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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
If you enjoy longer, more leisurely pace of British mysteries, you'll enjoy this "cold case" mystery.
Great backstory to the case being investigated and also the book in which Banks first meets Annie.
It's getting repetitive for me to say that reading this series out of order is not necessarily a bad thing... but it's also not always a good thing. Here, Banks meets Cabbot for the first time, something that plays a large role in the later books.
I've lived near reservoirs that covered villages and watched the walls and paths reappear as the water levels dropped. Luckily, there have been no bodies buried when the village reappeared! Banks and Cabbot, on the other hand, aren't that lucky. Cabbot because she's on duty in the area that covers Hobb's End (if it were still a village and not flooded) and Banks because a superior officer needs to be sent, and his boss hates him. Who is the dead woman? It's been 40+ years, after all.
As always, Robinson fills this with music and flashbacks to previous books as well as to the events leading up to the murder. The ending is a little surprising, but not completely if you're paying attention. Now I have to figure out which books I haven't read, and finally fill in the blanks.
I've lived near reservoirs that covered villages and watched the walls and paths reappear as the water levels dropped. Luckily, there have been no bodies buried when the village reappeared! Banks and Cabbot, on the other hand, aren't that lucky. Cabbot because she's on duty in the area that covers Hobb's End (if it were still a village and not flooded) and Banks because a superior officer needs to be sent, and his boss hates him. Who is the dead woman? It's been 40+ years, after all.
As always, Robinson fills this with music and flashbacks to previous books as well as to the events leading up to the murder. The ending is a little surprising, but not completely if you're paying attention. Now I have to figure out which books I haven't read, and finally fill in the blanks.
Unaware of the Inspector Banks series, this was the first Peter Robinson book I read. I quickly fell in love with his writing style. He is one of my favorite authors.
Though I inadvertently picked this up in the midst of the series, I truly enjoyed it. I found the premise of the story so interesting: a seasoned detective is assigned to the case because it is *not* considered a plum case. Due to the dry season, the lake reveals the remains of a woman...from decades before. Banks is the right person for the very cold case due to his integrity and dedication to the investigation.
I truly enjoyed getting to know the characters: Inspector Banks and Annie Cabot. Their interactions and revealing conversations ring sincere and authentic. The case was fascinating to me as they must research the post-WWII crime and recreate experiences of the dead woman's life.
This remains one of my favorite books due to the wonderful characters, superb writing, and creative mystery.
Though I inadvertently picked this up in the midst of the series, I truly enjoyed it. I found the premise of the story so interesting: a seasoned detective is assigned to the case because it is *not* considered a plum case. Due to the dry season, the lake reveals the remains of a woman...from decades before. Banks is the right person for the very cold case due to his integrity and dedication to the investigation.
I truly enjoyed getting to know the characters: Inspector Banks and Annie Cabot. Their interactions and revealing conversations ring sincere and authentic. The case was fascinating to me as they must research the post-WWII crime and recreate experiences of the dead woman's life.
This remains one of my favorite books due to the wonderful characters, superb writing, and creative mystery.
I hadn't read any Peter Robinson books and I need to remedy that! Starting with the tenth in the series might not have been the wisest choice, but I really enjoyed it anyway. On to more in the series!
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
I'll be honest. I only read this because there was a skeleton.
I'm a sucker for bones.
But I ended up really liking the characters and always have promised myself that I'd read more in this series.
Five years on and I still haven't got back to Inspector Banks! Better add him to my second-half-of-the-year reading list!
I'm a sucker for bones.
But I ended up really liking the characters and always have promised myself that I'd read more in this series.
Five years on and I still haven't got back to Inspector Banks! Better add him to my second-half-of-the-year reading list!
This book was particularly fascinating from my own point of view. When a body is discovered during a dry summer in a town that was emptied and made part of a reservoir, Banks is told to get out there and investigate. It's supposed to be a punishment. Since I haven't been reading them in order, I don't know what he did, but it really doesn't matter anyway. The body turns out to be that of a woman who was a "Land Girl," one of many young women who left English cities during WWII to work on farms where the son(s) had been called up for duty. Gloria is both beautiful and full of personality and before long falls in love with a young man in the village. They marry shortly after he is told that he is being called up for duty. He came back a ruined man, and it was assumed that she had run away because she couldn't face having to take care of him for the rest of her life. However, as is typical of Peter Robinson, there is far more than meets the eye. The reader gets the benefit of the memories of Gloria's sister-in-law as well, so we know what went on. Not long ago, I saw a series on Netflix called Land Girls, so this book was't even more interesting. This is definitely one of Robinson's best IMO.