Customer Reviews

Hanging Valley: An Inspector Banks Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Peter Robinson has turned into a first-rate mystery writer. But he certainly wasn't when he wrote this in 1989. No amount of gorgeous Yorkshire scenery can make up for an uninteresting cast of one-dimensional characters and an abrupt. out-of-left-field ending. Skip this atypical entry and read his later Inspector Banks books --they're first rate and well deserving of all the acclaim and slew of awards he's won. This isn't.

The fourth book in Robinson's Inspector Banks series finds DCI Banks investigating the discovery of a decomposing, maggot-ridden corpse near a little village in the Yorkshire countryside. A possible connection with past events comes to light - an unsolved murder and the simultaneous disappearance of a local woman 5 years ago.

On the trail of the killer, Banks finds himself frustrated by the reticence of the local villagers, and it is clear that they know much more than they are letting on. When all the evidence points towards a Canadian connection, Banks heads to Toronto, where he makes a number of startling discoveries. Banks returns to Yorkshire with the mystery mostly pieced together. Unfortunately, the novel ends rather unexpectedly and almost anti-climatically, with little sense of closure.

The novel features an unnecessarily large cast of mostly one-dimensional characters, at the expense of already established characters. We do see more of Banks' superior, Superintendent Gristhorpe, and the interaction between them is fascinating. Unfortunately, Banks' family is relegated to the background, and their rare appearances serve only as a reminder that Banks has a family, rather than showing any meaningful interaction.

What frustrated me more were the 80-odd pages that Robinson devotes to Banks' trip to Toronto. A Torontonian myself (as is Robinson), I typically enjoy books that are set in Toronto - in this case, unfortunately, it turned out to be a major turn off. Robinson goes into almost excruciating detail describing the highlights of the city - it almost seems that the only reason Banks goes to Toronto is to give Robinson a chance to wax poetical about the city!

Finally, after tolerating a slew of in-jokes and stereotypical "Canadian-isms", I was practically eyeing the book with distaste. I was greatly relieved when Banks returns to his native England ("the old country" as Robinson puts it countless times).

All in all, The Hanging Valley falls short of expectations. As part of the series, it is an interesting book to read. I'd recommend it only to those who are willing to read anything starring DCI Banks (or those who want a detailed description of Toronto!).

I liked this story by Peter Robinson. I have listened to most of them. After listening to the latest ones, I started with the very first one and am now up to Book 5. It is interesting to see how the writer has aged Banks and his family over the last 20 years. The writer and Banks have aged together and it seems they witnessed the world thru every changing eyes. Nothing is static. Great books. I would love to see movies of Inspector Banks, and have heard there was one filmed for the BBC, but not available in the US.

I've read the two most recent books in this series and found this one to be the earliest that was available at my library.Although I missed the later members of the good inspector's investigative team, this is still a well told story. I especially enjoyed how the character of Katie Greenock, an unhappily married woman who was raised by a very strict and putitanly religioous grandmother is portrayed, and she does become a very important part of the puzzle with the information she's withholding. The second part of the book deals with Alan Banks' trip to Canada searching for a missing woman who also holds very important information pertaining to the recent murder being investigated and also to an earlier unsolved slaying which might be connected. Robinson keeps this trip from slowing things down by interspersing Banks' Canadian investigation with events going on in the English village.With only a small field of suspects, the revelation of the murderer isn't a great surprise. That of couse is a disappointment. Also, the ending is quite abrupt and shocking, especially if one hasn't been payng close attention to the stability or lack thereof two principle characters.Not the best that I've read but still quite worth your reading if you enjoy other books in the series.

One morning, a solitary walker finds a body in a quiet valley below the village of Swainsdale. The corpse clearly displays signs of a gruesome [demise]- it's as good as faceless - and has apparently lain undiscovered for quite a while. Enter Chief Inspector Alan Banks, straight into an investigation that is already appearing to be dead in the water. No one has any idea who the victim is, or how he got there. Not Sam or Katie Greenock, the couple who run the local guesthouse. Not Freddie Metcalfe, landlord of the local pub. And not either of the Collier brothers, Stephen or Nicholas, the most wealthy family in the area.

Then, a curious lead emerges that could help the identify the body, as well as link this crime to another unsolved murder in the area five years before...

My, what a good series this is. If you want a contemporary British police mystery with its grounding in the traditional aspects of detective novels, then these early Inspector Banks books really are the place to look. And The Hanging Valley is the best one so far. The plot is excellent. I couldn't really have asked for more from this sort of book. The pacing is great, and there is even a wonderfully interesting trip to Toronto for Banks (investigating a possible lead) which really gives the story a fresh kick. The ending, also, is absolutely excellent, and the final page or so is shocking, taking the book far above more run-of-the-mill traditional British mysteries. I may be in wrong, but I suspect that the finale of this book was really when the series "grew up".

The writing is of an exemplary standard (at times, I think Peter Robinson could easily turn himself to more literary fiction and be held in very high regard), and Banks is a strong lead character and is well developed, even if he'd perhaps a little too distant and cool to achieve the popularity of such peers as Rankin's John Rebus. However, this book does have a slight law in that some of the subsidiary characters (other officers, one or two of the suspects, and evens Banks' own family) could still do with quite a bit more development. Though, I'm almost positive that even those flaws will dissolve as this series progresses.

Peter Robinson weaves the most interesting, complex stories while containing the "thriller" aspect to a minimum. His books are a fast read, just because you can't wait to see where it leads. CI Alan Banks is a wonderful character; in fact, all of Robinsons's characters are well constructed and you find yourself wondering what they wonder and feeling the same angst or urgency with which they pursue the answers. The Hanging Valley is woven around past and present situations which add to the flavor of the story. The mystery is not revealed until late enough in the book to keep you guessing......and weighing all the options. If you are a true mystery lover, you will love "The Hanging Valley" and long to have all the collection of Robinson's books. One of the very best!

This is the fourth Inspector Banks mystery, and I'm really getting to like Banks and his modus operandi. In this book a new death in a remote area in the fells around Swainshead is linked to a murder that occurred five years ago. This earlier mystery was never solved and Banks keeps finding links as he investigates the new one. It takes him over the sea to Toronto Canada in order to get more information on his small list of suspects. I really do enjoy this series, and Banks and his Sergeant (Hatcheley) make a nice crime fighting duo. Banks, the chain-smoking, music-loving Inspector, is such an ordinary guy that he seems very real.

Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and is the author of a number of previous novels featuring Inspector Banks. He is the winner of numerous awards in the United States, Britain and Canada, and in 2002 he won the CWA Dagger in the Library. As I also come from Leeds the background to his stories is something that I have experienced first hand and because of this I have a special affection for his books. However they would be first class crime fiction wherever they were based.

Chief Inspector Alan Banks is called to a murder scene that is gruesome even to him. Over the years his mind has become conditioned to the dreadful things that one or more human beings can inflict on their fellow man, but the discovery of a faceless corpse in a quiet, seldom visited valley below the village of Swainshead sickens even him.

On his arrival he finds that no one is willing to talk and his frustration only grows when the identity of the body is finally revealed. It seems that the body may be connected to an unsolved murder that took place in the same area over five years ago. Among the suspects are the wealthiest and most powerful family in Swainsdale, the Collier brothers and when they start to use their influence to hamper the investigation the Inspector finds himself in a race against time.

...And by that I don't mean that typical is bad. This is a good book, just average for Robinson. It unfolds in typical manner -- a body is found, a bunch of people at the local pub are all suspects, the killer aint who you think it is... etc. Robinson patiently unfolds his stories and gives us well-developed characters. His books are a delight to read. Though not his best, this is a worthy book.

I have read four of Robinson's Inspector Banks novels and I thought the other three were good. This present novel seems to be the worst of the four. I read the Avon 2002 paperback version (ISBN 0-380-82048-X) with the added first chapter from Strange Affair tacked on at the end as a coming attraction.

Somewhere in the middle of the 300 pages - and after a very slow start - you get the feeling that there is too much filler here. The book slows down in the middle and it has many irrelevant tourist comments about Toronto including a trip to a Jays versus Yankees baseball game. Where are we? How is that at all interesting and pertinent to a murder in the Yorkshire Dales? It seems like a lot of filler writing and it ruins the novel. Also, the first 100 pages are slow and it takes a while for the novel to get going.

Without giving away the plot, the story is about a series of murders in the small town of Swainshead village in Yorkshire. It involves inspector Banks, and two fellow detectives, along with a cast of interesting characters - with great potential for a good novel. Unfortunately, Robinson does little with these characters except for Katie Greenock, a young and attractive but slightly mentally handicapped or immature and lost young woman. It is too bad that a few of the other characters could not have been developed a little more such as he does with Katie: Robinson does a good job with her, but the other characters are little more than names and brief descriptions.

The author Robinson no longer lives in Britain. He lives in Toronto and he insists on writing part of the story about a one week trip by Banks to Toronto to interview a missing woman. The woman had lived in Swainshead at the time of an early murder. That trip to Toronto seems to break the flow of the novel.

If Robinson could have had more emphasis on the characters and Yorkshire, this could have been an excellent novel. As it is it is just average and one feels slightly disappointed with the way Robinson has written the novel.

By the way, I recently discovered Henning Mankell who writes similar novels. He writes about a fictional Swedish detective Kurt Wallander. Those are more upbeat and entertaining novels. Of the eight in that series, I recommend One Step Behind or his first Wallander novel: Faceless Killers.

The Hanging Valley: 3 or 4 stars.