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Summary: What a pleasure to discover this author!
Review: Peter Robinson is a highly skilled author as well as an outstanding plotter of mysteries. Like Elizabeth George, Robinson has written a novel with complex, 3-dimensional characters that you care about, and skillfully keeps several stories going to create a real page-turner. Once I got into the story (after about 25 pages or so), I couldn't put the book down. The plot involves a skeleton discovered in the ruins of a town that had been under a reservoir since shortly after World War II. What is this body doing there? Whose skeleton is this, was this person murdered, if so, by whom? At first, the task of solving these mysteries seems impossible, but slowly the story emerges of who this person was and what happened fifty or so years ago. To answer this question, the police detectives must find out what went on in that town during the war. In the backdrop of solving this mystery are two characters working through their own problems and their own troubled pasts. The solution doesn't disappoint and the book ends in a way appropriate to someone who is not only a great writer os mysteries, but a novelist. If you like Elizabeth George or Sharon McCrumb at her best, I think you will love this book.
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Summary: An excellent murder mystery from Peter Robinson
Review: Peter Robinson will soon join the ranks of Ruth Rendall, Ian Rankin, and P D James as a member of England's aristocracy of mystery writers if the quality of "In A Dry Season (IADS)" is anything to go by. Robinson isn't a flashy or gimmicky writer. He doesn't have to be because he's got craft. He knows how to tell a good story, work up the suspense and keep you turning the pages until you run out of them. His characters are well developed, rounded and believable personalities you care about. Inspector Alan Banks will become a household name if he isn't one already. The interplay between Banks' tentative romance with DS Annie Cabbot and the uncovering of the truth behind the murder that took place at Hobb's End during the post-war years adds immeasurably to the poignance of the story. There are no real startling truths waiting to be unlocked from the closet. The revelations are almost predictable - we guess correctly at Vivien Elmsy's identity early on - but we never feel cheated, let down or disappointed because the plotting, the intrigue, the suspense and the characterisation are so exquisitely executed you judge the entity by the quality of the reading experience which for me couldn't be better. An excellent murder mystery. Highly recommended.
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Summary: An excellent police procedural in the British tradition.
Review: Peter Robinson's "In a Dry Season" is a splendid novel. Although this book is a mystery, Robinson does much more than write an entertaining whodunit. He does what the top-notch British mystery writers do. He develops his characters, settings and time periods precisely, and he shows an understanding of what makes people act in a certain way. "In a Dry Season" features Alan Banks, a Detective Chief Inspector restricted to desk duty after a falling out with his superior. Banks is separated from his wife of twenty years, and he is having difficulty with his rebellious son. Suddenly, a new case is thrown into his lap. Banks is asked to solve the mystery of a long-buried skeleton that is unearthed by accident in a dried-up reservoir. Who was this person whose bones lay buried for more than fifty years? Why was he/she killed? Banks discovers that this case stirs his interest and curiosity and he is back in the hunt, eager to flex his mind and his excellent instincts. Like so many other sleuths in British detective novels, Banks is a flawed individual but a superb detective. As the novel unfolds, partly in flashback, the reader is drawn into the life of the murder victim as well as into the life of Banks, for whom this new case is a chance to vindicate himself. As a detective story, "In a Dry Season" is riveting, and I recommend it highly. It is in the tradition of the best novels of Ruth Rendell, P. D. James and Elizabeth George.
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Summary: Add some water please
Review: The descripton on the back of this book led me to believe that it was going to be a very exciting and captavating book. I found the book to be slow moving and at times hard to follow. It took me well into the 100 page mark before I got caught up in the story. I had to force myself to keep reading to that mark and after that I was caught up in the story. The main thing about this book is that there is three main stories with about 4 to 5 subplots. I was given too much information about people who are minor characters. I enjoyed reading about all the characters, than Robinson would begin to tell you about someone that is only mentioned once. I didn't mind the first time, but after the 5th or 6th time, it got to me a little. I have to give kudos for the main character Alan Banks. I thought that he was an odd person, but it fit in well with sitution, as only he would keep interested with this crime. I really did enjoy the mystery. I enjoyed the twists (think usual suspects) and the way they weave together. At times, I thought that Robinson had a hard time keeping all the stories twined together and fought to keep it interesting. I think that it was ruined for me, as I figured out who-dun-it half way into the book. (Which I usually never can do) I recommend this book to people that don't give up on books. I enjoyed the book in the end, but first you have to get over all the muck in the first half of the story.
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Summary: As usual, the British write an excellent mystery!
Review: This book had been recommended to me, and this was the first time that I had read anything by this particular author. It never ceases to amaze me the difference between American and British mystery authors. I have to wonder if part of it isn't that the British get better literature training in school? The ability to write well, develop plausible plots and interesting characters, and to continue to write that well over a long period of time seems to be the domain of British authors. I loved this story. The thought of a town being flooded and coming into view again after a period of years due to drought is certainly unique. But it is not impossible as anyone who has been all over the United States, and seen the building of dams or witnessed a dam breaking. The entwined stories from World War II and the modern day discovery of a murder from that time period is so intriguing and different. Robinson pays great attention to detail, not only in his characterizations but throughout the book. He does an extraordinary job of involving all the senses in the written word to give a three dimensional feel to the story. Too often little time is spent developing this trait...and it is this ability which makes movies from good books so hard to do well (they often are a disappointment because our minds have already pictured the book in a certain way). Because of how well this book is written, I will definitely go look for other books written by this author. His protagonist is very fallible, but very likeable. Terrific! Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh
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Summary: Peter Robinson reaches an apex
Review: This book is just a small departure from the normal Detective Banks format, but Peter Robinson is a gem when it comes to British murder mysteries. His books just keep getting better, and this book is so beautifully crafted that you are drawn into the story and wonderful characters. Each Inspector Banks book moves us further into his life and ties us closer to his very believable characters.This book takes a short detour into the past with a wonderfully creditable portrayal of wartime England, while moving the reader subltly along in Bank's life. Incredibly good read, stayed up all night to finish it. Peter Robinson sets new standards for British police proceedurals. Can hardly wait until the next one! I strongly recommend that you read absolutely every Inspector Banks mystery you can lay your hands on!!
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Summary: The first novel by Robinson I've read, but not the last
Review: This book is the first by Peter Robinson I have ever read. I picked it up because it was covered with blurbs from every major newspaper and magazine, so it seemed like a safe bet. I was not disappointed. My favorite thing about the novel was the way it switched between several points of view in several time periods. As the mystery unfolds in the present, the story develops in the past, and the balance between the narratives is perfect and seamless. The characters are vividly drawn, and the plot constantly engaging. The only thing that bothered me about the book was that it is obviously part of a series featuring Inspector Banks, and brief parts of the book are spent dwelling on events of previous books, and setting up situations for future books. But I know some people like their series detective novels to have a certain amount of story continuity between volumes, so I won't quibble too much. I'll definitely be checking out other books by Robinson.
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Summary: Didn`t know it`s part of a series of books
Review: This book was one of the last books I bought in Germany before I immigrated to the US and finally I read it on my honeymoon.
I picked the book because I was always fascinated by flooded towns(I strongly recommend "Under the Lake" by Stuart Woods)in dams, so this one definitely fulfilled all my expectations.
But I don`t think I`ll read his other books. Usually those series of books by Martha Grimes and Elizabeth George etcetera are very repititious, the first one or two books are usually quite promising and the third is just a variation of the same theme.
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Summary: Excellent novel as well as a mystery
Review: This book was terrific. I never read an Inspector Banks book before this, and I was concerned about picking up a series in the middle without any knowledge of the cast of regulars. I shouldn't have worried. There's just enough of the history of Banks, his family, and his co-workers, to jump right in and enjoy this wonderfully written and suspenseful mystery. What takes this book beyond your run-of-the-mill mystery series is the fact that Banks is asked to solve a murder that took place at the end of World War II. The historical setting of rural England and London during wartime is fascinating -- London after the Blitz, wartime rationing, blackouts -- it's all described very carefully to provide a wonderful setting and atmosphere for the crime to unfold. On top of that, Banks is a truly interesting lead character -- introspective and imperfect, I was happy to follow him through the course of the investigation, and as he tries to keep ahold of his crumbling career and his personal life. I look forward to going back to learn more about him in prior books, and then onward to his latest mystery, "Cold Is The Grave." The excerpt that appears at the end of the paperback version of "In a Dry Season" suggests that it won't disappoint! In short, an excellent read, and a very well-written novel of characters you quickly care about. Highly recommended!
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Summary: Nothing Dry About This
Review: This is a multi-layered suspense thriller that delves into the lives of inhabitants of Hobbs End, England during WWII and the lives of Inspector Alan Banks and those who are important to him as he investigates the murder of a young woman. Her skeleton was found when the water is drained from a reservoir that has covered the town. Robinson deftly moves back in time and describes WWII England and the struggles of the people both in their relationships to each other and to their environment. He alternates the past with the present day problems Inspector Banks confronts with his son and with his assistant, Det. Sgt. Annie Cabbot while he goes through a divorce to a woman he continues to feel confused about.Robinson is able to provide insight into human nature and educate about the war years while guiding Banks in solving a crime with intelligence and intuition. Robinson's ability to move the story has encouraged me to read more of his work. If his other books result in the same type of skillful escape "A Dry Season" offers, there won't be anything "dry" about them either.
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