Children of the Revolution: DCI Banks 21 - Tapa dura

Robinson's gift for realistic characterisation is matched by an authentically realised sense of place; landscape is a crucial element in his work. The Alan Banks books have won many awards over the years including the Arthur Ellis award for best crime novel for Past Reason Hated and the Anthony Award for In a Dry Season; Children of the Revolution is a solid entry. * Good Book Guide * Detective Chief Inspector Banks, the artsy and melancholic Yorkshire detective, and his snarky sidekick, Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot, are consistently fun to watch . . . As usual with a Banks novel, the chief inspector's frictions with higher-ups are nearly as gripping as the unraveling of the case itself. First-rate procedural and character study . . . this is one of the series' highlights. -- Starred Review * Booklist * Robinson also has a way of undercutting the genre's familiarity. With a deceptively unspectacular language, he sets about the process of unsettling the reader * Independent * Classic Robinson: a labyrinthine plot merged with deft characterisation * Observer * 'Peter Robinson has for too long, and unfairly, been in the shadow of Ian Rankin; perhaps PIECE OF MY HEART, the latest in the Chief Inspector Banks series, will give him the status he deserves, near, perhaps even at the top of, the British crime writers' league' * Marcel Berlins, The Times * Praise for Peter Robinson * : * As Robinson slowly moves towards a fitting and satisfying climax he manages to increase the tempo with each turn of the page thanks to a well-crafted and multi layered plot. * Milo's Rambles blog * A wonderful, well-written plot with a great twist and strong characters and there's even romance on the cards for Banks too. A page-turning read for both fans of Robinson and Banks and readers who really enjoy a good crime-thriller. * Woman's Way * Peter Robinson deserves a place near, perhaps even at the top of, the British crime writers' league * The Times * A wonderful, well-written plot with a great twist and strong characters . . . a page-turning read * Woman's Way * Robinson's gift for realistic characterisation is matched by an authentically realised sense of place; landscape is a crucial element in his work * Good Book Guide * The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are, simply put, the best series on the market * Stephen King *

A disgraced college lecturer is found murdered with 5,000 pounds in his pocket on a disused railway line near his home. Since being dismissed from his job for sexual misconduct four years previously, he has been living a poverty-stricken and hermit-like existence in this isolated spot. The suspects range from several individuals at the college where he used to teach to a woman who knew the victim back in the early '70s at Essex University, then a hotbed of political activism. When Banks receives a warning to step away from the case, he realises there is much more to the mystery than meets the eye - for there are plenty more skeletons to come out of the closet . . .