Thursday, October 15, 2020

A Necessary End: Peter Robinson

This is the 3rd book in the Inspector Banks series.  I read the first two books in this series before blogging, thus at least 8 years ago. It was a good book to pick up the series with, giving some background on Banks' family and his reasons for moving to Eastvale. 

From the description at Goodreads:

A peaceful demonstration in the normally quiet town of Eastvale ends with fifty arrests—and the brutal stabbing death of a young constable. But Chief Inspector Alan Banks fears there is worse violence in the offing. For CID Superintendent Richard Burgess has arrived from London to take charge of the investigation, fueled by professional outrage and volatile, long-simmering hatreds.


Richard Burgess is a policeman that Banks had worked with a few times in London, before he transferred to Eastdale. He is sometimes referred to as "Dirty Dick" Burgess, and Banks has found him a hard man to work with. He is a recurring character in this series, showing up in three later books in the series.

Burgess focuses some of his investigation on a group of people living at Maggie's Farm in a commune-like setting. The author provides excellent characterizations of that group of people and their relationships. The reasons behind the death of the constable are gradually revealed. I like the way Peter Robinson tells the story and also how we get some idea of Inspector Banks' personal life without it intruding on the story.

In my opinion, this book can be read as a standalone; you don't need to start at the beginning of the series. And I have read other reviews where the readers had hopped around in this series. I would rather read in order but when a series has been around this long (with a total of  26 books now), it is good to have other options.

I enjoy books set in the 1980s and 1990s, before so much technology in society and detecting. Also, there are several mentions of the music that Banks enjoys throughout. I am not a big music fan but I do think such information can give you a better picture of a character.

The author is Canadian (born in the UK, but emigrated to continue his education in Canada) but the series is set in Yorkshire, England. Five of the novels in the Inspector Banks series have been awarded the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel.


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Publisher:  Avon Books, 2000. Orig. pub. 1989.
Length:     340 pages
Format:     Paperback
Series:      Inspector Alan Banks, #3
Setting:     UK
Genre:      Police Procedural
Source:    I purchased this book in 2011.


15 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

One of my favorite series. And the TV show is good too. INSPECTOR BANKS.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, never having read Peter Robinson before, I'm drawn into the Inspector Banks series. I will read the first book, as I usually do with writers new to me.

Margot Kinberg said...

OH, I really like this series, Tracy! I especially like the way the characters have developed over the course of the novels. In my opinion, the cases/mysteries themselves are excellent, too, for the most part. Glad you liked this one.

TracyK said...

Patti, it was your comments in some of your posts that motivated me to get back to the series. I have a few more in the series to continue reading. And thanks for mentioning the TV series, I will check it out.

TracyK said...

Prashant, it has been a while since I read the first book in this series, but I am guessing you will like it.

TracyK said...

Margot, this book in the series certainly held my interest, and I liked the characters, both the main characters and the secondary ones. I have the next three books in the series and then we will see where I go from there.

CLM said...

My mother likes this series but I have not got around to it. The author is very nice; he did an event for me in Michigan when I was working at Avon Books. My colleague and I really liked him.

TracyK said...

Constance, that is interesting. When I was looking around for information about Robinson, my thought was that he looked like a very nice person, and I wondered if he was as nice as he looks. It is nice for you that you have met so many authors.

CLM said...

I met many delightful authors but it is also safe to say that authors are always nice to their sales reps, especially (back in the day) those responsible for Barnes & Noble and/or Borders/Waldenbooks.

However, I was often amazed by some authors who complained about their local bookstore not carrying their books when they also made it clear they only went into the store to complain.

I am very worried about bookstores. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/16/business/local-booksellers-push-back-against-amazon-with-boxedout-campaign/

TracyK said...

I worry about independent bookstores also, Constance. Our local store, Chaucer's, has been around for 46 years and has a lot of local support; I am hoping that they are doing OK. They have opened, with restrictions of course. And we have ordered from them and picked up curbside.

Clothes in Books said...

As with so many authors - I have read a few by him, and would pick up another, but not rushing to complete the series.

TracyK said...

Moira, this is the first one I have read in years, I will read more and see what I think. I have always been partial to police procedurals and this is a good one, with a dedicated policeman and real detecting. One thing that irritates is when cops continue working when they have been removed from the case, and that happens here, but that is a pretty normal in police procedurals. And I like the rural setting vs the big city.

catapult57 said...

Robinson is one of my favorites. I enjoyed the tv series and delved into the novels. They were brilliant: at once romantic, darkly humorous, and disturbing.

TracyK said...

catapult57, I do plan to watch the TV series. And read more of the novels. It is a long series, so don't know if I read all of them or in order.

col2910 said...

I have a fair few of these in the tubs, but it never occurs to me to pick one up. Thanks for the reminder.