Friend of the Devil (Inspector Banks Novels, 17)

Peter Robinson is one of my favorite British mystery writers. I don't think I've missed any of his seventeen Chief Inspector Banks outings. He's a much more conventional copper in the mold of Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford rather than an over the top, non-conformist and alcoholic inspector like Ian Rankin's Rebus, Colin Dexter's Morse or Reginald Hill's fat man, Dalziel. Robinson is a superb storyteller who has been maturing stylistically. He often uses alternate chapters to track different investigators. This book, a sequel to his book "Aftermath," has a brilliant beginning with two murders taking place in different places. One murder is an after-the-pubs-closing rape-murder in an alley maze, and the other is a cliffside killing of a woman in a wheelchair. Banks investigates the rape killing, and Detective Inspector Annie Cabot follows up with the other. The Annie investigation gets needlessly complicated with too many female suspects, and the solution is unsatisfactory and not too plausible or credible. Three-quarters of the book is great, and then it peters out to some extent. Robinson always writes good stories: interesting, involving, neatly presented. Often Banks has to re-interview his suspects which can add to the suspense. Switching back and forth between the two investigations keeps you interested, although Annie's case does become too confusing. As readers we go in a lot of grotty old pubs, learn a great deal about British character, and have fun sorting out all the many suspects. A second murder in the alley maze ties the two cases together but not in a believable way. The team of cops is an interesting part of the story with good individualization of the various officers. Annie gets involved with an immature young stud. Sergeant Templeton is a crude and nasty piece of work. It's a lot of fun to read; it must have been fun to write. A good quote from the book: "Killers who wanted to make statements were like bores at a party, a bugger to shut up until they'd finished what they had to say."

Best enjoyed in the context of his earlier work AFTRMATH, Peter Robinson's FRIEND OF THE DEVIL is a stunning addition to his British police detective series. Not only does the reader glimpse more of the unfolding dynamics between the main characters, but also, the case hearkens back to the past as new murders challenge both the detectives and the reader to look at the past through a different perspective. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot investigate a series of chilling murders. Cabbot investigates a brutal and chilling murder of a parapalegic woman in a wheelchair while Banks investigates the brutal murder and rape of a woman found in The Maze. Although these crimes seem unrelated, the murders provoke both Banks and Cabbot to look into their own histories to past crimes that have touched their lives. The eerie murder of the mysterious woman in the wheelchair haunts the imagination as the detectives ponder the thoughts a woman unable to defend herself or even voice a protest in her last moments. The first layer of clues unraveled is only one layer to this finely constructed suspenseful mystery. When Banks' investigation solves the mystery of one crime detail of the rape and murder, more mysteries emerge. Will the security cameras around the Maze aid or complicate this investigation? Each clue, each new development twists and turns the investigation, keeping the reader in suspense until the final dramatic scene. FRIEND OF THE DEVIL explores the ambiguity in the relationship between Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot. Peter Robinson's unflinching and realistic look into the conflicts in their personal lives add a depth to the characterization as their past chafes and recalls earlier moments and the character's personal weaknesses. In FRIEND OF THE DEVIL, relationships aren't easy or simplistic and, to the reader's delight, neither is the path to catching the perpetrators of these crimes. Precise, sometimes stark descriptive details heighten the terror of these crimes all the way to the shocking climatic end. Chilling, eerie and full of surprises, Peter Robinson's FRIEND OF THE DEVIL gradually builds up a fascinating look into memory, interweaving it into the very thematic structure. Memory underpins this mystery, interwoven within the very core as reminiscences from a former case haunt Banks. Past events present obstacles to personal relationships. Even in the murders themselves, Banks and Cabbot must delve into the memories of witnesses. Quite simply, Peter Robinson's kaleidoscope into memory makes FRIEND OF THE DEVIL a good choice for readers who might crave a little extra to ponder in addition to riveting suspense.

Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot is on work loan to another precinct struggling with a brutal serial killer. The latest victim is a paraplegic woman whose throat was sliced by a nearby but remote cliff. Cabbot is frustrated as she wants to bring the animal to justice, but her investigation seems to be going nowhere. At the same time that Cabbot struggles with the brutal atrocities of a psychopath, at home in North Yorkshire, her sometimes lover Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his unit work a vicious rape and murder case too in the sleazy Maze where no one cooperates with coppers. When Cabbot learns the identity of the paraplegic victim, she connects her investigation to that of Banks; as both realize they are dealing once again with the cruel AFTERMATH of Terry and Lucy Payne. Peter Robinson is at his best with this incredibly exciting English police procedural. The lead pair struggles with their relationship and where it is going while also seemingly going nowhere on their two seemingly separate cases. Readers will want to know what happens professionally and personally as Banks and Cabbot finally realize they are dealing with two perverted demons in human clothes. Harriet Klausner

A quadriplegic woman overlooks the sea unmoving in her wheelchair. Her throat has been slashed. Who would do such a thing to someone so helpless? More importantly why would they do it? Those are the questions that face Annie Cabott in the newest Inspector Banks mystery by Peter Robinson. Along with some disturbances in her personal life, Annie must determine who would take someone unable to communicate away from her caregivers and kill her in such dramatic fashion. Meanwhile, Banks faces a new-school version of the locked door mystery. A young woman has been raped and killed in The Maze - a tangle of narrow alleyways. The footage from a nearby CCTV camera proves no help in determining the killer. This leaves Banks to do what he does best interview witnesses and suspects. I have read all of the previous books in the series and liked all of them. This one has the usual tight plot, wonderful characterizations and interesting use of music that are typical of his work. Robinson is a master of the small observations and details that make even the most supporting characters spring to life. He has a real knack for bringing humanity to the forefront of the story. The mysteries themselves involve people new and old to the series and are resolved by the novel's end. Not all questions are though--just like life hanging threads remain hanging rather than tied in a pretty bow. In general, I think you would enjoy this even if you hadn't read other books in the series, but I do think the experience would be enhanced if you were familiar with some of the major players and their personalities. It would be worth your time and energy to do so anyway.

Aah, to be able to write this well. To make readers lose themselves in a book even before the story has started properly, and in some passages manage to even make a crime story almost poetic. Of course, as a huge fan of Peter Robinson I'm well acquainted with Chief Inspector Alan Banks, DI Annie Cabbot, the rest of the Eastvale police force and the goings on in a small Yorkshire village. But even to first time readers of Robinson, "Friend of the Devil" will prove this author's magic, his unique talent as one of, if not THE best British crime writer today. The Inspector Banks novels have two main story lines. The solving of one - or more - crimes, and bits and pieces from Bank's private life. Not the least his personal relationship with Annie, with whom he is still working on a regular basis. There is however much emotional baggage between the two and obvious that their personal story is far from over. In "Friend of the Devil" two nasty murders are discovered on the same Sunday morning. Banks and Annie are working on one case each. First separately, until Annie is reaching a breakthrough which brings her case in a new and shocking direction - a direction which involves Banks. It soon becomes clear that there are two killers among their midst, ready to strike again at any moment. Some readers may feel that Annie's personal life is taking up too much space in the book. However, being a woman, I must admit that Annie's doings are not without interest, and I am pretty sure that male and female readers may be reacting differently to the part Annie's lovelife is playing in the book. Apart from this, I would hope - and believe - that most readers will find "Friend of the Devil" to be Peter Robinson's finest work until now. With Chief Inspector Banks, Peter Robinson has created a very human and likeable hero, a soft-hearted man in spite of his profession. Bank's choice of literature, music and food, his relationship with his children, his struggle with the aftermath of his marriage - and the complicated feelings for Annie - all add to the picture of an interesting, attractive and complete hero one does not easily tire of. As all books in the Inspector Banks series, "Friend of the Devil" is a book of contrasts. The harsh realism of brutal crimes, the investigators' necessary blocking of feelings in order to fulfill what has to be done, and the humanity behind it all. Whether the pain of the victims' relatives or the personal reaction of police and investigators. Don't miss this nor Robinson's other books. Simply brilliant!