Rating: 
Summary: Evocative WW II Puzzler
Review: This is my first Inspector Banks novel, and I liked it very much. Banks' live is rather a mess as he tries to work through the end of a long marriage, father and son disagreements about his son, Brian's, future, and the seeming ruin of his career by a powerful superior, who assigns him, out of malice, to an ice cold 50 year old case. Over 50 years ago, Hobbs End, a tiny Yorkshire village, was abandoned and flooded to form Thornfield Reservoir. A young boy playing fantasy games in the recently dried up reservoir bottom, finds skeletal remains buried in the floor of an old building. Banks and DS Annie Cabbot set out to identify the victim and solve the mystery of her death.The story alternates adroitly between time periods and narrators, as we explore the events that led up to the crime. Robinson takes his time, develops his characters fully, and brings the World War II era in a tiny English village vividly to life. His people are well rounded beings, with their share of faults and virtues. Many story tellers use the device of the past coming back to haunt the present. Robinson does it better than most. His story peels away in layer after layer until the final truth is revealed. He explores love, loyalty, duty, friendship and conscience, and the price one pays for these traits. This book brings to mind Ruth Rendell, who has written books in the same vein. I will certainly seek out more books by Peter Robinson.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Police Procedural with Compelling Story
Review: This was my first Peter Robinson novel and I am really looking forward to going back and reading his earlier works. The author's adept cutting back and forth between the discovery of the clues in the present day and the story of the events that put them there (which occur during World War II) makes for a unique and thoroughly satisfying read.
Rating:
Summary: Best Mystery by One of the Best Mystery Writers
Review: This was the first Peter Robinson book that I read. I was so impressed that I ordered all his others. When a young boy, playing among the ruins in a dried-up resevoir, finds the skeletal remains of a young woman, police are called to solve the mystery. The victim's sister-in-law recalls World War II memories of hardships at home, relationships between the villagers and the U.S. Army Airmen stationed nearby, and men who return home almost too damaged to be recognized by the women they left behind, who have been changed themselves. The investigating police officer is dealing with problems of his own, including the break-up of his marriage, the increasing independence of his children, and difficult, demanding superiors. The immediacy of war and its painful memories are skillfully drawn. Characters seem like real people facing real situations. Best of all, the solution to this mystery is a surprise to the very end! Treat yourself to this beautiful, evocative story, and you'll be a Peter Robinson fan too.
Rating:
Summary: Interwoven stories that engage the reader...
Review: This well crafted book was my first exposure to author P.Robinson. I enjoy double timeline stories, interweaving the past and present. This one weaves a WWII tale that ends with murder with the present day investigation of it. The investigator, Banks, had many layers to his character. I look forward to future insights into this character. The murder tale was intriguing, and the resolution satisfying. My only nit-pick, is the subtitle "A novel of suspense", is incorrect. The book was a well told mystery but didn't have me on the edge of my lazyboy in fear. Rather I kept reading to find out what happened and why.
Rating: 
Summary: Plodding, predictable plot; dull characters
Review: Very disappointing. Weak plot, boring characters, particularly the main one, Inspector Banks (even his angst is tedious), and a story that should have been told in 150 pages combine for a very weak novel. Only the last 30 pages come alive (also, a few with Gloria). I am truly astonished by the reader reviews and professional critiques. For those interested in crime fiction and psychological suspense you will have to read Breakheart Hill for the psychological element and Void Moon for the crime fiction. Then find a copy of Andrew Taylor's Four Last Things, quite simply the finest suspense novel of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Summer
Review: WE put Hannibel aside to read Banks latest exploits. It is with reluctance that we finished the book and have nothing to look forward to, the est of this summer, except getting all of our mystery reading friends hooked on Banks!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Too much unnecessary detail
Review: Well, I certainly don't agree with any of the reviews written about this book at all. I like my thrillers to be exactly that - a thriller ie- fast-paced, witty dialogue, heart beating as you turn the page to find out who the kiler was and what deep, sordid secrets he/she/they had. But what was this? A very, very, very long-winded story about a boy who finds a skeletal hand that had been buried over 50 yrs ago & the 2 detectives that go off in search of the killer. Leaning abit towards Kathy Reichs & her novels on forensic anthropology, Robinson takes us on a journey that is filled with so much unnecessary detail - the countryside, the colour of the wallpaper, the very unexciting & unnecessary relationships with Banks, his ex-wife, this son and the other detective that he is having an affair with. Usually, I don't mind about character's lives are revealed as it is crucial to the storyline or at least gives you some insight into the characters, but these details went on and on and I continually skipped paragraphs and pages, just to see who the killer was, which, I had figured out halfway through the book. The problem I have with English authors is that they spend far too long setting up scenes and boring the reader with pages and pages of things that aren't necessary - this has not changed my opinion. If you are after a great crime novel, or even a thriller, DON'T get this book, but if you are after a story about people, thier lives, the colour of their hair, the car they drive and they countryside they live in, with a subplot of a murder that happened in a small town, then you will love it!
|
