Cheryl R. (Spuddie) - , reviewed on 3/4/2011 + 412 more book reviews

#15 DCI Alan Banks police procedural set in Yorkshire, UK. Banks, still recovering from the devastating fire at his cottage that almost cost him his life, is on holiday and wondering what to do with his time when he receives a couple of cryptic voicemails from his brother Roy, a wheeling-and-dealing financier in London. Alan and his younger brother are not close and never have been, and they rarely speak on the phone unless there's a problem, so the message--which sounds almost desperate though gives no details--intrigues him. When he tries to reach Roy in response, he's nowhere to be found, so Alan is off to London, where he discovers that Roy has all but disappeared. Knowing that his brother sometimes skated close to the edge of the law in his dealings, Banks decides to try to locate him first through "unofficial" channels lest he get little brother in trouble with the law by opening a missing persons case.

Meanwhile, back in Eastvale, DI Annie Cabbot is dealing with a murder--a young woman shot execution style in the head, left in her car in a ditch along a deserted roadway--and surprise of surprises, she has Alan Banks' name and address scribbled on a piece of paper in her back jeans pocket--but even more intriguingly, it's the address to his burned-out cottage where he hasn't lived for several months. As Annie and Supt. Gristhorpe try to track Banks down (he's left his mobile on the kitchen table at his temporary apartment) and find the connection, Banks investigates Roy's life and begins to finally get to know his little brother.

Robinson's series seems to just get better and better with each entry! I thoroughly enjoyed this one, found it hard to put down with a twisty plot (and even some surprises!), great characters and just the right balance between visceral and cerebral moments. Can't wait to read the next one!

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