STANDING IN THE SHADOWS by Peter Robinson
I was given the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book by Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley. Thank you.
This is the first novel that I have read by this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is last book in a series, but it readily stood on its own. The characters were well formed, and I did not feel as though not knowing their previous history mattered to this story. Knowing the history may have added more depth to the story but, not knowing did not distract from it either. The book had two timelines going on simultaneously. It begins on November 28,1980 when a university student, Nick Hartley, returns to his house and finds a murder investigation taking place. Then we fast forward, 39 years to November 24, 2019, when a skeleton is discovered in a field during an archaeological dig for Roman artifacts. The skeleton is not from Roman times and DS Banks and his team is called in to investigate. This back-and-forth investigation continues throughout the book. I must admit I found the current year’s investigation more interesting. I really was not very fond of the Nick Harley character from the 1980s. I enjoyed meeting Detective Superintendent, getting to know his choice of music and the food he enjoyed and a little of his personal life. He seems to a genuine character, realistically portrayed with a good team gathered around him. The clues along the way are not obvious, the various aspects of trying to identify the skeleton, the science techniques used were interesting and added to the story. The tenacity of Bank’s team, their police work and their instincts culminate in a murder solved. Respectable job everyone.

This review is posted on Goodreads and Amazon.ca

Easy reading whodunit, albeit somewhat predictable. Nothing to dislike and pleased to have been the opportunity to read.

I enjoyed this book. The writing is excellent. This is the first book that I have read in this series and will now have to read them all.

A master mystery writer, Peter Robinson has once again written a long detailed intricate murder story that will keep you guessing as to the final culprit. On occasion I felt it was a little too padded with personal information….eg: the name of all the music Banks enjoyed.
The story goes back and fore to when Alice Poole is murdered, to a skeleton being found in a remote area that was going to be used for a new Mall.
A must read as all of Peter Robinson’s book are. I highly recommend it.

A good addition to Peter Robinson's works. The plot and general writing were as good as ever, though one might speculate whether he is getting more indulgent in his excuses to share his musical explorations or occasional other moments where he gets a little didactic. I found he wrote best when in the voice of the younger character in this novel.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of this novel.

I hadn't read any other novels by Peter Robinson but that did not stop me from enjoying this one. The story has it's share of twists - none of them seem forced. I found myself reading well past my bedtime just to get a little more of the story revealed.

This was an enjoyable, quick read that checked all my boxes for this type of book.

Peter Robinson's creation, Inspector Alan Banks, has been part of my reading life for a very long time. I started reading them at university in the late 80's, and quickly got hooked on the sense of place that Robinson created. My lifelong desire to hike in the Yorkshire Dales comes from these books, because Robinson made them come to life. I also got very attached to the music-loving, whisky-sipping, eternally unlucky in love Banks. Knowing that this is the last book (Peter Robinson died in October of 22) is not easy. I will still continue hoping for a happy ending for Banks, somewhere in the literary afterlife.

Standing in the Shadows uses a technique that Robinson employed skillfully over the series where he moves back and forth in time, and then melds the stories together at the conclusion. In this novel, one thread of the story takes place in Leeds at the beginning of the 80's. The UK is a mess, and university students in Leeds are hugely on edge because of the Yorkshire Ripper killings. Nick, a student, comes home to discover that his ex-girlfriend and housemate has been killed, and that he is, logically if not accurately, a suspect. Nearly 40 years later, an archaeologist discovers a modern corpse as she's working to clear an area for development, and Banks' team gets the call to figure it out. How are the two story lines connected? That's a Banks-style puzzle to figure out, with the help of Winsome and the team (Annie Cabot is on leave, following her dad's death).

This novel goes back to something resembling a more old-school police procedural, with less of the modern themes (sex trafficking, international drug trade) that Robinson branched into in the last novels in the series and many readers will appreciate that. Robinson himself was a student in Leeds in the time period he captures in the one story line, and that brings a historical accuracy to the character's experience. The author also manages to help one beloved character achieve some closure, separate from the main storyline.

As was his gift, Robinson is able to bring the different threads to the story to a satisfying conclusion. Thanks to NetGalley and McLelland and Steward for the e-arc.

I have read a few of the earlier books in this series years ago. I think reading at least the one before this one would be beneficial, if only because it sounds like a lot of things happen to the characters. I loved how atmospheric this novel was. I was transported to the rainy cold, autumn English countryside and I loved trying to piece together the mystery along with the characters.

This is the 28th book in the series featuring Inspector Banks. Set in Yorkshire, this series always brings in some of the author's own interests, like music.
This one starts at an archeological dig when a woman hoping for Roman artifacts finds bones much closer to the surface than she expected to find anything. The dig is located in a farmer's field that has been requisitioned by the government for a new highway access and amenity location.
As Banks works with experts to identify the few traces located with the bones, and figure out a time period to look at, he finds himself and his team finding a link to a retired police officer, and an earlier crime.
There is also a secondary timeline that begins in late 1980 when university student Nick Hartley is part of an investigation into a female university student who was found murdered. Nick is looking for answers himself and is confused and disappointed when his efforts seem to be dismissed by the police. As he moves forward into life after his studies, he finds his questioning nature helpful in his new career as a journalist.
As the characters from the two timelines intersect, we see how the earlier crime was treated and how the later one resolves many questions.
The music is one way that Banks relaxes, and here he has inherited a collection of old albums that he has to make room for and that the book mentions some of.
I always enjoy seeing the various recurring police officers as well, and several show up here.
Given that Robinson died in October 2022, I'm not sure whether we'll see any more of this series, which is a shame. He was a fantastic storyteller.

Standing in the Shadows is the 28th and final Inspector Banks novel by the late Peter Robinson. This is an enjoyable police procedural. As it contains spoilers to previous novels, I would not use it to introduce a new reader to the series.

Peter Robinson’s Standing in the Shadows is split between two timelines and narrators. The first timeline is 1980 and told by Nicholas Hartley, a student. His former girlfriend, Alice Poole, has been killed, perhaps by the Yorkshire Ripper, and her boyfriend is missing. Hartley goes about his life.

The second timeline is 2019. Told by an omniscient narrator, the story follows the discovery of a body in an unused piece of farmland that is going to become a shopping centre. This is where Banks comes in.

It takes quite a while for Standing in the Shadow’s two stories to link, more than two hundred pages in fact. At first the link is coincidental. As Banks and his detectives, mostly his detectives, start looking into the farmland murder, a connection is made to the murder of Alice Poole.

This is at the same time that Nicholas Hartley finds an in as to who killed Alice Poole. It is not a whopper of a coincidence but does require the reader to go along with Peter Robinson on this. It takes a lot more willing suspension of disbelief to swallow the immense happenstance as to where the unknown body was buried.

Just to be picky: Robinson makes a factual mistake when he talks of the murder of a Milly Dowling. The accurate last name is Dowler.

Standing in the Shadows, the 28th Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson is a solid read even if the solve relies too much on deus ex machina for me.

Standing in the Shadows
A Inspector Banks mystery
Peter Robinson
McClelland & Stewart 2023
359 pages

Thank you NetGalley and McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada for a copy of "Standing in the Shadows" in exchange for my honest review.

This story is told in two different time periods 1980 and 2019. In 1980 Nicholas Hartley a university student arrives home at his bedsit to find police searching for a fellow student Alice Poole. The investigators are convinced that it's the work of the Yorkshire Ripper. Nick feeling that the police are not doing everything they can, not investigating everything they can makes it his mission to keep looking into every possible to clue as to what happened to Alice.

In 2019 Grace Hutchinson from the Northern Archeological Associates finds a human skull while searching for Roman remains along the A1 where they are planning to build a shopping centre. Since the skeleton is not buried very deep they soon realize that it is not a Roman remain but rather a recent murder. With no ID on the body they have to piece together the identity from the tiny bits of evidence that they do find with the body.

Are these two cases decades apart somehow linked? DI Banks and his team piece together the clues from both cases.

This was a hard one. I've read every one of Peter's books since the beginning. Catching onto them somewhere in the mid-90s, then going back to start at the beginning.
It was a highlight every year when a new Alan Banks novel came out.
I loved how some of these books would be light, meandering tales. The mystery and crime were always there, but not necessarily at the forefront. It felt like you were hanging out with a group of people on the job.

Other ones would be full of high-stakes action moving almost to a thriller level. But it wasn't always life or death at stake. The main characters weren't constantly in the cross-hairs. There wasn't yet another near death, another serial killer suddenly focused on Alan or his team.
But they also aren't cozies. They were always different but familiar.

Standing in the Shadows was very likely not supposed to be the final Banks novel. A new character was added. Old ones re-emerged. People were flung off in all directions and brought. It was a fine ending only because this is a fine book. I would love to have seen how Peter would have completed this series on his own terms.

We've lost a great Canadian writer. A kind man whose voice rings through my head whenever I read a Banks novel. Someone who knew how to deliver a mystery that makes you want to keep reading to figure it all out, not because of cheap tricks and theatrics.

The way this book moves through time is very well done. You're constantly going to be wondering who the victim is. And it comes together beautifully as Robinson's books always do.

Read this, but if you've never read any of Peter Robinson's novels, go right back to the beginning. You'll be glad you did.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy.

Another excellent book by Peter Robinson. They just keep getting better and better. This one, is in the form of two different stories and perspectives which eventually, intertwine. I sometimes got confused for a few minutes which era/perspective but quickly got it straight. Different ways at looking at the same issue always makes me think. For a long-established police office, tidy endings are few are far between. For an individual dealing with a murder of a loved one, moving on isjust not an option. This book certainly underscores both perspectives , and to me, demonstrates clearly at who we are today is largely of our backgrounds.. a great read, but also a thought-provoking one.

Thank you net galley for gibing me this opportunity to read the book 'Standing in the Shadows'.
This is a dual dual timeline story taking place in late 1980 and 2019.
Nick is a university student and his girlfriend recently broke up with him.
There are police officers at his small apartment. The police are there to question Nick about the death of his ex-girlfriend Alice Poole.

Forward to 2019 a young archieologist is with a group of other archieologists digging up a parcel of land. The archieologist finds skeletal remains buried.

There were so many twists that it kept me reading to find out what happened,

Book review of Standing in the Shadows, by Peter Robinson.
This is the 28th DCI Banks novel. A skeleton is found during an archaeological dig prior to the building of shopping mall in 2019, later identified as a 60 year old man. In 1980, Nick’s ex-girlfriend is murdered. I found in Nick a very sympathetic character. Her new boyfriend, Mark, vanishes, supposedly in Europe. DCI Banks and his unit investigate. I enjoyed the careful plotting of events, especially the flashbacks to the earlier times of Nick, who keeps the memories he has of Alice alive, long after the earlier investigate evaporates, so suddenly. I enjoyed the slow unveiling of details and accounts that lead the investigation to its almost conclusion. 4 out of 5 stars.

It feels like the end of an era in the police procedural genre, knowing this is the last "Inspector Banks" book that will be released. Peter Robinson was one of the greats and left us too soon. I can only imagine the stories still left in his brain and feel so sad to know we'll never get to enjoy them. But what a legacy he left!

In this final Inspector Alan Banks book, we're thankfully in 2019 - before the pandemic - and also in the 1980s, as the timeline flips between Banks investigating the discovery of a skeleton in a rural field, and a young man named Nick Hartley, whose ex-girlfriend is murdered during the chaotic age of the Yorkshire Ripper and his reign of terror. How these stories are connected is something best left for the reader to discover, given Robinson imbues the story with his usual readability and unputdownability. Might not be a word, but should be!

Banks has grown so much through the series - Robinson was adept at creating subtle shifts as Banks ages (feeling apathetic about politics for example) while still staying true to the core of his character - his love of a drink, of music, of being alone in his haunted cottage. He's still a dedicated copper and truly skilled at getting to the truth of the matter, whilst motivating his team and managing those complex interpersonal dynamics.

I also enjoyed getting to know the character of Nick and the perfect capturing of the 1980s as an era. It's almost impossible to believe when he says "I don't have a phone" to someone who wants to get in touch with him, but that wasn't uncommon. Nor was the fact that he didn't spend all day on social media, etc. I love those glimpses into a time I barely remember (I was a child in the 80s but too young to really know wtf was going on lol) - simpler perhaps, but not to the people living in it. Captivating and Robinson got it pitch perfect.

The denouement of this tale was less important to me than the journey, but it still wraps up nicely. It's true that I didn't really want to turn the page, because then I'd never get to know where Banks might have gone, what happened to Zelda, would Annie come back to the squad, how Joshua might grow up... it's all lost now, with the tragic death of Robinson. But he did leave us a gift - 28 Banks mysteries to savour, and that's worth even more than Ray's priceless records collection!

Best enjoyed with a whisky or pint of Black Sheep.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book series has stood the test of time due to the quality of writing. I was very sad to hear of Peter’s passing and treasured this last book even more.
As always with his books, it was a top shelf mystery which kept me engaged and guessing.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

There’s something a bit strange about reading a book from an author whose early work you know well, that is published after he’s gone. So it is with Peter Robinson‘s last Inspector Banks novel.

This is another split-timeline story. The earlier sections are set in winter of 1980, when a university student is briefly a suspect in the murder of his ex-girlfriend. He’s trying to figure out what happened by questioning her friends and family. After a dramatic start, those plot sections rather devolve into a slow meander through 1980 university life with minor forays into the recent doings of the victim. We don’t much care about the student who is suspected, and we hardly learn anything to make us mourn the student who was killed.

The contemporary novel sections involve a years-old unidentified corpse that is turned up by archaeologists surveying the site of a future shopping mall. With no reason beyond mere curiosity to care about this unidentified collection of bones and bits of leather or metal, we can only plod along as Banks directs his team on lines of potential inquiry, occasionally buying them drinks, and generally showing why he’d be a nice boss to have. Old case threads and characters get some page time. Favours get called in from pals in high and low places. No more about archaeology, and the archaeologist rather fades away without leaving any impact, despite being one of the first (and only) interesting characters we meet. There’s a lot about music of the era, which bands were hot and which not, amid a few digressions into the spreading news that John Lennon was killed.

I found myself wondering how much of the manuscript was written many years ago and never quite reached publication in its original form. Could it have been updated with the investigation set in 2019, to feature the ageing Banks still cleaning up the mess from his previous case?

The book’s interesting enough in its way, and competent as usual, but not lighting the world of detective fiction on fire. It’s not a ‘final book’ in any sense beyond the occasional glance backward. And we will never know now how Robinson might have retired his venerated Inspector, or what plans he might have had for the many sidekicks and side characters. Read it if you’re a longtime fan, if only for the poignancy of knowing it is the final book from a prolific and widely respected author.

It was sad to read what is likely the last Alan Banks story - there's so much more I want to know about him. Lots of twists and turns and lots of places where I was proven wrong (which I love in a book) and highly enjoyable.

I came into this series late - like the last book, late. I enjoyed the dual timeline aspect of the story and how Banks and his team could pull all the players from the past together and get their man.

Now that I've read this one, I'll have to go back and start at the beginning.