Sometimes it’s just so pleasant to get a mystery that revels in its own competence. No flashy literary gimmicks, no eccentric characters, no prurient interests – just a decent, straightforward tale of murder and criminal detection. Or in Peter Robinson’s PIECE OF MY HEART, two tales of murder rolled into one case spanning 36 years.

The first murder takes place at giant rock concert in Yorkshire in September of 1969. While Led Zeppelin take the stage, a young girl is murdered. Her body is found by the concert cleanup crew, and Det. Insp. Stanley Chadwick is called in to investigate. This story is told in parallel with another murder that goes down in the same general area, albeit in the fall of 2005. A music journalist is found with his head bashed in by a poker, and this case will be handled by Det. Chief Insp. Alan Banks.

Obviously, the two cases are linked by the reader, but it takes quite some time for the authorities to make the connection, and it’s done through good, solid policework. Robinson is especially adept at depicting late ’60s England, the cultural revolution that was slowly taking place and the older, more authoritarian generation alienated by the youth, the drugs and the music. Ah, the ’60s. It’s great to see references to bands like Hawkwind, Fairport Convention and even Jan Dukes De Grey!

Inexorably, Banks – for whom this is novel number 16 – pieces together enough facts to connect the two murders and must go on a quest to interview police and suspects from long ago in order to help solve his own case. Robinson moves the parallel stories along with a swinging pace, relying on natural dialogue, slick characterization and some intriguing musical atmosphere to draw you in and have you care about Banks and the other members of his investigative team. If you’re looking for a quality mystery, and you remember the 1960s at all, you’ll definitely enjoy this one. –Mark Rose

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