Children of the Revolution

February 10, 2014
In Edgar-finalist Robinson’s absorbing 21st novel featuring Det. Chief Insp. Alan Banks (after 2013’s Watching the Dark), Gavin Miller lives in poverty-stricken isolation after allegations of sexual misconduct cost him his job as a college lecturer. Yet when his battered body is found near a disused Yorkshire railway track, he has £5,000 in his pocket. Believing the money came from drug sales or blackmail, Banks and his team investigate both the recent misconduct charges and Miller’s college days decades earlier. Banks quickly uncovers a link between the victim and Lady Veronica Chalmers, once a Marxist rebel and now a successful romance novelist and aunt to the probable next home secretary. Robinson excels at connecting his detectives’ personal stories to the investigation, endowing familiar characters with fresh nuance and depth. Impeccable pacing fleshes out Miller’s tragic life and unravels the killer’s motive. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency.

March 15, 2014

Robinson's latest Inspector Banks mystery (after Watching the Dark) features the ever-intriguing detective investigating the death of a former college instructor. The body is discovered on railway tracks underneath a bridge, and the victim has a large amount of money still in his pocket. The circumstances suggest blackmail to Banks, who proceeds to dig into the dead man's past for clues. Robinson's sympathetic portrayal of the victim, Gavin Miller, depicts a man without family and with few friends, whose welfare is treated with casual disregard even by those closest to him. Banks instinctively senses that more information about Miller's life and character will lead the police to the killer. Intertwined with the story are more decisions and personal issues for the popular DI; he is considering a promotion that, if accepted, will make changes to his future plans. Unfortunately, his falling once again for a much younger woman will irritate some readers, as Banks's repeated affairs with various young women erode his appeal. VERDICT Fans of mystery and suspense will enjoy this excellent story from an award-winning author. [See Prepub Alert, 10/20/13.]--Linda Oliver, MLIS, Colorado Springs

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Starred review from March 1, 2014
Robinson's long-running and best-selling Inspector Banks series, now spanning more than 20 novels, has won a clutch of awards, including France's Grand Prix de Litt'rature Polici're and Sweden's Martin Beck awards, along with nominations for Edgar and Agatha awards. Detective Chief Inspector Banks, the artsy and melancholic Yorkshire detective, and his snarky sidekick, Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot, are consistently fun to watch, whether you just drop in on this series or have seen the shifts in their relationship from the beginning. Robinson writes police procedurals in which the latest forensic science enhances, while still taking a back seat to, the basic arts of detection; Banks is clearly on the side of old-fashioned discovery of motive and opportunity, and his questioning of suspects is wonderful to witness. This time the body of a former university lecturer is found on the tracks of an abandoned railroad track in North Yorkshire. The man has been living hand to mouth since his dismissal on charges of sexual misconduct several years before. The scene reads as a suicide, except to Banks, who suspects that the 5,000 pounds left in the man's pocket and his recent reaching out to militant college contacts from the 1970s may point to a more complicated story. As usual with a Banks novel, the chief inspector's frictions with higher-ups are nearly as gripping as the unraveling of the case itself. First-rate procedural and character study. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: An A-list staple, Robinson's Inspector Banks series has a devoted following, especially in libraries, and this is one of the series' highlights.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)