The 28th and final Inspector Alan Banks mystery novel was released in April 2023, six months after the death of its author, Peter Robinson. Reading Standing in the Shadows is a bittersweet farewell to an old and dear friend. We know this will be the last we’ll see of Inspector Banks.
The story is told from two viewpoints. One storyline is narrated in the first person by University of Leeds student Nick Hartley, who learns that his former girlfriend has been murdered. The second storyline kicks in 40 years later when a skeleton is found in Yorkshire. Inspector Banks and his team are called in.
There is so much to like in this mystery, all reminding me of what I’ll be missing: the palpable sense of place in the Northern England settings; the wide range of music Banks listens to, from rock bands to classical music and opera; England’s social and political history that Robinson weaves into the books; the deft characterizations, especially of Banks who has evolved over the series; and Robinson’s superb storytelling skills.
'The best mystery-procedural series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong' STEPHEN KING
Late November, 1980. Student Nick Hartley returns from a lecture to find his house full of police officers. As he discovers that his ex-girlfriend has been found murdered in a nearby park, and her new boyfriend is missing, he realises two things in quick succession: he is undoubtedly a suspect as he has no convincing alibi, and he has own suspicions as to what might have happened . . .
Late November 2019. An dig near Scotch Corner unearths a skeleton that turns out…
Historical crime fiction writer Maureen Jennings is best known for her 1890s-era Detective Murdoch Mysteries, on which the Murdoch Mysteries TV series (now in its 17th season) is based.
In recent years, Jennings’ focus has been on Toronto in the late 1930s, when the world was still reeling from the War to End All Wars and in the throes of the Great Depression. The result was the Paradise Café series: Heat Wave, published in 2019, November Rain in 2020, and Cold Snap in 2022.
The settings of these mysteries are not pretty, describing the poverty and simmering racial tensions of the times. But Jennings brings the past of the city I live in to life, and I find it fascinating.
In Cold Snap, we learn more about private investigator Charlotte Frayne, the series’ protagonist. In her early 30s, unmarried and with a beau who approves of her independence, Charlotte is a woman ahead of her times. Her estranged mother now surfaces, asking for Charlotte’s help in finding the son she gave up at birth 20 years before.
Charlotte’s search for her half-brother dovetails nicely with the second storyline about a refugee from Nazi Germany.
November's rain in Toronto 1936 has turned into December's cold snap. Charlotte Frayne escapes being hit by a mud-splattered car racing round the corner at Queen and Spadina. The stranger who saves her turns out to be the man her boss, Mr. Gilmore, has helped to escape Germany and is now a refugee in need of shelter.
In a world still recovering from the War to End All Wars and the Spanish Influenza pandemic that killed fifty million people worldwide, and still in the throes of the Great Depression, Stephen Lucas is not just any refugee from the Nazi regime;…
When Merry Bell returns to her hometown of Livingsky, Saskatchewan, she faces three challenges: how to launch her new PI business, where to find cheap-but-decent living quarters, and finetuning her new identity as a transgender woman. Merry is an engaging, three-dimensional character, and, as a trans woman, she’s in a special spotlight in this new mystery series.
Canadian author Anthony Bidulka broke new ground for diversity in 2003 when he published the first (Amuse Bouche) of his eight-book mystery series with its gay private investigator, Russell Quant. And he’s broken new ground again this year with Merry Bell.
The book ends with a teaser, which likely means there will be more Merry Bell adventures to come.
Going home is not always the best answer. Forced to leave behind her big city dreams, Merry Bell returns to Livingsky Saskatchewan to start over. Living with plenty of secrets, but no money, friends, or place to live during a prairie winter-all while trying to start her own PI business-proves to be more challenging than she imagined. With a first case that quickly turns more dangerous than it first appeared, Merry must deal with a dodgy client, the murder of the surgeon who performed her gender affirming surgery, and more than one mysterious stranger.
Financial advisor Pat Tierney is back in Toronto, primed to start up her own financial planning business. She’s found a practice that looks like a good fit. Its purchase means taking out a loan, and she has no idea whether the clients she’ll acquire will stay with her.
It’s risky, but she’s willing to proceed. But murder is the one thing Pat hasn’t factored into her plans. Dean Monaghan, the vendor, is found stabbed to death shortly after the sale closes. To protect her new business’s reputation, Pat searches for Dean’s killer. And the reason why Dean was killed.
“Uncharted Waters is McCracken’s best Pat Tierney mystery yet!” is how Gail Bowen, Canada’s queen of crime fiction, describes the fourth installment in the Pat Tierney series.
