Customer Reviews

Not Safe After Dark: V. 2

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If one were to have a serious complaint to put forth about this good anthology by Petewr Robinson it would be that the marvelous Inspector Alan Banks is present in only three of the stories herein. Nothing futher need be said to the growing number of Banks devotees in the U.S. but the uninitiated may wish to know more. The stories which feature Robinson's compassionate'music-loving and ultimately very tough British policeman are just interesting enough to whet the appetites of those who love P.D> James's Dalgleish and Ruth Rendell's Wexford. They are well worth the reading of them but Robinson reveals himself to be far more than a one-trick pony as he ranges beyond his stellar creation to construct short gems that are often as lyrical as they are true to the protocols of his genre.

I've been waiting for every new Peter Robinson's book for over ten years now after I read his award winning short story "Innocence" back in 1991. "Innocence" is a fascinating harrowing story about a man whose life was ruined only because he happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. The subject is not new or original but if you read the story, you will never forget it. "Innocence" was published in the collection of the best mystery short stories of 1989, I believe. The book consisted of about fifty first class works but "Innocence" was the only one that has stayed with me for all these years." "Innocence" is a shining star of the excellent collection "Not Safe After Dark And Other Stories" that is a great introduction to Mr. Robinson's writings and consists of thirteen short stories. In addition to "Innocence", my favorites are "The Two Ladies of Rose Cottage" which was inspired by Robinson's interest in Thomas Hardy's writings, "Fan Mail"- darkly hilarious with a wonderful twist, and short but outstanding with the completely unexpected and fascinating end, "Carrion".

Robinson is the author of 16 novels with the main character, Yorkshire Chief Inspector Alan Banks who is a successful and shrewd investigator but also a very intelligent man, the great fan of good music and English literature. All novels are not only the first -rate crime stories but also very well written works of literature with the interesting characters. Alan Banks appears in three of this collection's 13 stories.

That's what Stephen King has said of Peter Robinson's books: "The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are, simply put, the best series now on the market. In fact, this may be the best series of British novels since the novels of Patrick O'Brian. Try one and tell me I'm wrong." I can only say to that: "Tell me something I don't know already".

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.

This is Peter Robinson's first collection of short stories. As rule I am not a lover of short stories, preferring something I can get my "teeth into." But on this occasion I was pleasantly surprised. I found the book to be full of good and interesting stories.