Peter Robinson’s 17th mystery, FRIEND OF THE DEVIL, is just as smoothly written and accomplished as any of his other books, including the recent PIECE OF MY HEART. Robinson has a nice, natural, flowing style, complete with realistic dialogue, characters who have just as many normal weaknesses as innate strengths, and behaviors that seem logical.
Oh, I know – that doesn’t sound like much, does it? But it’s amazing how many books are published that don’t possess any of those characteristics. Robinson pleases the reader with a strong story and continuing characters who develop over time.
This particular book starts with Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks investigating a brutal rape and murder in a dark warren of warehouses in Eastvale. Robinson spares us none of the details, either investigative or emotional, and we are instantly drawn in to the workings of the police force.
Banks is missing one of his force, DI Annie Cabbot, who has been temporarily transferred to a different territory. We join her story just after she has made a terrible mistake: a one-night stand with a much younger man and with whom she seems to have little in common. From there, her day doesn’t get much better, as she is sent to investigate a wheelchair-bound paraplegic woman who has had her throat slit.
These two cases slowly wind their way toward each other, much as Cabbot winds her way back to Banks. He has always seemed somewhat emotionally damaged, but the depiction of Cabbot in this work is especially strong. The DI is struggling with elements in her life, reaching out and taking wild stabs at some kind of resolution, and often getting burned in the process. The interaction between the main storyline and the personal troubles of the investigators is what makes this much more than a bland police procedural.
Robinson has an excellent set of series characters here. There are a few faults: The plot seems unnecessarily choked with too many irrelevant characters, and the solutions to both cases are a little bit far-fetched. But the team of Banks, Cabbot, Winsome Jackman and the rest make FRIEND OF THE DEVIL an immersive and entertaining read. –Mark Rose
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• PIECE OF MY HEART by Peter Robinson
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“Natural” and “realistic” are the qualities I greatly admire in Robinson’s writing. His style comes across as just plain “right,” with nary a false note. I have lots of Insp. Banks books to catch up on, but will definitely be picking this one up.
I love a book that has such believable characters that I think about them as friends!