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HANGING VALLEY
by Peter Robinson
Avon Books, October 2002
304 pages
$6.99
ISBN: 038082048X


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

In the English town of Swainshead everyone is keeping an old secret. A decade ago, the body of Raymond Addison, a private investigator, was found on the top of a mountain. The next day, a young woman by the name of Anne Ralston disappeared. She has not been heard of since then. Both cases had remained unsolved and that was fine by most of the locals. Now there is a new body on the same mountain. The townspeople are now wondering, could all this be related?

Inspector Alan Banks is sent to investigate the murder of Bernie Allen. Ten years ago, Banks' boss, Superintendent Gristhorpe was in charge of the Addison and Ralston case and he wants to get involved with this case. He remembers the local citizenry and decides to work with the inspector. The investigation will focus on five people from Swainhead and they will take most of the story.

Robinson puts Banks on the back seat in order to explore the other characters. Each one of them shares a unique insight on what promises to be a tightly structured story. In the course of his inquiry, Banks learns about a possible sighting of Ralston in Toronto so Gristhorpe lets him go to Canada while the superintendent continues the inquiry. The author uses his knowledge of Toronto in order to put Banks' in a different surrounding and atmosphere. Most of Banks' actions in this new land are rather perfunctory and it does not enhance the story. The story however has a powerful ending where the reader can supply their own epilogue. This book is not one of Robinson's best but it does not weaken what is one of the best English police procedurals in print today.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, October 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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