A Dedicated Man (Inspector Banks Mysteries)

Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and is the author of a number of previous novels featuring Inspector Banks. He is the winner of numerous awards in the United States, Britain and Canada, and in 2002 he won the CWA Dagger in the Library. As I also come from Leeds the background to his stories is something that I have experienced first hand and because of this I have a special affection for his books. However they would be first class crime fiction wherever they were based. The body of a well-liked and equally well respected local historian is found partially buried under of all things a drystone wall, close to the small village of Helmthorpe, Swaindale. Why would anyone want to murder a quiet unassuming man? Funnily enough several people seem to be in the frame for the killing. Penney Cartwright, a folk singer with a somewhat murky past, a shady land developer and Harry's own editor, plus a local thriller writer. All of these characters play some part in Harry's past life. A life full of wonderful summers in the dale. A young girl, Sally Lumb seems to know more than she is letting on and her knowledge could put her and others in danger. Inspector Banks is certainly going to have his work cut out with this case.

In a small Yorkshire town, a retired academic is murdered. Who could have done it: his wife, his publisher, one or other of his three regular drinking companions, the young woman friend who insists she was not his lover? Hard to say, especially as the victim seems to have been universally like by all. Inspector Banks is baffled for a while. Only Sally, a sharp-witted local teenager, thinks she may have an idea. This is the second novel in this series and it's the second I've read. I'll certainly read some more. It's a highly satisfying, very traditional English whodunit and thoroughly good fun.

When Harry Steadman is murdered, Inspector Alan Banks and his officers are called in to find the killer. Because the murdered man was a genial professor, Banks has a great deal of difficulty finding anyone who might be a suspect. Everyone seemed to genuinely like Harry Steadman. When a young girl is murdered because of what she knows, the search intensifies and when the murderer is unmasked, everyone is stunned. The second mystery in Peter Robinson's series features an interesting mystery and an appealing main character.

Peter Robinson is that most rare of mystery writers. He is not satisfied with a corpse, a detective and some clues. Robinson creates a complete world with three-dimensional characters who come alive for the reader. In "A Dedicated Man," the shrewd and dogged Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks investigates the death of Harry Steadman. Harry was a former university professor, a man with no enemies who studied local history for fun. Yet someone hated Harry enough to brutally murder him and dump his body in the Yorkshire dales. For quite a while, Banks is completely stymied. He questions Harry's widow and his small circle of friends, but Banks makes little progress. Only after relentless digging and after the death of a second victim does Banks come up with the solution to the crime. It turns out that Harry's life and those of his friends are not as straightforward and uncomplicated as they had at first seemed. What is wonderful about Robinson is that he makes police work look as tedious and difficult as it really is. It is clear that without relentless and time-consuming detective work on the part of Banks and his colleagues, they would solve few crimes. Robinson, along with Rendell and James, is a superb writer of novels that also happen to be first-rate mysteries.

Fans of Peter Robinson's "Inspector Banks" mysteries will not be disappointed in "A Dedicated Man." The author presents us with another host of interesting characters, any of which could be the evil-doer. The most complex of all is Banks, and we are given more insights into his psyche and his home life. Robinson's wonderful descriptions of Yorkshire and its people make me feel as though I were there, having a pint in the local. This is a very good story that keeps you guessing to the very end why anyone would want to kill "The Dedicated Man." I highly recommend this to new readers of the Banks mysteries as well as to the already addicted reader.