Cold in the Grave [Hardcover]

Peter Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

The nude photo of a teenage runaway shows up on a pornographic website, and the girl's father turns to Detective Chief Inspector Alan banks for help. But these are typical circumstances, for the runaway is the daughter of a man who's determined to destroy the dedicated Yorkshire policeman's career and good name. Still it is a case that strikes painfully home, one that Banks—a father himself—dares not ignore as he follows it's squalid trail into teeming London, and into a world of drugs, sex, and crime. But murder follows soon after—gruesome ,sensational, and, more than once—pulling Banks in a direction that he dearly does not wish to go: into the past and private world of his most powerful enemy, Chief Constable Jimmy Riddle.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This 11th book about Yorkshire police officer Alan Banks is disappointing after 1999's Edgar-nominee, In a Dry Season, but contains enough elements of the familiar formula to satisfy dedicated fans. DCI Banks, his romance with police colleague Annie Cabbot having cooled off, is seriously thinking of asking his wife, Sandra, to end their separation and give the marriage another try. He's also applied to the National Crime Squad to escape his loathsome boss, Chief Constable Riddle. But just as Banks is packing for a weekend train jaunt to Paris, the wretched Riddle calls to ask a favor. Riddle's nine-year-old son, snooping around on the Internet, has come upon a naked picture of his 16-year-old sister, Emily, who ran away from home and disappeared into the London drugs and smut cesspool. Despite their mutual hatred, BanksArealizing what it took for Riddle to ask for his help in finding the girlAjust can't refuse. This part of the story works well; Robinson makes no attempt to soften the nastiness of the stupid, resentful and politically ambitious Riddle or the apparent coldness of Riddle's wife. But things begin to get more complicatedAand less believableAwhen the powerful London criminal with whom Emily has been living appears to be implicated in murder and business fraud in Yorkshire. Too many plot coincidences and clich?s (a man is described as being "bald as a coot" twice) finally work against Robinson's greatest strength: his ability to keep Banks an interesting, realistic and changing human being. Agent, Dominick Abel. 6-city author tour. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The latest installment in the Alan Banks series, and the sequel to the Edgar-nominated In A Dry Season [BKL Mr 15 99], again expands the boundaries of the traditional English village with Robinson's canny exploration of contemporary evil and his wry characterization of a detective who remains a mystery to himself. Chief Inspector Alan Banks, whose children he admits to ignoring until their problems grew too great, finds his domestic situation of estranged wife, rogue son, and rebellious teen daughter looking rosy compared to that of his archenemy and boss, Chief Constable Riddle. Six months after Riddle's 16-year-old daughter, Emily, ran away from a posh boarding school, her younger brother discovers her, naked, on a pornographic Web site. Despite his longstanding detestation of Banks, Riddle begs him to find out what has become of his daughter. Banks must investigate as a private citizen, because of Riddle's fears for his own reputation, complicating his tour of the London high-end drug world that Emily now inhabits. Banks discovers the precariousness of Emily's position in her new life and, more disturbingly, the grotesque truth behind a facade of perfect family life. A cunningly constructed plot, enhanced by Robinson's engaging descriptions and insights. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 599 pages
• Publisher: Magna Large Print Books (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750518731
• ISBN-13: 978-0750518734
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)

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
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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.