Edgar Award, the CWA (UK) Dagger in the Library Award, and the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy Martin Beck Award.
