Wednesday's Child (Inspector Banks Mystery) [Paperback]

Peter Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1995 | Series: Inspector Banks Mystery

A child is missing. The terrifying case begins when a well-dressed couple, claiming to be social workers, appear at Brenda Scupham's door, saying they must take her seven-year-old daughter, Gemma, into care after allegations of abuse. Confused and intimidated, Brenda consents. But when the couple, who identify themselves as Mr. Brown and Miss Peterson, fail to bring the child home, Brenda realizes she has made a horrible mistake. Why would anyone want to abduct Gemma Scupham? Clearly she's not a ransom candidate, since she and her mother live in sordid circumstances and poverty. As the days go by with no sign of the child, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his colleague, Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe, begin to lose hope of finding her alive. It's particularly strange that there were two abductors, a man and a woman. What kind of couple would kidnap and quite possibly murder an innocent child? Banks must also investigate another case - a grisly, cold-blooded murder that leads him to points overseas and back again. Gradually, the two inquiries begin to converge in a fictional web as mesmerizing as it is chillingly entertaining. In this sixth in the acclaimed Yorkshire-based series, award-winning author Peter Robinson gives us the best yet in a crime novel of unusual subtlety and power.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Robinson may be one of the most underrated writers of British mysteries today. His hero, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks, is a thoughtful, intelligent, humane cop who often doubts his ability to cope successfully with the demands of career, marriage, and parenthood. Robinson's descriptions of police procedures are thorough and knowledgeable, and he paints a lively, vivid picture of rural Yorkshire. Best of all, in each successive book, Robinson shows real growth in the complexity of his characters, in his creative, thought-provoking plots, and in the philosophical battles Banks wages in dealing with crime both petty and vicious. Here Banks is investigating the kidnapping of seven-year-old Gemma Scupham, who has been taken from her neglectful mum by two people posing as social workers. It's as if the child had disappeared from the face of the earth; but despite the lack of clues and the daunting possibility that Gemma is already dead, Banks pokes and prods, questions and probes, until the pieces start to fall together and he finds himself confronting one of the most ruthless villains he has encountered in his entire career. Provocative, mesmerizing, and memorable, this chilling story is a must for mystery collections of every size. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

There's precious little time for Yorkshire Inspector Alan Banks's worries about his distant wife or teenage daughter; he's hot on the trail of the couple, plausibly masquerading as social workers, who took 7-year-old Gemma Scupham away from her slatternly mother. When a family touring the nearby lead mines discovers, not Gemma's body, but that of ex-convict Carl Johnson, the trail seems cold; but after Banks' tense, inconclusive confrontation with Johnson's boss, diamond magnate Adam Harkness, and the disheartening discovery of Gemma's clothing thirty miles away, Constable Susan Gay ties Johnson to Gemma- -and to Jeremy ``Smiler'' Chivers, a grinning psychopath who seems all too good a suspect. Expert lesser work from Robinson (Past Reason Hated, 1993, etc.): an unsurprising but thoroughly accomplished British procedural that puts its lowlife denizens through their paces with all the withering mastery of a lion tamer. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 295 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (July 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425148343
• ISBN-13: 978-0425148341
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,799,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Robinson's award-winning novels have been named a Best-Book-of-the-Year by Publishers Weekly, a Notable Book by the New York Times, and a Page-Turner-of-the-Week by People magazine. Robinson was born and raised in Yorkshire but has lived in North America for over twenty-five years. He now divides his time between North America and the U.K.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent Inspector Banks mystery., May 29, 2001

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wednesday's Child (Inspector Banks Mystery) (Paperback)

Peter Robinson's "Wednesday's Child" is about the abduction of a young girl named Gemma by a man and woman posing as child care workers. They take Gemma from her negligent and abusive mother who is too ignorant to realize that this couple are a pair of impostors . In addition, a low-class hoodlum is found viciously murdered near an abandoned smelting mill. Are these two events related? Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his colleagues, Superintendent Gristhorpe, Susan Gay and Phil Richmond, combine forces to uncover a cunning plan by a pair of malevolent criminals, one of whom is extremely dangerous and unpredictable. Robinson, as usual, captures the Yorkshire ambiance perfectly. His ear for dialogue is uncanny and he has a remarkable talent for setting a scene perfectly and creating memorable characters. The mystery and its solution are thoroughly satisfying. "Wednesday's Child" is a wonderful and engrossing thriller by a master of the genre.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery with a heart, March 20, 2004

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wednesday's Child: An Inspector Banks Novel (Inspector Banks Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Chief Inspector Banks is called in to investigate the disappearance of a little girl named Gemma. Her bewildered mother has let her go with people who claimed to be from a child welfare agency, but instead they kidnapped her. Banks is haunted by the picture of the child, as she resembles the inspector's own daughter. Following this, there is a grisly murder of a man who may have been connected to the missing girl. It is up to Banks and Detective Superintendant Gristhorpe to put together the pieces of the two puzzles into a coherant whole. All of this time these grizzled policemen keep a mental picture of Gemma in mind as motivation to solving the crimes. This is another well-written Detective Banks Mystery by Peter Robinson.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent police procedural, May 25, 2000

By 

Debbie Tam "gabrielsmom" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wednesday's Child (Inspector Banks Mystery) (Paperback)

For those who enjoy a police procedural, not to be confused with a thriller/suspense novel/mystery, this will not disappoint. Inspector Banks makes another appearance when a well-dressed couple pose as social workers and take away Gemma Scupham on the pretense of abuse allegations. The mother, Brenda, accepts them at their word and lets them take her away. A far from exemplary parent, the child is described as "woeful" if not abused physically, then abused by maternal neglect. Banks is on the case leading him down to various possibilities. Is it a pornographic/prostitution ring? Is it connected to a recent electronics warehouse heist? Is this related at all to another murder of a two-bit small time crook? What makes this one an exceptionally interesting read to fans of the Inspector Banks series, is Superintendant Gristhorpe, usually a behind the scenes player, takes the forefront in the investigation. We learn a bit more of his character and what his detective abilities are. He is taking this case personally after being haunted for over thirty years by a similar case. The story is far from contrived and the ending is truly surprising. Robinson does it again.