Bad Boy

Peter Robinson has released his latest novel in the Inspector Banks series

Fans of Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks mysteries have had to wait two years for his latest book, but the 19th novel in the series makes the wait worthwhile. Bad Boy is a cracking good tale of youth gone wrong. Robinson is a Canadian living in Toronto, but his books are set in Yorkshire, England. Handguns are illegal in Inspector Banks’ world, and when a middle-aged mother discovers a semi-automatic in her daughter’s bedroom, it is the beginning of a tragic series of events leading to more than one death.

Bad Boy is unusual in that Banks doesn’t even appear on the scene until nearly halfway through the book. He is off in San Francisco licking his wounds from his latest failed romance with a much younger woman.  While he’s away, his usually cautious and dependable daughter Tracy makes a decision that will eventually lead both her and her dad into grave danger.

The Bad Boy of the title is a charming, attractive but hollow-centred young man who has made a practice of always getting his own way. He works for The Farmer, a recurring villain in the Inspector Banks series. Watching the Bad Boy’s world collide with Tracy’s conventional upbringing as a policeman’s daughter makes for a fascinating study.

Anyone who knows DCI Banks will love the latest installment, and those who haven’t tried what Stephen King calls “the best series on the market,” will find it a story that stands on its own.