Product Description

When DCI Alan Banks arrived in Eastvale his life was every bit as much of a mess as it is now. But he is holding an envelope that could change everything he understood about the events that sent him north twenty years ago. Walking again the narrow alleys and backstreets of his mind, he remembers the seedy Soho nights of his last case - dubious businessmen in dodgy clubs, young girls on the game. And a killer on the loose.

In addition to the brand-new novella that fills in the gaps in Banks's life before Yorkshire, Peter Robinson gives us ten more brilliant and eclectic stories that have never before been published in the UK.

The Eastvale Ladies' Poker Circle finds that murder may be just another game of risk. Is a suitcase of cash worth a man's head on a plate? And tragedy leads a young boy to learn the price of love . . .

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1868 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review

'Outstanding . . . one of the best voices in contemporary crime fiction'

(Publishers Weekly )

'A first class storyteller'

(shotsmag.co.uk )

'After 18 tales of the fiendishly good DCI Alan Banks, the bestselling author delves into his leading man's past. For die-hard fans [The Price of Love] explains how Banks came to be in Yorkshire and how he got his mysterious scar. For the rest of us, it's the start of a beautiful relationship with the novelists's extensive back catalogue'

(Shortlist )

Praise for Piece of My Heart and Friend of the Devil

(: )

'A police procedural that grips like pliers' (Independent on Sunday )

'The writing is well up to the author’s high standard’ (The Times )

From the Publisher
Several of the (poorer) reviews for this book are based on not realising that this is a novella and collection of stories.

The product description, and the blurb printed on the book, make it very clear that it is not a novel:
'In addition to the brand-new novella that fills in the gaps in Banks's life before Yorkshire, Peter Robinson gives us ten more brilliant and eclectic stories that have never before been published in the UK.'.

About the Author
Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and now lives in Canada and Richmond. His bestselling, critically acclaimed Inspector Banks series has won numerous awards in Britain, the United States, Canada and Europe.

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Customer Reviews

Banks in the Met and other Interesting Stories
Peter Robinson is best known for the excellent Inspector Banks series of novels. This collection demonstrates that he is also a very good short story writer.

Banks' fans will be delighted to get hold of the new stories featuring their hero. However, the other stories are also excellent. Of particular note are the first two in the collection. "Cornelius Jubb" sees Robinson tackle issues of race and a period, the Second World War, not covered elsewhere in his work, whilst "The Magic of Your Touch" has a supernatural theme.

Other stories concern the horrors of the trenches in World War One, the "hippy generation" and murderous duplicity in a marriage.

There are three stories featuring Inspector Banks. The one that will be of most interest to Banks' fans is the novella, "Like a Virgin". This fills in the back story for Banks, showing him working for the Metropolitan Police long before he went to Eastvale. Banks develops like a real human. At this stage in his life for example he ahs only just started listening to jazz and opera, which will become so central to his personality later on. Banks is an attractive hero not because he is flawed like a hackneyed cliché detective, but he appears like a real human being who has weaknesses as well as strengths which makes him interesting. The novella fills in some of the gaps in this very human existence.

Peter Robinson has had a long career writing about Inspector Banks and whilst these stories may not quite match the best of his novels, they are nonetheless very fine fiction.

Excellent collection of short stories
The Price of Love

As a big Peter Robinson fan I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Obviously the major draw is the novella which explains the background of Banks' move to Yorkshire and reveals certain details never explained in the series such as how he got his scar. There is also an interesting end to the story which suggests possible link into future novels!

Even the short stories which are not Banks-related have some excellent ideas and always written well, particularly the title story.

In some of the other reviews people have complained that the blurb somehow 'mislead' them into thinking this was a full-length Banks novel. I can't say I understand how the blurb on the book (or Amazon) possibly leads to that conclusion, but on the offchance someone has bought this without thinking it is an excellent collection and essential to the Banks oeuvre.

Amazing Collection
Very few authors can pull off offering equally amazing short stories. Although they don't connect with each other, this feels like reading a novel. Each story is brilliant... Enough said, get this book. It's Robinson at his best!!