Cold is the Grave (Inspector Banks Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Peter Robinson (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Viking Penguin Inc; First Canadian edition (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670893013
• ISBN-13: 978-0670893010
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,189,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Robinson Has Another Winner!, December 10, 2000

By 

P. Bigelow (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cold Is the Grave: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

In this eleventh outing for Inspector Banks, he is asked by his Chief Constable and nemesis to go to London to find the Chief Constable's daughter who ran away from home several months earlier. Locating the daughter is not that difficult, even taking her back to Eastvale is easy. But once she's home a series of events, including several murders, has Banks trying to determine who did what to whom and why. The main suspect is a man who seemingly gets away with any crime to which he puts his mind. Banks is a fortysomething divorced man who is coming to terms with his private life and trying to get his professional life back on track as well, but whose choices that are not the best to succeed at either. Robinson reintroduces Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot, newly transferred to Banks' neck of the woods. As she and Banks unravel the story behind the murders, it is painstaking police work with no leaps of faith or suppressed major clues that appear later in the book and sprung upon an unsuspecting reader. As the clues are discovered,the reader is privy to them. This is police procedural at its best and a great read that you will be loathe to put down. Even if you don't like British procedurals, you should give this series a try. Reading it from the beginning is best since you'll be able to see Banks grow and change from the first in the series to this one.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I love Banks, but this mystery is less than enthralling., October 22, 2000

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cold Is the Grave: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

Any new book featuring one of my favorite detectives, Alan Banks, is always welcome. In "Cold is the Grave," Peter Robinson continues the saga of the brilliant but troubled Banks. Jimmy Riddle, Banks' superior and arch-enemy, reluctantly asks Banks for help in bringing back Riddle's runaway daughter, sixteen-year-old Emily. Banks accommodates Riddle, and he gets embroiled in a very difficult and depressing case. While working on this case, Banks has to cope with the fallout from his rocky marriage to Sandra, his estranged wife. In addition, Banks has to work again with Annie Cabbot, his former girlfriend, with whom he has a strained relationship. The dialogue and the characterizations in this book are as sharp as ever. Unfortunately, "Cold is the Grave" really collapses at the end. Robinson makes the huge mistake of introducing, late in the book, some very unlikely and melodramatic plot points. The ending is extremely hackneyed and unsatisfying. What a shame, since Robinson is capable of terrific writing. His last book, "In a Dry Season," was a masterpiece of detective fiction. I hope that Robinson gets back to top form in his next novel.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must for your Inspector Banks Collection, September 24, 2000

By 

Hank Brownstein (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Is the Grave: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

I found the authors last book In a Dry Season well written and quiet enjoyable. It even won an award from the Mysteries Writers of American. But I found I liked this book even better. So if you read and liked In A Dry Season you will without a doubt like this book. The story kept me interested from the begnning to the end. There wasn't one dull moment in the entire book and as always Inspector Banks was great. Annie Cabbot from the last novel re-enters Inspector Banks life which makes for some interesting situations. A must read for any fan of Inspector Banks. Or for that matter anyone who enjoys a good and solid English police investigation.