In the Dark Places: An Inspector Banks Novel

In bestseller Robinson’s deftly plotted 22nd Inspector Banks novel (after 2014’s Children of the Revolution), the Yorkshire copper investigates the disappearance of a tractor belonging to gentleman farmer John Beddoes. There’s no reason to connect the theft to the mysterious bloodstain found at a nearby WWII-era airplane hangar, until Beddoes mentions his neighbor’s allegedly ne’er-do-well son, a young man named Michael Lane, who apparently runs with the wrong crowd. When Banks and Det. Insp. Annie Cabot look into Michael’s past, they find that he’s mates with Morgan Spencer, a known tough who soon turns up dead. Morgan’s murder leads the team to local abattoirs—scenes that vegetarian readers may want to skip—as Bank tries to tie all the disparate pieces together. Robinson is equally adept at making murder on a small scale as compelling as any serial killer hunt, and Banks continues to charm. [em]Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency. (Aug.) [/em]