Not Dark Yet: DCI Banks 27

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Crooked property developer Connor Blaydon and his butler are found murdered at the former’s Eastvale mansion. They are known to have links to the Albanian mafia but the discovery of spy-cam videos depicting a rape indicate the motive needn’t be simply a falling out of thieves. The narrative alternates between Annie Cabbot and Gerry Masterson’s investigation into Blaydon’s murder, Zelda’s search and Banks’s attempts to help Zelda and Ray. The novel ends on a very sad note but also provides some resolution. I don’t want to say too much over the phone, but I think we should meet and compare notes. Are you seriously busy?” Banks, now a detective superintendent, is jaded and admits he is feeling a bit sad and old when he slips away for a pint with his son Brian after walking his daughter Tracy down the aisle at her wedding. The copper’s life is rarely exciting, he says, but what else would he do? I cannot believe that I have not come across this author before. I loved his writing and the characters were amazing. It’s not often that one of the main characters is called Zelda – of course, I loved that even if it was a little weird reading about someone with my name. Especially when she is very different to me.

No. Well, yes, but . . . we’re trying to make a case against Leka Gashi and the Albanians for Blaydon’s murder. Trouble is, we don’t even know where they are.” We reviewed earlier Banks novel When the Music’s Over. For more Yorkshire crime you could try the rather more spooky I am Dustby Louise Beech.The various investigations blur into one another as everything comes to a head. The storylines are disjointed, particularly after Banks is forced to take medical leave. Banks is under intense pressure from internal investigators to spill the goods on Zelda. They clearly don’t believe a word of his story hence his superior protecting Banks by forcing him to stand down temporarily. Does that stop his investigations? Hardly. There is so much attention given in the earlier books in this arc to Zelda's ability as a super-recognizer that it seems odd and disappointing to me that this plays no part in solving the problems in Not Dark Yet.

The twenty-seventh installment of the #1 bestselling Inspector Banks series by "the grand master of the genre" ( Literary Review), Peter Robinson. The investigation into the gruesome murders of Eastvale property developer Connor Clive Blaydon and his factotum Neville Roberts at Blaydon’s luxury home reveals a cache of hidden SD cards that cast the murders in an entirely different light. Instead of showing Blaydon’s murderer, the grainy and blurred footage reveals a brutal rape. If Annie and Gerry can discover the identity of the rapist and his victim, it could lead them to the whoever wanted Blaydon dead. Meanwhile, Zelda is already uncertain of her future in the UK, as immigration want to see her documents, and she’s having trouble proving her right to remain.What with that, the authorities circling and the fear of arrest, she decides to go to Moldova to hunt the men who abducted, raped and enslaved her after she grew up in an orphanage there. She’s unclear what she will do if she finds them. She’s playing with fire and placing herself in greater peril, of course. As mentioned, this was my first encounter with Peter Robinson and I have already added the other twenty-six books in the series to my TBR. I enjoyed the writing and loved the characters. The regular reference to music had me reaching for my Spotify account to hear what the fuss was about. I cannot wait to spend more time with Alan Banks.Not Dark Yet is the 27th Inspector Banks mystery. But it’s the first that I’ve read. And therein lies the problem.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the free ARC.) Not Dark Yet is definitely a dark police procedural that tests the boundaries of what a detective can do when an investigation comes close to harming someone he cares for. Alan Banks, in his 27th appearance, finds himself in the midst of leading simultaneous investigations into murder, rape, and a missing person - with one common thread linking them all together. Zelda couldn’t stop trembling, and the breath seemed to solidify in her chest. This had been her home between the ages of four and seventeen. This was the place that had made her what she was, or what she could have been. Now, though, it was a ruin, and so was she, and the irony didn’t escape her. What the hell was she doing here, running away from the good life she had found, despite all the odds, and from a good man, who was more than she deserved, seeking God only knew what? Revenge? Atonement? Reconciliation?Inspector Banks books are meant to be savored. The story moves along well, but at a thoughtful pace that allows the reader to ruminate along with Alan. I enjoy his honest self contemplation and his love of music. (I often search out his playlists) He seems world weary in this latest - I hope it doesn't herald the end of Banks.... Meanwhile, Ray Cabbot’s friend Zelda is still hunting for the men who abducted her from a Moldovan children’s home and enslaved her. It soon becomes clear that Zelda’s search and what happened at Blaydon’s could be linked. Zelda is fearful, not only of her former captors, but also the authorities who might discover her French passport isn’t valid. This is the final book of a trilogy involving European gangsters. If you haven’t read the first two, some of the references and the huge cast of characters to get to know throughout may confuse you. There are sometimes several points of view in each chapter too. Banks fans familiar with the characters may find this easier to read.