Strange Affair

In Strange Affair Inspector Banks continues to mature as a character. In it he has his brilliant moments, his life lessons learned and times "when he just doesn't get it". Meanwhile the plot is absorbing and intricate. One of the nice things about these books is that a new reader can start with any book and understand where Banks's head is at now. I look forward to the next installment.

DI Annie Cabot needs urgently to get hold of her colleague and former lover DI Banks. A woman has been found in a crashed car with a bullet in her head and Banks name and address in her pocket. But he is nowhere to be found. This is because he has left for London in a hurry after received a puzzling but clearly urgent `phone message from his businessman brother Roy. And now Roy too seems to have disappeared. At the time I write this, this almost entirely London-set procedural is the most recent of the Banks series. It is also one of the very best, well written, intriguing and expertly plotted with richly drawn and believable characters. I can recommend it highly and am looking forward to number 16.

Is there no end to the genius of this writer? I have read everything he has ever written and he only gets better. I especially like getting into the lives of his continuing cast of characters. Over the years I have followed Banks from a married man with children, just starting out in the police profession, to a divorced man with various female relationships . We are still in touch with all of his emotions, his taste in music and food and all of the other personal items that make him so real. Each year around this time, I find myself elated to receive his latest and then angry that I have to wait another year for the next. Between Peter Robinson and Ian Rankin, each February and March give me a priceless literary gift.

Strange Affair is the 15th book of the Inspector Banks series, an outstanding series of police procedural crime novels set in Yorkshire, England. In recent books, Banks has suffered some traumatic experiences, particularly at the end of the previous book, Playing With Fire . It seems to me that Peter Robinson has written Strange Affair as a sort of bridge to future Inspector Banks books and is one that will appeal mainly to the devoted fans of the Inspector Banks series. The fire that destroyed his house and put him in hospital 4 months previously has also affected DCI Alan Banks psychologically, sending him into a depression that he has trouble fighting through. When the story opens he is on an extended holiday which is interrupted when he receives a phone call from his brother Roy, who sounds as though he may be in some trouble. Alan and Roy have never been particularly close and Roy has always sailed close to the wind as far as his business dealings were concerned, but when Banks can't get in contact with him, he grows more than a little concerned. With nothing better to do, Banks sets off for London to find out what could make his brother sound so nervous. Back in Yorkshire, DI Annie Cabbott has been called to a murder scene on a quiet stretch of road where a young woman sits in her car, having been shot in the back of the head. It's bad enough find a murder victim on your patch, but is even more perplexing when absolutely no motive can be found for the killing. But the clincher that really attracts Annie's attention is the piece of paper found in the victim's back pocket with Banks' name and address written on it. The bulk of the story takes place in London with Banks' attempting to trace his brothers last known movements and Annie investigating the background of the dead woman. The focus of the story alternates between Banks and Cabbott and it soon becomes apparent that the two cases are connected: it's just a matter of time before the coppers from Yorkshire bump into each other in London. The majority of the books in the Inspector Banks series deals with police solving crimes by following a set of procedures, hence the description police procedural, and a great deal of each book is devoted to the crime itself. While Strange Affair contains an investigation that follows this style, the main focus is on the characters, their pasts and the way they have been affected by them. Banks goes through a re-evaluation of his life thanks to the disappearance of his brother and through the reaction of his parents. Annie brings to mind a couple of failed relationships, in particular her former relationship with Banks and the one that ended disastrously in Playing With Fire. Once Banks' state of mind has balanced itself again we are able to focus on a darn good mystery that ties Roy Banks in with the Yorkshire investigation conducted by Annie Cabbott. From a slow, careful and rather introspective beginning the story swells to an outstanding con