Friend of the Devil

This book loses one star because it uses the same pattern as the last two: Annie and Banks are off investigating two different murders which, surprise, surprise, merge into one case.

The good side is that the book still holds some shocks and has that unique version of reality that operates in a written text but not in real life. This is a cracking piece of fun and, as in all the best whodunnits, I solved the case two pages before our detectives. It takes skill, on the part of the author, to arrange things thus.

Once again we have two separate murder investigations going on here. In my opinion, his writing gets better with each book. So far there are currently 23 DCI Banks books out and I’m on a mission to catch up with the series. Then I can eagerly await publication of the newest book in the future.

This book, Friend of the Devil, is number 17 in the series.

DI Annie Cabbot has been loaned out to neighboring police force but she is in touch with Eastvale Police as the two investigations appear to relate to one another.

Alan Banks is paired with obnoxious DS Kevin Templeton and one of my new favorite characters, Winsome Jackman. Winsome is a 6 foot black female detective hailing from Jamaica. You can imagine the stir she causes in the quiet show more Yorkshire dales since they’ve never had any ethnicity in the police force before.

In Banks’ investigation we have a collage-aged drunken female who was found raped and murdered in The Maze. There are many suspects but the murderer wasn’t who I thought it would be. Great job of keeping that a mystery up until the end. I wish he had written about the murdered girl’s family again though, see them have closure.

Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot’s investigation involves a wheel-chair bound woman who had her throat slit. Why would anyone want to harm a paraplegic? That is revealed, as well as a blast-from-the-past from a previous book, when they discover the murderer in this case.

At the 60% mark there was a huge twist and surprise! As always what I love about Alan Banks is the dedication to the job as well as his personal life interests of literature, music and food. Reading some reviews there are folks who only want the murder investigation and have zero interest in the personal life and loves of our detectives. I like the balance of knowing who these people are when they aren’t working. It makes them more rounded characters for me.

There was quite a bit of food mentioned in this book as many discussions take place in a pub. At one point Banks meet someone in a wine bar and enjoyed a good wine and baked brie with toasted baguette. Yorkshire puddings, sausages, vegetarian meals, Black Sheep ales and more. show less

As "Friend of the Devil" opens, a woman in a wheelchair is found dead on a cliff, her throat slit. At about the same time, a young woman’s body is found raped and murdered in Eastvale’s “Maze,” a warren of alleys in the heart of the city. DI Annie Banks, on loan to another police unit, is assigned to the first case; DCI Alan Banks the second. What Annie finds out about the woman in the wheelchair, and what Alan learns concerning the behaviour of a murderer, eventually intersect to result in an explosive secret…. "Friend of the Devil" is the 17th Inspector Banks mystery, and the first to hark back directly to an earlier novel, in this case the 12th entry, "Aftermath." It also intersects with a stand-alone novel, "Caedmon’s show more Song" in terms of background, so there’s a lot to digest in this book. I found Annie’s behaviour especially worrisome this time around, but I’m hoping she’ll come to her senses eventually; and as ever, Banks is a thoughtful and intriguing character, one the reader enjoys getting to know. Recommended - but read the series in order, otherwise you’ll be entirely lost with this one! show less

When Karen Drew is found sitting in her wheelchair staring out to sea with her throat cut one chilly morning, DI Annie Cabbot, on loan to Eastern Area, gets lumbered with the case. Back in Eastvale, that same Sunday morning, 19-year-old Hayley Daniels is found raped and strangled in the Maze, a tangle of narrow alleys behind Eastvale's market square, after a drunken night on the town with a group of friends, and DCI Alan Banks is called in.

Banks finds suspects galore, while Annie seems to hit a brick wall--until she reaches a breakthrough that spins her case in a shocking and surprising new direction, one that also involves Banks. Then another incident occurs in the Maze which seems to link the two cases in a bizarre and mysterious show more way. As Banks and Annie dig into the past to uncover the deeper connections, they find themselves also dealing with the emotional baggage and personal demons of their own relationship. And it soon becomes clear that there are two killers in their midst, and that at any moment either one might strike again.

Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks novels are among the best detective fiction in the world, and their multi-layered stories continue to surprise, engross, thrill, and delight readers. Friend of the Devil is a superb showcase of how deftly he balances horror with humour, police procedures with the nuances of all-too-human emotions, and endings with the promise of new starts. Once again, Robinson transcends the usual limits of the genre in this dazzling novel about the obsessive power of vengeance. show less

Take this review with a grain of salt. Why do I say that? Because I did something I never do—I jumped into the middle of a long-established series without reading any of the prior books. And it was really obvious that I’d missed a lot. It was almost as if the novel’s strengths had become weaknesses for me. The characters were so complex that I couldn’t catch up on their history through a few paragraphs of exposition. Likewise, the British setting was so realistic that I found myself struggling to figure out the police officers' jobs and hierarchy, as well as to decipher the meaning of slang and pop culture references. I feel so American, LOL.

The novel has two protagonists. Annie Cabbott is a homicide detective in crisis. Her show more current state does not make her especially likeable, and I find myself wondering how she became the mess she is. Currently she’s on temporary loan to another city, taking her away from familiar surroundings. Personally, she’s drinking like a fish and having ill-advised sexual liaisons. Professionally, she’s investigating the murder of a presumably harmless, helpless quadriplegic. Although, as my phrasing suggests, there’s more to the case than first meets the eye.

The other major character is Alan Banks. Where Annie is in crisis, Alan is at a turning point. He is also investigating a homicide, a violent sex crime with a 19-year-old victim. The narrative jogs back and forth between the investigations of these two cases, which was a little challenging at times. It’s a lot of names and details to keep track of. And being a somewhat more realistic procedural, you really get a feel for the frustration and drudgery of looking at the same clues, statements, and details over and over, trying to see something new. Trying to find a new trail to follow. Trying to see what you’ve previously missed.

Eventually, it begins to seem that these two disparate cases may be linked somehow. I was gratified that the author didn’t rely on too improbable a coincidence to explain this. The resolutions to the crimes were both sad and satisfying. The novel ended quite abruptly after the murders had been solved, leaving me wanting a little more dénouement. And as challenging as it had been to figure out the characters' past based on clues in the text, I was left very much wanting to know what would happen to them next. While I doubt I’ll invest the effort into reading a lengthy backlist, I have a feeling I may be reading the next book in this series. What more can an author ask; I appear to be hooked. show less

This is the 17th book in my beloved DCI Banks series. As usual, it was well-written with a plot that moves along at a reasonably fast pace. In this book we have Banks working on a rape and murder that occurred really close to his police headquarters, and we have DI Annie Cabbott working from another police station and she's trying to find the murderer of a quadriplegic woman. Who would slit the throat of a quadriplegic woman who hasn't even been able to speak for years? Annie digs deeper and discovers a whole secret life for this victim, and the suspect pool incrases exponentially. Eventually these two separate investigations appear to be linkied somehow, so Banks and Annie work together to try to solve them both. I love Robinson's show more writing. He is methodical and his character development is thorough and complete. After 17 books, I have really come to like Robinson's characters. And he always winds everything up in the end and leaves no loose ends. Another good entry in this very strong series. show less

A quadriplegic woman overlooks the sea unmoving in her wheelchair. Her throat has been slashed. Who would do such a thing to someone so helpless? More importantly why would they do it? Those are the questions that face Annie Cabott in the newest Inspector Banks mystery by Peter Robinson. Along with some disturbances in her personal life, Annie must determine who would take someone unable to communicate away from her caregivers and kill her in such dramatic fashion.

Meanwhile, Banks faces a new-school version of the locked door mystery. A young woman has been raped and killed in The Maze - a tangle of narrow alleyways. The footage from a nearby CCTV camera proves no help in determining the killer. This leaves Banks to do what he does show more best interview witnesses and suspects.

I have read all of the previous books in the series and liked all of them. This one has the usual tight plot, wonderful characterizations and interesting use of music that are typical of his work. Robinson is a master of the small observations and details that make even the most supporting characters spring to life. He has a real knack for bringing humanity to the forefront of the story.

The mysteries themselves involve people new and old to the series and are resolved by the novel's end. Not all questions are though--just like life hanging threads remain hanging rather than tied in a pretty bow.

In general, I think you would enjoy this even if you hadn't read other books in the series, but I do think the experience would be enhanced if you were familiar with some of the major players and their personalities. It would be worth your time and energy to do so anyway. show less