Editorial Content for Standing in the Shadows: A DCI Banks Novel
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
I did not want STANDING IN THE SHADOWS to end. Not because of the intricate plotting or the twisty mystery, but because I knew I was holding in my hands Peter Robinson’s last DCI Banks novel. His recent passing not only left a hole in the world of literature, it led to a premature halt to one of the best mystery/thriller series in the business.
In November 1980, university student Nick Hartley returns home from a lecture and is greeted by the police. They question him about Alice Poole, the young woman who lives upstairs from him. Nick admits that he once dated Alice, and it’s obvious that he still holds a torch to her. He is completely blindsided when he is informed that Alice was found murdered that morning.
"STANDING IN THE SHADOWS is textbook Robinson, expertly conceived and suspenseful from start to finish. I will especially miss Banks’ eclectic taste in music, which once again is on display here."
Not only is Nick now a person of interest, he feels that the police are trying to rope him into the current search for the serial killer known locally as the Yorkshire Ripper. Meanwhile, he is convinced that Alice’s new boyfriend, the now-missing Mark Woodcroft, is responsible for her death.
Fast forward to 2019. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his terrific team are called out to an archaeological dig where a human skeleton has been unearthed. This is no ancient artifact, though; it turns out that the remains are much more recent. Readers will make the logical jump that this grisly discovery is connected somehow to Alice’s homicide.
Hartley turned his college degree into a career in journalism. As an active journalist, he has made it his life’s mission to solve Alice’s murder and clear his own name in connection to the case and the still unsolved Yorkshire Ripper killings. This obsession will take him down some deadly roads, not the least of which will involve a highly concerned Banks, who does not appreciate his investigation being tampered with.
Since this is a Peter Robinson novel, readers should be aware of the prerequisite plot twists that may veer the story in unpredictable directions. STANDING IN THE SHADOWS is textbook Robinson, expertly conceived and suspenseful from start to finish. I will especially miss Banks’ eclectic taste in music, which once again is on display here. For the uninitiated, this is a great place to start. I envy your journey as you go back and read the previous 27 books in this unforgettable series.
Teaser
In November 1980, Nick Hartley returns home from a university lecture to find his house crawling with police. His ex-girlfriend, Alice Poole, has been found murdered, and her new boyfriend is missing. Nick is the prime suspect. The case quickly goes cold, but Nick cannot let it go. He embarks on a career in investigative journalism, determined to find Alice’s murderer --- but his obsession leads him down a dangerous path. Decades later, in November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more contemporary than the Roman remains she is seeking. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in to investigate, but there is little to be gleaned from the remains themselves. As the two cases unfurl, the investigations twist and turn to an explosive conclusion.
Promo
In November 1980, Nick Hartley returns home from a university lecture to find his house crawling with police. His ex-girlfriend, Alice Poole, has been found murdered, and her new boyfriend is missing. Nick is the prime suspect. The case quickly goes cold, but Nick cannot let it go. He embarks on a career in investigative journalism, determined to find Alice’s murderer --- but his obsession leads him down a dangerous path. Decades later, in November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more contemporary than the Roman remains she is seeking. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in to investigate, but there is little to be gleaned from the remains themselves. As the two cases unfurl, the investigations twist and turn to an explosive conclusion.
About the Book
The 28th twisting installment in the DCI Alan Banks mystery series that Stephen King calls “the best now on the market.”
In November 1980, Nick Hartley returns home from a university lecture to find his house crawling with police. His ex-girlfriend, Alice Poole, has been found murdered, and her new boyfriend, Mark Woodcroft, is missing. Nick is the prime suspect. The case quickly goes cold, but Nick cannot let it go. He embarks on a career in investigative journalism, determined to find Alice’s murderer --- but his obsession leads him down a dangerous path.
Decades later, in November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more contemporary than the Roman remains she is seeking. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in to investigate, but there is little to be gleaned from the remains themselves. Left with few clues, Banks and his team must rely on their wits to hunt down a killer.
As the two cases unfurl, the investigations twist and turn to an explosive conclusion.
Audiobook available, read by Simon Vance
