Gallows View

By: Peter Robinson

Narrated by: Mark Honan

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Former London policeman Alan Banks relocated to Yorkshire seeking some small measure of peace. But depravity and violence are unfortunately not unique to large cities. His new venue, the quaint little village of Eastvale, seems to have more than its fair share of malefactors---among them a brazen Peeping Tom who hides in night's shadows spying on attractive, unsuspecting ladies as they prepare for bed.

When an elderly woman is found brutally slain in her home, Chief Inspector Banks wonders if the voyeur has increased the awful intensity of his criminal activities. But whether related or not, perverse local acts and murderous ones are combining to profoundly touch Banks's suddenly vulnerable personal life, forcing a dedicated law officer to make hard choices he'd dearly hoped would never be necessary.

©2009 Peter Robinson (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An extremely well-fashioned police procedural." ( The New York Times Book Review)

Easy and relaxing

I so enjoyed this- lots of mild humor; good relationships- great style- no gore. My cup of tea

Good intro to what I hope is a fine series

There is promise in this book but it feels a touch old-fashioned in its sensibility, with all the discussions of smoking in buildings, men debating women’s lib, etc. That said, it could grow. I will give it another chance!

Love the book, but the not the performance

DCI Banks is a great character. I am always disturbed by the fact that his physical description does not at all fit the actor who portrayed him in the BBC versions, but nonetheless, he is an engaging character whose personal and inner life provide a good counterpoint to the stories of crime and detection. I found the narrator's super deep voice not the best choice for Banks, and he does not do well on reading many of the other characters, especially the female ones. I found these issues detracted from the overall impression, but still I enjoyed listening to the book.

Don't let narration scare you off

There's a lot of negative comments on the narration. Don't let that distract you from the story.

If you've come to DCI Banks after seeing the adaption on BBC, you likely have a predisposition to what the character of Banks should be. But, the TV image doesn't necessarily sync with the author's physical description. However, Banks' intuition, character qualities, and investigative excellence come through.

The background settings are well described, and character development is well done. The story moves along well.

Very enjoyable. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Great

I’m a retired detective so I love reading/listening to stories such as this from different countries. This one really gave the feel of a realistic detective solving a crime without being superhuman.

Good enough by the end

A decent series but not keen on the narrator. I may try one more to see if the characters become more interesting. At this point, Banks seems the only one with any depth and I am not particularly drawn to him.

Gallows view

At first I wasn’t sure I liked it. Kind of hooked me after that. I’m glad I listened to it. I may have put it down If it wasn’t an audible.

Excellent reading except for one little thing.

Good and reading story but the constant sniffing was offputting. I kept anticipating the sniffs

Great Police Procedural, First in Series

Peter Robinson really got my attention after picking and reading a very Suspenseful Mystery Novel, called "After the Poison," I wanted more and found that he had a Crime/Detective Series around Detective Alan Banks. I read this quite a good while back.

I liked getting to meet this personality and his interesting co-workers and relationships. There's just enough depth and complexity in them with promise of more. Great sense of detail without being wordy. Multiple cases and sub-stories unfold rapidly. Robinson began here in 2008. This got me started looking forward to and as much interested in following the aging and life of DCI Alan Banks & Co. Also love learning about the geography, people/culture of Yorkshire Dales. Not the depth of "Before the Poison," but a breezy read that is still filling.

Not as good as some of the later novels

I've read a couple of the later Inspector Banks books already, so this one was a bit of a disappointment because it was not quite as polished, but still a good and worthwhile read. I'll be carrying on with the series. I found the female characters in this story to be rather stereotypical and weak, and somewhat superficial. I don't find that to be the case with later novels, so I am glad I read some of those first.