Wednesday's Child

Rating:
Summary: Wednesday's child is wooden.
Review: As far as police procedurals go, this is sort-of ok. For my taste though, the characters are a little flat and too one dimensional. I could not get through this bland piece of soft-boiled prose and had to put it down unfinished. I found Banks and his companions very wooden and not believable. Excluding the victim, there was not enough to go on to feel any true sympathy for the other characters. The plot line IS interesting but gets to a point of being turgid. Perhaps I'll give it another try someday.

Rating:
Summary: Wednesday's child is wooden.
Review: As far as police procedurals go, this is sort-of ok. For my taste though, the characters are a little flat and too one dimensional. I could not get through this bland piece of soft-boiled prose and had to put it down unfinished. I found Banks and his companions very wooden and not believable. Excluding the victim, there was not enough to go on to feel any true sympathy for the other characters. The plot line IS interesting but gets to a point of being turgid. Perhaps I'll give it another try someday.

Rating:
Summary: Mystery with a heart
Review: Chief Inspector Banks is called in to investigate the disappearance of a little girl named Gemma. Her bewildered mother has let her go with people who claimed to be from a child welfare agency, but instead they kidnapped her. Banks is haunted by the picture of the child, as she resembles the inspector's own daughter. Following this, there is a grisly murder of a man who may have been connected to the missing girl. It is up to Banks and Detective Superintendant Gristhorpe to put together the pieces of the two puzzles into a coherant whole. All of this time these grizzled policemen keep a mental picture of Gemma in mind as motivation to solving the crimes. This is another well-written Detective Banks Mystery by Peter Robinson.

Rating:
Summary: Mystery with a heart
Review: Chief Inspector Banks is called in to investigate the disappearance of a little girl named Gemma. Her bewildered mother has let her go with people who claimed to be from a child welfare agency, but instead they kidnapped her. Banks is haunted by the picture of the child, as she resembles the inspector's own daughter. Following this, there is a grisly murder of a man who may have been connected to the missing girl. It is up to Banks and Detective Superintendant Gristhorpe to put together the pieces of the two puzzles into a coherant whole. All of this time these grizzled policemen keep a mental picture of Gemma in mind as motivation to solving the crimes. This is another well-written Detective Banks Mystery by Peter Robinson.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent police procedural
Review: For those who enjoy a police procedural, not to be confused with a thriller/suspense novel/mystery, this will not disappoint. Inspector Banks makes another appearance when a well-dressed couple pose as social workers and take away Gemma Scupham on the pretense of abuse allegations. The mother, Brenda, accepts them at their word and lets them take her away. A far from exemplary parent, the child is described as "woeful" if not abused physically, then abused by maternal neglect. Banks is on the case leading him down to various possibilities. Is it a pornographic/prostitution ring? Is it connected to a recent electronics warehouse heist? Is this related at all to another murder of a two-bit small time crook? What makes this one an exceptionally interesting read to fans of the Inspector Banks series, is Superintendant Gristhorpe, usually a behind the scenes player, takes the forefront in the investigation. We learn a bit more of his character and what his detective abilities are. He is taking this case personally after being haunted for over thirty years by a similar case. The story is far from contrived and the ending is truly surprising. Robinson does it again.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent police procedural
Review: For those who enjoy a police procedural, not to be confused with a thriller/suspense novel/mystery, this will not disappoint. Inspector Banks makes another appearance when a well-dressed couple pose as social workers and take away Gemma Scupham on the pretense of abuse allegations. The mother, Brenda, accepts them at their word and lets them take her away. A far from exemplary parent, the child is described as "woeful" if not abused physically, then abused by maternal neglect. Banks is on the case leading him down to various possibilities. Is it a pornographic/prostitution ring? Is it connected to a recent electronics warehouse heist? Is this related at all to another murder of a two-bit small time crook? What makes this one an exceptionally interesting read to fans of the Inspector Banks series, is Superintendant Gristhorpe, usually a behind the scenes player, takes the forefront in the investigation. We learn a bit more of his character and what his detective abilities are. He is taking this case personally after being haunted for over thirty years by a similar case. The story is far from contrived and the ending is truly surprising. Robinson does it again.

Rating:
Summary: Banks Number Six: A Decent Read
Review: Little Gemma Scupham is abducted from her not very happy or loving home by a young couple posing as social workers. A little later a man is found, horribly murdered, in the flue of an abandoned smelting mill. And off go Robinson's usual team of Banks, his boss Grisethorpe, his underlings Philip Richmond and Susan Gay and his friend, psychologist Jenny Fuller to investigate. Slowly a picture emerges of a couple of sinister strangers recently in town that seems to link up with both the abduction and the killing.

This is number six in the Banks series and it's one of the better ones of those I've read, more a procedural than a whodunit, but a nicely constructed and very readable one.


Rating:
Summary: An excellent Inspector Banks mystery.
Review: Peter Robinson's "Wednesday's Child" is about the abduction of a young girl named Gemma by a man and woman posing as child care workers. They take Gemma from her negligent and abusive mother who is too ignorant to realize that this couple are a pair of impostors . In addition, a low-class hoodlum is found viciously murdered near an abandoned smelting mill. Are these two events related? Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his colleagues, Superintendent Gristhorpe, Susan Gay and Phil Richmond, combine forces to uncover a cunning plan by a pair of malevolent criminals, one of whom is extremely dangerous and unpredictable. Robinson, as usual, captures the Yorkshire ambiance perfectly. His ear for dialogue is uncanny and he has a remarkable talent for setting a scene perfectly and creating memorable characters. The mystery and its solution are thoroughly satisfying. "Wednesday's Child" is a wonderful and engrossing thriller by a master of the genre.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent Inspector Banks mystery.
Review: Peter Robinson's "Wednesday's Child" is about the abduction of a young girl named Gemma by a man and woman posing as child care workers. They take Gemma from her negligent and abusive mother who is too ignorant to realize that this couple are a pair of impostors . In addition, a low-class hoodlum is found viciously murdered near an abandoned smelting mill. Are these two events related? Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his colleagues, Superintendent Gristhorpe, Susan Gay and Phil Richmond, combine forces to uncover a cunning plan by a pair of malevolent criminals, one of whom is extremely dangerous and unpredictable. Robinson, as usual, captures the Yorkshire ambiance perfectly. His ear for dialogue is uncanny and he has a remarkable talent for setting a scene perfectly and creating memorable characters. The mystery and its solution are thoroughly satisfying. "Wednesday's Child" is a wonderful and engrossing thriller by a master of the genre.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent Inspector Banks mystery.
Review: Peter Robinson's "Wednesday's Child" is about the abduction of a young girl named Gemma by a man and woman posing as child care workers. They take Gemma from her negligent and abusive mother who is too ignorant to realize that this couple are a pair of impostors . In addition, a low-class hoodlum is found viciously murdered near an abandoned smelting mill. Are these two events related? Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his colleagues, Superintendent Gristhorpe, Susan Gay and Phil Richmond, combine forces to uncover a cunning plan by a pair of malevolent criminals, one of whom is extremely dangerous and unpredictable. Robinson, as usual, captures the Yorkshire ambiance perfectly. His ear for dialogue is uncanny and he has a remarkable talent for setting a scene perfectly and creating memorable characters. The mystery and its solution are thoroughly satisfying. "Wednesday's Child" is a wonderful and engrossing thriller by a master of the genre.