Peter Robinson at Tangled Web UK

Page Updated: 04/09/2007

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Peter Robinson - Page 2

Playing with Fire

The Summer That Never Was

Aftermath

Cold is the Grave

In a Dry Season

First British Edition Macmillan (2004)

Playing with Fire

’At the centre of it all, by the pooling that marked the seat of the blaze, lay a blackened body ...
It had been hard to spot at first among the charred furniture and fixtures, but once you managed to separate it out from its context, you couldn’t miss it, and Banks knew he wouldn’t forget it.’

In the early hours of a cold January morning, two narrow boats catch fire on the dead-end stretch of the Eastvale Canal.
When signs of accelerant are found at the scene, OCI Banks and DI Annie Cabbot are summoned. But by the time they arrive only the smouldering wreckage is left, and human remains have been found on both boats.
The evidence points towards a deliberate attack. But who was the intended victim? Was it Tina, the sixteen-year-old who had been living a drug-fuelled existence with her boyfriend? Or was it Tom, the mysterious, lonely artist?
As Banks makes his enquiries, it appears that a number of people are acting suspiciously: the interfering ‘lock keeper’, Tina’s cold-hearted stepfather, the wily local art dealer, even Tina’s boyfriend . . .
Then the arsonist strikes again and Banks’s powers of investigation are tested to the limit .. .
Praise for Peter Robinson and his inspector banks novels
`Demonstrates how the crime novel, when done right, can reach parts that other books can’t... A considerable achievement’ Guardian
`Robinson’s Inspector Banks novels have built up a rising reputation as one of the most authentic and atmospheric of crime series ... Any reader who still misses Morse should promptly resolve to go north with Banks’ Independent
`One of the grand-masters of the genre’ Literary Review

The Summer That Never Was
Following the best-selling Aftermath, the new Inspector Banks mystery is guaranteed to win yet more fans A skeleton has been unearthed. Soon the body is identified, and the horrific discovery hits the headlines... Fourteen-year-old Graham Marshall went missing during his paper round in 1965. The police found no trace of him. His disappearance left his family shattered, and his best friend, Alan Banks, full of guilt... That friend has now become Chief Inspector Alan Banks, and he is determined to bring justice for Graham. But he soon realises that in this case, the boundary between victim and perpetrator, between law-guardian and law-breaker, is becoming more and more blurred...

First British Edition Macmillan (2002)

Aftermath
See Review by Bernard Knight - Author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series set in Medieval Devon

He felt depressed. The elation he had expected to feel on finding the killer somehow eluded him. He had no sense of an ending, of an evil purged. In some odd way, he felt, the evil was just beginning…’

35 The Hill is an ordinary house in an ordinary street, owned by an apparently ordinary young couple. But it is about to become infamous . . .
When Police Constables Janet Taylor and Dennis Morrisey are sent to the house following a report of a domestic disturbance, they stumble upon a truly horrific scene. A scene which leaves one of them dead and the other fighting for her life and career . . .
Inspector Alan Banks, currently Acting Superintendent, has been leading the hunt for the Chameleon, a serial killer who has so far abducted five young women in the Yorkshire area. Banks is immediately called to The Hill - where, it seems, the Chameleon’s identity has finally and gruesomely been revealed.
But the capture of the serial killer is only the beginning of a shocking investigation that will test everyone to the absolute limit . . .
‘Aftermath is a truly gripping modern day crime novel’ Bookseller
‘What raises Robinson’s series is the thoughtfulness of the writing, the subtlety of the characterisation and the skill of the plotting’ Observer
Robinson is a writer of classy police procedurals which (as here) can turn very dark indeed’ Publishing News

Paperback - Pan (2002)

First British Edition Macmillan (2001)

Cold is the Grave
Following the fantastic reception of In a Dry Season, Peter Robinson brings us the latest mystery in his award winning Inspector Alan Banks series…
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks has reached a turning point. With his wife now living with another man in London and his career in he doldrums thanks to Chief Constable Riddle, it is time to ring the changes. Perhaps a move to the National Crime Squad? Perhaps a second chance with Sandra?
But then late one night he is summoned to Riddle’s house - and his plans take a surprising new turn.
For the Chief Constable’s sixteen-year-old daughter Emily has run away and for once Riddle wants Banks to use his unorthodox methods - to find her without fuss ...

First British Edition Macmillan (2000)

Paperback - Pan (2001)

In a Dry Season
Shortlisted for the Edgar Allan Poe Award 1999
During a blistering summer, drought has depleted the precious resources of Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering the remains of a small village called Hobb's End - hidden from view for over forty years.
For a curious young boy this resurfaced hamlet has become a magical playground ... until he unearths a human skeleton.
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks, unpopular with his superiors for having challenged the system once too often, is given the impossible task of identifying the victim - a woman who lived in a place that no longer exists, whose former residents are scattered to the winds.
Anyone else might throw in the towel but, aided by an intuitive detective sergeant, Annie Cabbot, Banks sets out to uncover the murky past buried beneath a flood of time…
'In a Dry Season is Peter Robinson's break-out book, a devious murder puzzle which also manages to be an inquiry into time, ageing, redemption and moral consequences ... If you haven't encountered Chief Inspector Alan Banks before, prepare for a crash course in taut, clean writing and subtle psychology. And watch for those twists they'll get you every time.' Ian Rankin
'In a Dry Season is a wonderful novel. From Peter Robinson's deft hand comes a multi-layered mystery woven around the carefully detailed portraits of characters all held tightly in the grip of the past. At its heart is Inspector Banks. A man for all seasons, he knows that often the clues to the answers he seeks can be found hidden in his own soul.' Michael Connelly
'This unsettling story, haunting and subtle in its blending of past and present, is the most powerful novel by the star of the middle-generation of British crime writers.' Robert Barnard
'Anyone who enjoys a good mystery should curl up gratefully with a cuppa to enjoy this rich 10th instalment of the acclaimed series.' Publishers Weekly
'Peter Robinson is an expert plotter with an eye for telling detail ... the characters have complexity and the issues range broad and deep.' New York Times Book Review
'A page-turning and complex mystery. In a Dry Season is a terrific work. It would be easy to become addicted to Robinson's agreeable but not too predictable stories' Observer
'A highly satisfying police procedural with a time-warp twist' Sunday Times
'Peter Robinson has managed to create that most difficult of species: an intelligent read in a popular genre' Historical Novel Review