Watching the dark

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Publication Date
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language
English

Description

One of the premier masters of modern British crime, New York Times bestselling author Peter Robinson brings back Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his colleague DI Annie Cabbot in a complex case involving corruption, a dead cop, and a missing girl

Watching the Dark

A decorated detective inspector is murdered on the tranquil grounds of the St. Peter's Police Treatment Centre, shot through the heart with a crossbow arrow, and compromising photographs are discovered in his room. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is well aware that he must handle the highly sensitive—and dangerously explosive—investigation with the utmost discretion.

Because the case may involve police corruption, an officer from Professional Standards, Inspector Joanna Passero, has arrived to work with Banks and his team. Though he tries to keep an open mind and offer his full cooperation, the dedicated Banks and his practical investigative style clash with Passero's cool demeanor and by-the- book professionalism. All too soon, the seasoned detective finds himself under uncomfortable scrutiny, his methods second-guessed.

As Banks digs deeper into the life and career of the victim, a decorated cop and recent widower named Bill Quinn, he comes to believe that Quinn's murder may be linked to an unsolved missing persons case. Six years earlier, a pretty nineteen-year-old English girl named Rachel Hewitt made national headlines when she disappeared without a trace in Tallinn, Estonia. Convinced that finding the truth about Rachel will lead to Quinn's killer, Banks follows a twisting trail of clues that lead from England to the dark, cobbled alleys of Tallinn's Old Town. But the closer he seems to solving the complicated cold case, the more it becomes clear that someone doesn't want the past stirred up.

While Banks prowls the streets of Tallinn, DI Annie Cabbot, recovered from her near-fatal shooting and back at the station in Eastvale, is investigating a migrant labor scam involving corrupt bureaucrats and a loan shark who feeds on the poor. As evidence in each investigation mounts, Banks realizes the two are linked—and that solving them may put even more lives, including his own, in jeopardy.

More Details

Contributors
ISBN
9780062004802
9780062239655

Discover More

Also in this Series

Excerpt

Loading Excerpt...

Similar Series From Novelist

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
The Mitchell and Markby mysteries, set in the Cotswolds, are gentler and lighter in tone than the Inspector Alan Banks series, and they mix police procedural with an amateur sleuth. Both series strongly portray the setting and the secondary characters. -- Katherine Johnson
In these British police procedurals, Aector McAvoy and Inspector Alan Banks series, the lead detectives are honorable men who have to deal with their own problems in addition to crime. The violent, gritty stories show the bleak side of society. -- Merle Jacob
While Inspector Alan Banks operates out of a small-town department, and Ben Cooper and Diane Fry work in a deeply rural district, both intense, vividly descriptive, and character-driven police procedural series offer absorbing plots in their detailed local settings. -- Katherine Johnson
Inspector Alan Banks solves crimes in Great Britain, while Inspector Hal Challis works in Australia. Both series feature brooding, troubled police detectives whose own troubles complicate the investigations. These well-plotted mysteries feature dark, gritty atmospheres and evocatively described scenes. -- Katherine Johnson
The Inspector Alan Banks mysteries and the Percy Peach mysteries are well-plotted police procedurals that feature a dark, gritty atmosphere and the disturbing psychology of the criminals. Both authors include a secondary cast of characters and vividly describe their settings. -- Katherine Johnson
The Inspector Alan Banks mysteries and the Lambert and Hook mysteries are well-plotted police procedurals that feature a dark, gritty atmosphere and the disturbing psychology of the criminals. Both authors include a secondary cast of characters and vividly describe their settings. -- Katherine Johnson
These series have the genres "mysteries" and "police procedurals"; and the subjects "murder investigation," "police," and "women detectives."
These series have the theme "small town police"; the genres "mysteries" and "police procedurals"; and the subjects "murder investigation," "police," and "detectives."
These series have the genres "mysteries" and "police procedurals"; and the subjects "murder investigation," "police," and "detectives."

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Dead or alive - McCoy, Ken
These books have the appeal factors bleak, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "police," "missing persons," and "missing children."
These books have the appeal factors bleak, gritty, and intricately plotted, and they have the genres "mysteries" and "police procedurals"; and the subjects "police," "murder investigation," and "murder."
Cold cases have significant implications for investigations in the present in both these bleak police procedurals set in inhospitable landscapes. Internal affairs also gets involved, which increases the nerve-wracking quality of the atmosphere. -- Katherine Johnson
These books have the appeal factors bleak, gritty, and action-packed, and they have the theme "urban police"; the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "police" and "detectives."
These books have the appeal factors bleak and gritty, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "police," "murder investigation," and "murder."
NoveList recommends "Aector McAvoy novels" for fans of "Inspector Alan Banks mysteries". Check out the first book in the series.
What falls between the cracks - Scragg, Robert
These books have the appeal factors intricately plotted, and they have the theme "urban police"; the genre "police procedurals"; the subjects "police," "missing persons," and "missing women"; and characters that are "well-developed characters."
These books have the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "police," "cold cases (criminal investigation)," and "murder."
These books have the appeal factors menacing, intensifying, and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; the subjects "police," "murder investigation," and "missing persons"; and characters that are "flawed characters."
These books have the genres "mysteries" and "police procedurals"; and the subjects "police," "murder investigation," and "murder."
These books have the appeal factors bleak, intensifying, and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "police," "missing persons," and "detectives."
NoveList recommends "Inspector Hal Challis mysteries" for fans of "Inspector Alan Banks mysteries". Check out the first book in the series.

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Both writers set most of their novels in northern England, specifically Yorkshire, and are described as writing 'northern noir'. Their detectives, DCI Banks (Robinson) and DS Joe Romano (Barlow) are both complex but likeable characters who are passionate about justice. The writing is intricately plotted and compelling. -- Carolyn Court
Best known for their intricately plotted police procedural series (DCI Banks for Robinson, Tom Thorne for Billingham), these authors explore the bleaker side of crime in moody, compelling novels that never let up on the pace. Robinson's novels explore northern England and sometimes more rural settings, while Billingham's lean towards urban settings. -- Jane Jorgenson
These authors' works have the appeal factors bleak, gritty, and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; the subjects "police," "murder suspects," and "detectives"; and characters that are "flawed characters" and "brooding characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors bleak, gritty, and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; the subjects "murder investigation," "police," and "murder suspects"; and characters that are "likeable characters."
These authors' works have the genre "police procedurals"; the subjects "murder investigation," "police," and "murder"; and characters that are "flawed characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors bleak, gritty, and menacing, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "police," "murder suspects," and "detectives."
These authors' works have the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "murder investigation," "police," and "murder."
These authors' works have the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "murder investigation," "police," and "murder."
These authors' works have the appeal factors bleak and gritty, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "police," "murder suspects," and "detectives."
These authors' works have the appeal factors intricately plotted, and they have the genres "mysteries" and "police procedurals"; and the subjects "murder investigation," "police," and "murder."
These authors' works have the appeal factors menacing, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; and the subjects "murder investigation," "police," and "murder."
These authors' works have the appeal factors suspenseful and intricately plotted, and they have the genres "mysteries" and "canadian fiction"; and the subjects "police," "detectives," and "missing persons."

Published Reviews

Publisher's Weekly Review

The crossbow murder of Det. Insp. Bill Quinn on the grounds of St. Peter's Police Convalescence and Treatment Center outside Leeds propels Robinson's highly satisfying 20th novel featuring Det. Chief Insp. Alan Banks (after 2010's Bad Boy). Compromising photos of Quinn with a possibly underage female and rumors that he was a "bent copper" cast doubts on his integrity, and lead to Insp. Joanna Passero from Professional Standards joining the investigation. Possible links to a case that haunted Quinn, the unsolved disappearance of a young West Yorkshire woman in Tallinn, Estonia, six years earlier, and a second murder related to the first prompt Banks and Passero to travel to Tallinn in search of clues. Meanwhile, Det. Insp. Annie Cabbot, now recovered from injuries suffered in a previous book, provides solid help on the home front. Though not up to Robinson's best, this entry smoothly blends careful police work and astute psychological observations. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Powered by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

The death of a fellow officer sends DCI Alan Banks (Bad Boy, 2010, etc.) looking for secrets in every corner of Eastvale and eventually as far afield as Estonia. Why would someone track recently widowed DI Bill Quinn to a police convalescent center and shoot an arrow into his chest? Banks, convinced that the murder must have to do with one of Quinn's old cases, isn't sure which case holds the key until a second murder provides the clue. Mihkel Lepikson, a freelance journalist from the Estonian town of Tallinn, bonded with Quinn six years ago when they both investigated the disappearance of Rachel Hewitt, a bridesmaid who got separated from the rest of her hen party during a pub crawl in Tallinn and was never seen again. Now the reporter is dead, evidently tortured and drowned in a building that's most recently been used to warehouse the immigrants brought into the country to work for the substandard wages Roderick Flinders' employment agency pays and then railroaded into dead-end loans by obliging shark Warren Corrigan. Most disturbing of all for Banks, however, is that he's sent to Estonia not with DI Annie Cabbot, just returned from her own long convalescence, but with Inspector Joanna Passero of Professional Standards, who's been attached to the investigation to determine whether Bill Quinn might have been a bent copper. Robinson cuts back and forth between Banks and Passero's adventures in Estonia and Annie's inquiries back home. The result is a patient unraveling of sad but unsurprising developments that provide Rachel's parents with that most overrated of all aspects of justice: closure. The tale unfolds realistically but uncompellingly, with Banks the only truly memorable character this time around.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Reviews

The crossbow murder of Det. Insp. Bill Quinn on the grounds of St. Peter's Police Convalescence and Treatment Center outside Leeds propels Robinson's highly satisfying 20th novel featuring Det. Chief Insp. Alan Banks (after 2010's Bad Boy). Compromising photos of Quinn with a possibly underage female and rumors that he was a "bent copper" cast doubts on his integrity, and lead to Insp. Joanna Passero from Professional Standards joining the investigation. Possible links to a case that haunted Quinn, the unsolved disappearance of a young West Yorkshire woman in Tallinn, Estonia, six years earlier, and a second murder related to the first prompt Banks and Passero to travel to Tallinn in search of clues. Meanwhile, Det. Insp. Annie Cabbot, now recovered from injuries suffered in a previous book, provides solid help on the home front. Though not up to Robinson's best, this entry smoothly blends careful police work and astute psychological observations. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Jan.)

[Page ]. Copyright 2012 PWxyz LLC

Copyright 2012 PWxyz LLC
Powered by Content Cafe

Reviews from GoodReads

Loading GoodReads Reviews.

Staff View

Loading Staff View.