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micrummey's review
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
A police procedural where the main characters reflect back to the 1970s. A college lecturer dies in mysterious circumstances the investigation is very convoluted and it is only in the last chapter does the pace quicken.
kimb2's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this Banks caper. Banks is back to being his rebellious self. The story was fairly fast paced, although somewhat overly detailed and descriptive in parts. Overall, a great read.
clarehitchens's review against another edition
3.0
Not the best of the series. Although I liked the inclusion of the 1972 miner's strike as history lesson it felt a bit forced into the story. And there was agism/sexism, in the sense of the young (female) police officers not knowing a thing about that time or the music that Banks is into. It was mentioned a lot. Also, all the women seemed gaga for Banks in this book, and without giving too much away I'll just say that the romance inserted at the very end seemed unlikely to me and just a little bit icky.
skinnypenguin's review
3.0
A down and out former college teacher is found dead and DCI Banks and his team investigate. The case leads them to the college and how the victim lost his job and also to a former lover from 40 years prior who is now a successful author and married to a Lord. They find some drug dealers, rape, girls that lied to get revenge, striking miners, Marxists, etc.
Bank's investigation is controlled by higher ups but he continues under the radar. What he finds out can't be revealed as it would destroy an innocent person's career. He clashes with his superiors and in the end has to hide some things from his team. The murderer appears to have done himself in and the murder is quietly shelved. Banks does end up with a chance for romance at the end.
Well written. Touches on the issues of blackmail, date rape, unsubstantiated accusations leading to ruining a person's life and youthful ideology. Good descriptions of the area in which the story was set and social events in the past. Music always plays a part in this series and even though I don't recognize all the different composers, groups and songs I enjoy learning about how the music affects the various characters and the story.
Bank's investigation is controlled by higher ups but he continues under the radar. What he finds out can't be revealed as it would destroy an innocent person's career. He clashes with his superiors and in the end has to hide some things from his team. The murderer appears to have done himself in and the murder is quietly shelved. Banks does end up with a chance for romance at the end.
Well written. Touches on the issues of blackmail, date rape, unsubstantiated accusations leading to ruining a person's life and youthful ideology. Good descriptions of the area in which the story was set and social events in the past. Music always plays a part in this series and even though I don't recognize all the different composers, groups and songs I enjoy learning about how the music affects the various characters and the story.
natalea's review
4.0
Lovely book! I don't care how repetitive his books might be, I am addicted to them. I swallow every word, every description of food Banks eats, type of tea they drink with suspects and the colour of the cars they drive. The dialogues are delicious. The detective is charming. I almost don't care about the mystery- this time not particularly interesting. I could read those books forever. Usually I do that when my son is sleeping, the lights are dimmed and the autumn wind is howling outside. That was my last week. Absolutely lovely.
catmum's review
2.0
The kindest thing I can say is that this was a major disappointment. Had he limited himself to repeating, reflecting, re-hashing, re-visiting, each piece of evidence twice rather than the five or six times, it would have been a much shorter book. I would like to be able to add that it would have been a much better book. But I can't. When you have a major information dump 85% of the way into a book in order to introduce a character that the resolution will depend upon, this is never a good sign. On top of everything else, Robinson took a cheap shot at Steig Larsson and the Millenium Trilogy that was totally unnecessary and only succeeded in making himself look petty. Up until this entry, this had been one of my favorite series. It's going to take a while to get the bad taste of this one out of my mouth.
hlandes1's review
3.0
We’ve been watching the series on Prime Video and I decided to read this one. Interesting plot, character development. Quite different than the TV series. Enjoyable read.
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