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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
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.
These are my comments from a bookgroup discussion of this book which is why they probably seem a bit decontextified.....
(Comparing Robinson's use of flashbacks to Robert Crais's in LA Requiem) I prefer Robinson's use of flashbacks, they're telling the same story from a different angle. They are almost not flashbacks at all. I feel there are three intertwined stories that are really the same story. I find them much easier to read than Crais's. When Crais switched to italics and switched from first to third person I felt it was jarring. Even though Robinson switches from first to third person too, I feel the transistions are smoother. Even though Robinson almost always leaves us with a mini cliffhanger as he switches tales I'm happy to get back to one of the other stories and find out what's happening there.
(Comparing Robinson's use of flashbacks to Reginald Hill's in On Beulah Height) I read that quite a while ago now. I don't feel Robinson is up to Hill's standard as a writer, but I do feel he weaves the plot together more than competently and am seeing parallels between what happens in one story and what happens in another. It's not of the same standard as Hill's interwoven plot in _On Beulah Height_ though, I think that book was a masterpiece of plotting, and though I haven't finished _In a Dry Season_ yet, I think the weaving is of a more superficial variety here. I may yet be proven wrong but the book hasn't grabbed me in the way OBH did.
I agree that the hostile superior officer is a bit of a yawny cliche, I kind of skipped over that in the book thinking 'yeah yeah yeah, do something new....'. But I didn't realise that I was reading part of a series until I read the other discussion messages here. I can't find anything in my copy that implies that there are earlier books to be read. If I'd picked this book up by myself I'd be a bit pissed off if I later discovered I'd started in the middle of a series unknowingly. Is this an 'Alan Banks' series then?
In which case I'm quite impressed with Robinson for not making me feel I was in the middle of a series. Banks seemed to be a well rounded character to me, he didn't seem to be wallowing in his problems and they seemed realistic sort of problems. He seemed real and I thought his family problems fleshed out his character nicely without becoming the focus of the book.
All the characters in the book in fact seemed quite realistic, flawed but not larger than life with it. I liked Annie and Gwen too, everyone seems very down to earth.
On the whole the book does come over as very real to me, I'm enjoying all the information there is, whether it's about examining old bones or the onset of more rationing or life in the police force, I haven't yet noticed anything that seemed wholly unlifelike.
(Comparing Robinson's use of flashbacks to Robert Crais's in LA Requiem) I prefer Robinson's use of flashbacks, they're telling the same story from a different angle. They are almost not flashbacks at all. I feel there are three intertwined stories that are really the same story. I find them much easier to read than Crais's. When Crais switched to italics and switched from first to third person I felt it was jarring. Even though Robinson switches from first to third person too, I feel the transistions are smoother. Even though Robinson almost always leaves us with a mini cliffhanger as he switches tales I'm happy to get back to one of the other stories and find out what's happening there.
(Comparing Robinson's use of flashbacks to Reginald Hill's in On Beulah Height) I read that quite a while ago now. I don't feel Robinson is up to Hill's standard as a writer, but I do feel he weaves the plot together more than competently and am seeing parallels between what happens in one story and what happens in another. It's not of the same standard as Hill's interwoven plot in _On Beulah Height_ though, I think that book was a masterpiece of plotting, and though I haven't finished _In a Dry Season_ yet, I think the weaving is of a more superficial variety here. I may yet be proven wrong but the book hasn't grabbed me in the way OBH did.
I agree that the hostile superior officer is a bit of a yawny cliche, I kind of skipped over that in the book thinking 'yeah yeah yeah, do something new....'. But I didn't realise that I was reading part of a series until I read the other discussion messages here. I can't find anything in my copy that implies that there are earlier books to be read. If I'd picked this book up by myself I'd be a bit pissed off if I later discovered I'd started in the middle of a series unknowingly. Is this an 'Alan Banks' series then?
In which case I'm quite impressed with Robinson for not making me feel I was in the middle of a series. Banks seemed to be a well rounded character to me, he didn't seem to be wallowing in his problems and they seemed realistic sort of problems. He seemed real and I thought his family problems fleshed out his character nicely without becoming the focus of the book.
All the characters in the book in fact seemed quite realistic, flawed but not larger than life with it. I liked Annie and Gwen too, everyone seems very down to earth.
On the whole the book does come over as very real to me, I'm enjoying all the information there is, whether it's about examining old bones or the onset of more rationing or life in the police force, I haven't yet noticed anything that seemed wholly unlifelike.
Long and a bit slow but so worth when I reached the end and the truth was told. I've always preferred and enjoyed more the earlier Banks books as compared to the recent ones. This title was the one I haven't been able to find and I'm so glad I was finally able to read this. This makes me want to reread the early books again.
עוד מותחן על רצח מחריד בעיירה קרתנית שתושביה מסתירים סודות.
לצערי לא מדובר באחד מהמותחנים המעולים והמעניינים שבהם. משעמם ונשכח לחלוטין.
לצערי לא מדובר באחד מהמותחנים המעולים והמעניינים שבהם. משעמם ונשכח לחלוטין.
Charming juxtaposition between two different moments in time. Inspector Banks does not disappoint.
I think this is Peter Robinson's best. I especially like its ending.
Two thumbs up.
Two thumbs up.
Another DCI Banks police procedural. In this a body is discovered in a dried up reservoir which when flooded concealed a village in north Yorkshire.
In this Robinson effectively writes two books in the one volume as Gwen Shackleton writes her memoirs that cover a time towards the end of the second world when she meets her future sister in law.
Once more Robinson slowly builds the plot and the relationships between Banks, his family and work colleagues and In A Dry Season we are introduced to Anne Cabot.
One thing I did notice, in making one of the characters a successful crime writer it allowed Robinson to have a dig at crime writers. It turns out Banks is not fond of the crime novel as writers get the procedure the police have to follow wrong.
Robinson better not do that in the future or he could be disliked by his own creation.
In this Robinson effectively writes two books in the one volume as Gwen Shackleton writes her memoirs that cover a time towards the end of the second world when she meets her future sister in law.
Once more Robinson slowly builds the plot and the relationships between Banks, his family and work colleagues and In A Dry Season we are introduced to Anne Cabot.
One thing I did notice, in making one of the characters a successful crime writer it allowed Robinson to have a dig at crime writers. It turns out Banks is not fond of the crime novel as writers get the procedure the police have to follow wrong.
Robinson better not do that in the future or he could be disliked by his own creation.
This was my first experience of this author, and I really enjoyed it, definitely a series of books I will look in to reading after this. I thought the story was really well balanced, with the present and past fitting together nicely and a fascinating and interesting look at wartime without feeling too historical, and with roots in present day to make it feel modern. Drama and great characters, thouroughly enjoyed it.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated