About this title: When the body of a young man is found stomped to death, Detective Chief Inspector Banks believes that he has an open-and-shut case, but he soon finds himself thrust into a violent maelstrom of hate, greed, and twisted neo-Nazi philosophy.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Avon
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780380794768ISBN:0380794764
Description: Very Good. Slight cover wear with scuffing to edges and minor crease on spine. Shift to spine. Previous owner's writing on last page. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Avon Books
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780380794768ISBN:0380794764
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Fold lines to spine from reading. Light hint of page tanning from age. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 320 p. Inspector Banks Mysteries (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very Good. 0380794764 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Avon Books
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780380794768ISBN:0380794764
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Good copy. Binding is tight, pages are clean. Cover is nice with minor edgewear and some creasing to spine. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 320 p. Inspector Banks Mysteries (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Edition: 1st Printing
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Avon Books, New York
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780380794768ISBN:0380794764
Description: No Illustration. Very Good. No Jacket. ILLUSTRATED PAPERBACK COVER, CORNERS LIGHTLY BUMPED. INTERIOR PAGES CLEAN, BRIGHT AND TIGHT. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Avon Books, NY
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780380975808ISBN:0380975807
Description: Fine with no Dust Jacket; Condition. No Dust Jacket. Advance Reading Copy. Uncorrected Proof. Trade Size Paperback. 0380975807. 8vo.; 309 Pages. pages. read more
Edition: New unread copy. 1st Edition, stated.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Avon Books, #08, 16, 08
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780380975808ISBN:0380975807
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. FINE ++ NEW copy. DJ with closed tear top spine. Reminder mark bottom New & Unread Book that May Have Slight Handling Wear From Bookstore Shelf. * good clean, bright, tight pages. no ink markings. NO NAMES. NO UNDERLINING. NO... 309 p. Inspector Banks Mysteries (Hardcover). Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Avon Books
Date Published: 1971
ISBN-13:9780380975808ISBN:0380975807
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Sewn binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 309 p. Inspector Banks Mysteries (Hardcover). Audience: General/trade. read more
"#9 Chief Inspector Alan Banks British police procedural. A young man is found beaten to death in an alley, and and after identifying him, it's discovered that Jason Fox was a member of a white supremacist group called The Albion League. He was seen having words with three Pakistani youths in a nearby pub, and they become the natural first suspects. But Banks doesn't believe they're guilty and begins searching into Fox's life to find out more about the youth, which leads him down a path into not only hate-groups, but international drug rings, gangsters and a whole slew of ne'er-do-wells.
Meanwhile, he has personal issues to deal with as his wife Sandra has decided that a trial separation is needed and goes to stay with her parents. Banks is devastated and realizes that he'd taken his twenty-some year marriage quite for granted. He also gets into hot water with the Chief Constable, Jimmy Riddle. I enjoyed this entry in the series quite a lot, although a couple of the minor plot twists were easy peasy to figure out. The main mystery of who killed Fox was rather a natural progression to the ending without much of a surprise, either. The writing was a little uneven though--at times wonderfully evocative and poignant, and at other times seeming a bit rushed. Still, this has become one of my favorite series and I'll definitely keep reading onward."
"I received this as part of a set of murder books, so didn't realise until I'd finished reading it that it was the 9th in a series of Inspector Banks novels. The story stood up well without any previous knowledge of the character though, and I really enjoyed the book. There were no superfluous bits, and the story moved at a good pace.
When my current 'to read' stack dwindles down, I'll be buying some more of this set."
"Peter Robinson is an under-rated and under appreciated master of the mystery genre. This tale, set in the racist right wing fanaticism of England is just one example of the lengthy Inspector Banks series which is well worth exploring."
"A white supremacist youth is beaten to death in an alley, and the evidence appears to point to a group of young Pakistani men. However, there is no evidence to hold them, and there is political fallout. Meanwhile, Banks' marriage is falling apart and Sandra leaves him; he also gets into serious trouble with his superior, Jimmy Riddle, who suspends him, paradoxically leaving him free to push through the last part of his investigation without the restraints of proper police conduct. Ah well, he gets an interesting weekend in Amsterdam. Solution of the mystery is that the white supremacist youth, who belongs to the Albion League, was murdered by an unholy alliance between black drug-dealers and the profiteering leader of that League, neither of whom wanted him to get in the way of a big heroin deal. The climactic scene is the discovery of the death of that leader, Neville Motcombe - a truly grisly tableau set in his own woodworking workshop.
I was half-way certain I had read this before, and when I got to the trip to Amsterdam, I was sure of it, that particular episode being so uncharacteristic of Banks in general, though not at all out of character for a man in the midst of a marriage breakup. (And before my memory fades again, I should add that he does *not* take advantage of the ladies in the windows in the red light district, though he looks. But he has a rare old drunk with Dirty Dick Burgess, who falls in the canal). Anyway, there seemed little doubt that the neo-Nazi Motcombe would prove to be the villain somehow, completely unsympathetic character that he was. What I found interesting was the implicit comment in the way the plot came out - that vicious creatures like Motcombe are relatively small potatoes compared to the anonymous and practiced brutality of the drug trade. I liked the way Robinson took difficulties in his proposed topic - how to bring big-urban issues to Banks in little-town Eastvale (or get him to them, in Leeds and, sub rosa, in Amsterdam) - and turned them into cogs in his private-life plot. Banks' frequent trips to Leeds and his unauthorized European jaunt are both complaints upon which Riddle bases his suspension; and both suggest - although they do not result in - sexual adventures as an alternative to his dying marriage. PC Susan Gay got a big role in this book - her last, I think, as she finally realized she was carrying a torch for Banks and it was in her best interests to get out of town. I liked the way both she and Banks agonized quietly over the differences and degrees of racism - a flippant comment about a Jewish landlord vs. persistent but non-violent racism vs. the extremism of the Albion League. What (if anything) is excusable? What, if not excusable, is explicable? Banks' attempts to mend fences with George, now Mohammed, an English-born son of Pakistani parents, is a very interesting exercise in treading on eggs. As always, I really enjoyed this one, and it's whetted my appetite for the latest in the series."
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