I liked it, but I've already forgotten what it was about. ( )

read anything from this exquisite writer! ( )

This novel follows "Friend of the Devil" and the activities of Chief Inspector Alan Banks and D.I. Annie Cabbott.
The story opens with children finding Mark Hardcastle hung from a tree in the woods near Hardcastle. While attempting to notify next of kin, police find Mark's lover, Laurence Silbert, beaten to death in his home.

While Banks speaks to Silbert's mother, he learns that Silbert was a spook. Later, a person identifying himself as Mr. Browne tells Banks to lay off the investigation. Bank's supervisor also tells him not to persue inquiries into Silbert's past. This fires Banks up and he continues the investigation on his own.

Hardcastle worked at a local theater and a co worker Derek Wyman had a falling out with him. Banks and Annie think Wyman was setting Hardcastle up so that his lover might think he was being two timed.

As always Robinson knows how to tell an excellent story. How will Banks solve this mystery when so many things are against him? How much integrity must this man have to keep on his investigation when everyone tells him to stop and if he continues someone who worked for M6 might feed him to the wolves? Read this dandy and find out. ( )

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1MJDGUD... ( )

There is nothing I love more than a good mystery except, perhaps, a good mystery series. I have several in my library - Maisie Dobbs and Inspector Rutledge are my two current favorites, but I've also been partial to Adam Dagliesh. Inspector Banks, a creation of Canadian author Peter Robinson, ranks highly in my list of must read mystery authors. All of the books are well written and have a nice balance of on the job / off the clock glimpses into the lives of the characters.

All The Colours of Darkness concerns a crime initially ruled a murder-suicide that becomes complicated when it is revealed that one of the dead is a former MI6 agent. Suffice to say that what I enjoyed about this book, and have enjoyed about Inspector Banks in the past, is the lack of clean ending. Often Banks finds himself unsatisfied with the outcome of an investigation (although more often things do tend to be tidy). ATCOD is untidy, ambiguous and leaves you guessing. Great stuff. ( )