by Peter Robinson
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Product Description
A bullet to the brain abruptly halted a terrified young woman's desperate flight. In her pocket is the name of a policeman whose own life was brutally invaded, mercilessly shaken, and very nearly erased -- a policeman who has since gone missing. The dead woman in the car had been running from something -- but she didn't run far or fast enough. Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot would like to question the man the victim was apparently racing to meet: Annie's superior -- and former lover -- Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. But Banks has vanished into the anonymous chaos of the city, drawn into a mad whirl of greed, inhumanity, and death, by a frantic phone call from the brother he no longer knows. Banks is unaware that the threads connecting a sinister kidnapping with a savage slaying are as thick as rope . . . and long enough for a haunted and broken rogue cop to hang himself.
Amazon.com Review
Without a doubt, the family and friends of fictional sleuths are two of the most endangered species on the planet. Crime novelists seem to have no qualms about sacrificing the people nearest and dearest to their protagonists, if doing so will advance plot development or bestow emotional depth upon their series stars. Peter Robinson continues this ruthless tradition in Strange Affair, his tension-packed 15th novel featuring headstrong British Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Still on the mend after the blazing finale of 2004's Playing with Fire, temporarily sworn off whiskey but back to smoking, Banks is interrupted in the midst of brooding over his life and failed relationships by a message from his estranged younger brother, Roy, who says he needs the DCI's help in "a matter of life and death." Concerned, especially since Roy boasts a history of dubious business dealings, Banks leaves Yorkshire for his sibling's home in London, only to find that residence unlocked, Roy's computer missing, and his cell phone left behind. After learning that Roy was last seen stepping into a car with an unidentified man, and receiving on Roy's mobile what appears to be a photo of his only brother slumped over in a chair, the cop fears that a kidnapping has occurred. Meanwhile, back in Eastvale, Banks's colleague and ex-lover, Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot, probes the shooting death of Jennifer Clewes, a 27-year-old family planning center administrator from London who's been found in her car, with the address of Banks's once-ruined (and recently broken into) cottage tucked into her jeans pocket. As Annie seeks to identify Clewes's attacker and determine whether this crime fits a pattern of roadway assaults, she's anxious also to discover what connection Banks may have to the case. But the DCI is frustratingly nowhere to be found. Like 2003's Close to Home, Strange Affair adds some welcome bricks to Banks's back story, this time forcing him to reappraise a brother whom he had long resented and distrusted. Simultaneously, Robinson's latest police procedural delivers artfully contrived, intersecting story lines charged with rumors of international arms dealing, hints of misdeeds at a women's clinic, secondary players so shady they might be invisible after sundown, and insights into just how far Banks's career has distanced him from folks less steeped in the ugly side of mankind. An immensely satisfying mystery, filled with professional risks and personal regrets, this is truly an Affair to remember. --J. Kingston Pierce
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Average Customer Review:
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
 Turned up missing, 2007-12-29
As if life hasn't thrown him enough curveballs lately, Banks' holiday is interrupted by a mysterious phone message from his estranged brother Roy, who, as they say "turns up missing." Banks being Banks, he places his depression firmly on the back burner and sets out to discover what's going on in the life of his wheeler-dealer sibling. Chapter by chapter, this investigations becomes more and more complex, as several seemingly unrelated events and crimes prove to be very much related indeed. Along the way, he learns that there's more to Roy than he ever suspected.
Peter Robinson is a gifted writer whose skills include the creation of 3 dimensional characters, the development of intricate and believable plots, and the genuine understanding of human emotions. It is remarkable that in a series with as many entries as this one, the central character continues to change and grow as we follow the twists and turns in his life and career. Robinson's many awards are well-merited.
I won't throw out any spoilers by discussing the outcome of Strange Affair, but readers will find a similar theme, just as well handled, in Donna Leon's Fatal Remedies.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Another Expert Outing, 2007-08-12
Robinson again proves himself a modern ace. Banks takes some hard hits in this book. It's bleak, without ever being depressing.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Excellent read, really quite hard to put down., 2007-05-13
This was the first of Robinson's many books that I've read, I just finished it yesterday. I have to say he's a master at what he does, if his other books are on a par with this one.
Without giving anything away, it's a murder mystery (of course) set in two different time periods. On of them is the late 1960's British rock scene. Those were the salad days of my adolescence, and Robinson took me on quite a stroll down memory lane.
He draws that period with such a fine touch that I wondered if he hadn't played in a band himself then. And his plotting was tighter than the B-string on a cheap guitar.
If you love the type of fiction just described, it doesn't get much better than this one. But save it until you can read it start to finish, as it's really quite hard to put down.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Crime Writing at its Very Best, 2007-03-22
Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and is the author of thirteen previous novels featuring Inspector Banks. He is the winner of numerous awards in the United States, Britain and Canada, and in 2002 he won the CWA Dagger in the Library. As I also come from Leeds the background to his stories is something that I have experienced first hand and because of this I have a special affection for his books. However they would be first class crime fiction wherever they were based.
Inspector Banks receives a phone call from his brother Roy in London, something of a novelty in itself. But the phone call is quite disturbing and has an air of mystery to it. Banks immediately leaves his patch in Yorkshire and heads off down to the big city to seek out Roy. Meanwhile DI Annie Cabbot is called to the scene of a murder on a quiet stretch of road just outside Eastvale. A young woman has been found dead in her car. The strange thing is that the victim has Banks's name and address written on a piece of paper in the pocket of her jeans.
Meanwhile Banks is staying in his brothers luxurious, but empty house, uncovering more and more details about a brother, that he never really knew and didn't particularly like. Up north Annie tracks down the female victim's friends and colleagues. It seems that both trails are looking likely to intersect at some point and the consequences could be terrifying for both Banks and Annie . . .
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Strange Indeed..., 2007-03-09
...that Robinson's latest books have become as pedestrian as this one. I found the plot uninspiring at best, and completely devoid of surprises. All in all, one could skip this entry and not miss a thing. As always, Robinson is a good writer, and he's brought Banks to an interesting -- albeit depressing -- psychological place, but one can't help but feel that he and the series are simply treading water at this point. If only the entire book were as brilliant and incisive as the very last line. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the next one.
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