Wed 6 Jul 2011
Reviewed by Walter Albert: Four ALAN BANKS novels by PETER ROBINSON.
Posted by Steve under Reviews1 Comment
PETER ROBINSON —
â— Gallows View. Viking, UK, hardcover, 1987. Scribner, US, hc, 1990; Avon, paperback, 1991.
â— A Dedicated Man. Viking, UK, hardcover, 1989. Scribner, 1991; Avon, paperback, 1992.
â— A Necessary End. Viking, Canada, hardcover, 1989; Viking, UK, hc, 1989. Scribner, US, hc, 1992; Avon, paperback, 1993.
â— The Hanging Valley. Viking, Canada, hardcover, 1989. Viking, UK, hc, 1990. Scribner, US, hc, 1992; Berkley, paperback, 1994.
In this British series featuring Chief Inspector Alan Banks, the latter has left London for the presumably quieter duties of a small-town, Northern England station (or whatever they call them in the UK).
There are a couple of sergeants to do the routine chores and assist Banks in his investigations; a sympathetic superior (Inspector Gristhorpe) who doesn’t usually get In the way; an attractive, sympathetic wife (Sandra); two attractive, sympathetic children (who cares?); and a more than attractive and sympathetic psychologist who helped out on Banks’ first murder investigation and is still around in the most recent of the series, mighty appealing but not yet a serious threat to the comfortable, happy marriage.
The peacefulness is deceptive and there are enough satisfying murders in the district to keep Banks on his mettle and to interrupt the weekend therapeutic stone-wall laying with Gristhorpe every so often.
The series is sober, solidly plotted and characterized. In these first four books Banks has not developed any annoying eccentricities: even his apparently recently acquired affection for opera seems to be giving way to folk music and less high-brow interests in the fourth book, The Hanging Valley.
The apparently unmotivated murder of a elderly widow; the brutal killing of a local archaeologist; the stabbing of a policeman that is not as it first appears to be random; and the bludgeoning of a vacationing academic give Banks varying opportunities to practice his methodical, even plodding work.
Although Banks pines momentarily (in The Hanging Valley) for “a nice English murder … just like the ones in books,” it might be noted that the basic premise of the plots is not too far removed from the enclosed world of the cosy, with its limited group of suspects.
In The Necessary End, the longest of the novels, an abrasive, ambitious, unsympathetic former colleague of Banks is sent down from London to lead the Investigation. Banks of course solves the crime, outperforming the flashy, unproductive methods of his rival.
The only memorable character so far is Katie Greenlock — in The Hanging Valley — and she supplies an ending that leaves any further comments by Banks (or Robinson) superfluous. It’s a haunting, horrific ending, and it has me looking forward to the next several novels in the series.
July 9th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
I’m not sure which one it was of Robinson’s books I read, not until I come across the review I wrote of it at the time, but I’m sure it was one of these — and more than likely it was the first one.
I was rather disenchanted with British mysteries at the time, the late 80s, starting with P. D. James on down, and even Caroline Graham’s first Midsomer mystery. Too dour, too tinged with pessimism, I thought.
I much preferred Christie and Marsh, cozier in their way (though not really) and maybe I still do.
In any case I’ve read only the one Alan Banks novel, which may have been a mistake. There are 19 of them now, so I’m the one who may have been out of step.