Wednesday's Child

Andrew Thomson is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of
Guelph.

The most recent entry in Peter Robinson’s series of Inspector Banks
mysteries continues the successful combination of modern crimes and
traditional detection. Robinson, who emigrated to Canada from Britain in
1974, creates a traditional British mystery, but he has also
incorporated the changes that mark modern policing. In Alan Banks,
Robinson has created a central character who reflects some of the
changes in police work. Banks has risen to chief inspector, despite his
working-class background, and struggles with the pressures that his job
and his background create. Banks is also a husband and a father, and the
strains that police work place on these relationships are also deftly
explored.

Wednesday’s Child is not, however, social commentary hiding in a
police story. Despite or perhaps because of the social questions Banks
faces, the book is a fine example of the detective genre. Banks and his
team are confronted with the abduction of a little girl by a man and a
woman posing as social workers. The search for the girl is complicated
by the discovery of the body of a young man who was murdered in a grisly
fashion. The solving of these crimes reveals the strength of Robinson as
a mystery writer. While Banks and his team make use of all the
scientific marvels that modern law enforcement has available, in the end
it is hard work—and a bit of luck—that solves the crimes. The
Inspector Banks series is well-written and entertaining detective
fiction, and this is an exciting addition.