In the Dark Places: An Inspector Banks Novel

I pre-ordered this e-book some time ago, excited that there was a new Alan Banks mystery being released in August. Imagine my surprise when I realized from the first page that I had already read it, only under another name 'Abattoir Blues'! I guess I didn't look close enough at the description. Was able to return for refund. It was a good, solid read but don't get caught like I did!

I've enjoyed this series so much and was excited to find one I hadn't read. But this dragged on, like the first 70%. It was many conversations that merely threw around theories but the familiar characters seemed to be bored and a bit irritated with each other.But if I wasn't bored I was horrified at the pages and pages of details about slaughter houses and sadists. I'm not sure exactly how many pages , I kept skipping pages to get past those parts. I don't eat meat for the same reason, I can't take the whole process. Not holier than thou, just my personal choice.I'm usually insanely loyal to beloved series and ready to forgive a less than stellar individual book. But this was boring, the worst sin a book can be! And the characters seemed bored too. You can safely skip this book without losing the thread of the series. I'm hoping this was a temporary lapse.

I've read books by Robinson before and found them to be very smart, very well written books. Especially as authors get farther on in their series, I often find that they get lazy in their writing, and the series tends to peter out. But I don't feel that way with Robinson. I usually remember the books I've read, and according to goodreads I've read this book before. But I sincerely don't remember it, and there is no review on Amazon.com either so I think they are wrong about this.I also disagree with the people who felt this book was too gory. I am currently teaching a cadaver lab, and this book is nothing compared to what I've read/seen in morgue, labs, etc. It's interesting how Robinson is able to write a couple of separate stories involving his characters, and have those stories entertwine as they usually come together to solve crimes.Again, unlike other reviewers I didn't feel like Robinson was on autopilot. If this is his writing on autopilot, I want to be him! There were very new problems built into this book, having to do with rural thievery and the ability to get things over across the Channel quickly to other countries. I'm wondering if this stuff happens in the U.S. I'm sure it does only going down to Mexico or up to Canada. I found the plot to be plausible, and the writing to be enjoyable...and will read more of Robinson in the future.

4 starsDCI Banks is just returning from his holiday abroad and can’t wait to get back to the station.A very expensive tractor has gone missing as well as their main suspect Michael Lane for the taking of the tractor. When the police go to interview his friend Morgan Spencer, they find him gone as well. Then the friend’s caravan is found torched. The suspect’s girlfriend Alex is threatened and doesn’t tell the police because her son Ian has also been threatened.At the same time, at a nearby abandoned air base, a pool of blood and bits of brain and bone are found in one of the hangars.The team feels the two cases are connected, but they don’t know how. Then Morgan Spencer’s body is found at the site of a van crash.After many interviews, much fact chasing and cross-checking their information, the team is now certain that the missing tractor and the missing men are connected. They locate the person responsible for the wounding of Michael’s girlfriend Alex. In the interview room, he wriggles out of any responsibility, but Banks can see that he is nervous.The connections are made and the name of the killer is revealed. All turns out well after an exciting chase scene, and the gang is rounded up.This book gets a little tedious in places. I can’t say it is as outstanding as Mr. Robinson’s previous novels. Perhaps, like another reviewer stated Mr. Robinson is tiring of DCI Banks’ adventures. Although well written and plotted, the novel seems to go on and on. The endless speculation got a little tiring. There is too much talking and not enough action.Nonetheless, I will continue to read Peter Robinson’s novels, as I do very much enjoy them.

Reading, this 22 book in one of my favorite series, the thought flashed through my head. Perhaps, not a profoundly original one, albeit apt. Everything changes, including the mystery books, one of my greatest pleasures. In the last 10, 15 years, everything got quicker, more frantic. Maybe because of the addictive and abusive relationship people these days have with technology, maybe because people have way less patience and read even less. So, we are bombarded with slick, speedy, forgetful concoctions that are hard to tell from another. They are filled to the brim with twists and turns (mostly inane and illogical), and the character development doesn't seem to matter anymore. And here comes Peter Robinson with his amazing characters, deeply thought through logical plots and clever solutions. It saddens me to confess that as much as I enjoyed his writing it does seem to belong to a different era, when rules and facts mattered. In this world of immoral populists and paranoid innuendos that punch us is in the face on daily basis, our friend Peter Robinson and his DCI Banks might seem to be a refuge for those us with different values. Another great book and thanks to this marvelous author for giving us a respite from false prophets and viruses. Just a well told story of people and crimes, another day, another dollar( or in this case another pound).