Final Account

Albert Stray is librarian and manager of the Streetsville Public
Library.

As Peter Robinson’s seventh Inspector Banks mystery opens, it is May
in the Yorkshire Dales. Keith Rothwell, a middle-aged financial adviser,
is taken by two masked intruders from his isolated farmhouse to the
adjoining garage of Arkbeck Farm. A shotgun blast follows. Why this
dull, unassuming accountant was murdered proves to be more important
than the identity of the killers. Routine police work turns up details
of Rothwell’s dysfunctional family, and evidence that he was
laundering drug money for a Caribbean dictator now seeking asylum in
England.

Robinson tosses the reader (and Banks) enough red herrings to keep the
plot interesting, and enough action to keep the pages turning. The
familiar supporting cast includes Eastvale’s first female detective
constable, Susan Gay, and Banks’ nemesis from Scotland Yard,
“Dirty” Dick Burgess. In the end, the reader is left with the
satisfying feeling that justice is likely to prevail over political
expediency.