Richard M. (algernon99) - , reviewed on 3/29/2007 + 418 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Peter Robinson's Alan Banks series is under-appreciated. Banks is a police detective in mid-Yorkshire. He's a decent guy, fairly normal, moderately intelligent, and gifted at following twisted, complex trails to find the criminals.

This story involves finding the bones of a murder victim thirty-five years after his unsolved disappearance took place. At time, the victim was one of the teenaged Banks' best friends.

At the same time, another teenage boy has disappeared in current time. Banks is involved in both investigations in different ways--he's assigned to the current murder, and he helps out as an interested party in the investigation of the older crime.

Robinson skillfully intertwines the two stories as Banks and his associates in two cities separately work through the web of clues, false trails, hints, and facts to find the both killers.

Along the way, we learn a great deal about English life, including the ever-present class struggles and animosity, crime, and daily life in both the mid-60s and now.

I recommend all of Robinson's books, including this one. It's thoughtful, pleasant reading that exercises your intellect just enough to keep you thoroughly awake while watching an expert detective do his job. (It also helps to be of an age with Banks--his meandering through his memories of his friend 35 years ago in the 60s includes a lot of references to the music of the time, which was important to me in those days, too.)

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