In the Dark Places

An Inspector Banks Novel

By: Peter Robinson

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Published in the United Kingdom and Canada as Abattoir Blues

Louise Penny calls In the Dark Places "brilliant." Tess Gerritsen says it's "thrilling." And Michael Connelly describes Peter Robinson as "amazing." One of the world's greatest suspense writers returns with this sensational new novel featuring Inspector Alan Banks, hailed by Michael Connelly as "a man for all seasons."

It's a double mystery: Two young men have vanished, and the investigation leads to two troubling clues in two different locations.

As Banks and his team scramble for answers, the inquiry takes an even darker turn when a truck careens off an icy road in a freak hailstorm. In the wreckage, rescuers find the driver, who was killed on impact, as well as another body—a body that was dead well before the crash.

Snow falls. The body count rises. And Banks, perceptive and curious as ever, feels himself being drawn deeper into a web of crime, and at its center something—or someone—dark and dangerous lying in wait.

Vibrating with tension, ingeniously plotted, and filled with soul and poignancy, In the Dark Places is a remarkable achievement from this masterful talent.

Another Excellent Banks Investigation

Mature Robinson. Elegant and insightful. Robinson entertains as he challenges the reader with troubling social and criminal ills, while advancing the lives of his central characters. Robinson never dips below his high fictional standards.

Feeling rather flat.

This book was overlong and the solution was a bit obvious to me. I suppose, because of this I started to notice things that in other books was just background noise. Such as: almost all of Bank's staff are female, as if Banks couldn't handle any other strong males in his pack. Banks' musing about loneliness, relationships, aging and friendships were pathetic for a man of his age and presumed maturity. Gee wiz, why would a guy whose major requirement for a "relationship" is her willingness to have sex with him not have friends or close family ties. Hum ... What could it be? Mr. Robinson, can't our hero age gracefully and have a meaningful relationship with a member of the opposite sex instead of this shallow, aging shell?
As to the story, the descriptions of the places and weather were very lovely and evocative . I felt along for the ride. But the plot had very few twists and felt formulaic. Most of the characters, other than the old familiars, were stock and one-dimensional.
Perhaps because of many happy hours reading this series my expectations were set too high but this is not the author's best effort.

Engrossing procedural, despite soporific narrator

I love books that describe events which could only take place in that location, at that time, to those people. Alan Banks is back home in Yorkshire, and his team is fighting rural crime on an extraordinary scale. The sense of place is palpable throughout and the characters, from an aging “master of the universe” to a war veteran recovering from disabling injury, are vivid. Robinson gives loving attention to each member of Banks’s CID team, as well. Simon Prebble’s sonorous, languid tones are pleasant, but the lack of variety in characterization, emotion, or pacing left me thinking that a different narrator could have provided so much more. Nevertheless, highly recommended to fans of the tightly-knit modern police procedural.

My kind of mystery!

Recommended by Louise Penney, says much about plot and characters. I missed Penney's ability to draw me into the "world" of the drama. Very little but weather was revealed

One of the best in the series for me

An interesting mystery coupled with engaging characters. More showing than telling this time. One weak spot with the out-of-character note on the desk. But all round satisfying.