Past Reason Hated: An Inspector Banks Mystery

Jere D. Turner is Adult Collections Co-ordinator, Regina Public Library.

This is Robinson’s fifth mystery featuring Inspector Alan Banks. Set
in Yorkshire at Christmas, the story opens with the discovery of the
brutal murder of Caroline Hartley.

Chief Inspector Banks and newly promoted Detective Constable Susan Gay
find that although Hartley’s current life is quite straightforward,
her past is very obscure. Caroline had managed an upscale cafe, lived
with her lover Veronica Shildon, and was a member of the local amateur
theatrical group. (Her past takes more work to discover than discovering
the identity of the murderer.)

Details of the personal lives of Banks and Gay add greatly to the
realism of the story. And there are numerous other details that also
improve the plot. Where else would you discover what “the Knowledge”
means to an aspiring London taxi driver?

This is a very good—and highly recommended—mystery (as are
Robinson’s previous four).