Despite not having read an Inspector Banks novel before, not only did it not matter for the understanding of the book, but I also found that the story felt very familiar.  It is entirely within the genre of the modern British police detective novel.  Detective Chief Inspector is on holiday on the west coast of the USA at the start, getting over some difficult experience in the previous novel in the series.  Back in England, in the Yorkshire Dales, crime proceeds without him.  An old neighbor of his comes to the police station to report that she found a gun in her daughter Erin’s room.  As soon as this information is out, a set of events starts in motion that ends in several deaths.  Bank’s own daughter, Tracey, is a housemate of Erin, and she is involved.  When Banks gets back from his holiday, he is desperate to get Tracey out of her predicament, but her life is in mortal danger.  It’s an entertaining story with clear cut heroes and villains, plenty of suspense and some middle-aged reflections on life.  The performance of the novel by Simon Prebble (who although he has a UK accent, does not perform the UK audiobook version) is straightforward and professional.  This is a rather bland story, and some Inspector Banks fans complain that they are disappointed by the book in their Amazon.com comments, but it is good enough for fans of crime novels to be worthwhile listening. 

Link: Peter Robinson website.

© 2010 Christian Perring        

Christian Perring, Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York