COLD IS THE GRAVE by Peter Robinson

COLD IS THE GRAVE by Peter Robinson
DCI Alan Banks Mystery, No 11
William Morrow - Sept. 2001
ISBN: 0380978083 - Paperback
Suspense - British Police Procedural

Reviewed by Pam Stone, MyShelf.com

This is the eleventh outing for Chief Inspector Alan Banks. The series takes place in Yorkshire, England.

Banks is asked by Senior Chief Constable Jeremiah Riddle to help find his run away teenage daughter Emily after nude pictures of her show up on a pornographic website. Banks goes to London’s Soho, then on to little Venice where he locates Emily. At first Emily refuses to go back to Eastvale, but a few hours later, she turns up a Bank’s hotel battered and bruised and willing to go home. Now you’re thinking this is where the story ends, well guess again.

Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot is forced to work on a murder case with Chief Inspector Banks, with whom she had a brief affair. When Charlie Courage, a former felon working as a security guard, turns up dead, they begin working together to find the killer. They soon realize that Emily Riddle’s case should be reopened.

Another chilling and barbarous murder happens in a popular Eastvale club -- a murder so cold and savage that it shakes Alan Banks to the very core of his being. Now the grim discoveries are leading right back to the very door of their boss, Chief Constable Jeremiah Riddle.

Cold is the Grave is filled with gruesome murders, sex, and high-level corruption at its worst. Although it was an interesting read, I found certain places hard to grasp. An example would be how one character went on and on about music. There seemed to be no reason for it, only that it he was a man who drank entirely too much at home and work. It was distracting. I was impressed with the character of Annie Cabbot. She came across as more lifelike.

The ending doesn’t leave you breathless -- just glad it’s over.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Cold is the Grave #11
Aftermath #12
Close to Home #13
Playing Fire #14
Strange Affair #15 [audio] [book]
Piece of My Heart #16
Friend of the Devil #17
All the Colors of Darkness #18
In The Dark Places #22 [review 1] [review 2]
When The Music's Over #23 [review 1] [review 2]