Friend of the Devil
An
Inspector Alan
Banks Mystery
Peter Robinson
William Morrow (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-06-054437-6 (0060544376)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-054437-9 (9780060544379)
Publication Date: March 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis
(from
the publisher): One morning in March, on the edge of a cliff
overlooking the sea, a woman named Karen Drew is found in her
wheelchair with her throat slit. Back in Eastvale on that same morning,
in a tangle of narrow alleys behind a market square, the body of Hayley
Daniels is found raped and strangled.
Two murders ... two towns ...
On loan to a sister precinct, Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot draws
the first case. Karen Drew seems to have lived a quiet and nearly
invisible life for the past seven years. Try as she might, Annie turns
up nothing in the woman's past that might have prompted someone to
wheel her out to the sea and to her death.
Meanwhile, in the Hayley Daniels murder, Chief Inspector Alan Banks has
suspects galore. Everywhere she went, the nineteen-year-old student
attracted attention. Anyone could have followed her on the night she
was out drinking with friends, making sure she never made it back home.
Then a breakthrough spins Annie's case in a shocking and surprising new
direction, straight toward Banks. Coincidence? Not in Eastvale. Banks
and Annie are searching for two killers who might strike again at any
moment and with bloody fury.
Review:
Chief Inspector Alan Banks investigates one murder while his colleague
Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot is assigned to a second in Friend of
the Devil, the 17th mystery in this long running series by
Peter
Robinson.
Alan's case is the rape and murder of a young woman in a building
located in The Maze, a labyrinth of alleys dating back to the 18th
century. Found by the building's owner, she had been out drinking with
friends the previous night before wandering off alone. Annie's case is
the gruesome murder of a quadriplegic, a woman confined to a
wheelchair, who is found on the top of a cliff overlooking the sea,
her throat slit. The cases have nothing in common, but when a policeman
is killed in The Maze, his throat slit in a manner eerily similar to
the murder Annie is investigating, they begin to wonder if there might
be a connection. And if so, what could possibly link these crimes
together.
Friend of the Devil
alternates point of view between Alan and Annie,
with each getting about equal time. This allows the reader to
appreciate the different approaches these detectives take in their
respective investigations as well as get a sense of how they act in
both their personal and professional lives. The depth of character
development here is quite remarkable, and their infrequent scenes
together have a subtle intensity.
Of the two murder investigations, Annie has by far the more interesting
of the two possibly because, from a plot perspective, it is more
complex and involved. While Alan is pounding the payment as it were,
Annie is piecing together a puzzle that ultimately spans many years and
involves an unsolved murder that took place in the vicinity of where
her victim was found. It's all very intriguing and absorbing up until
the very end when Alan comes riding like a knight on a white horse to
Annie's rescue as she confronts the killer. This concluding
cliché
aside, Friend of the
Devil is an exceptional mystery.
Special thanks to HarperCollins for providing a copy of Friend of the Devil for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Gallows View
Scribner (Hardcover), December 1990
ISBN-10: 0-684-19266-7 (0684192667)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-19266-6 (9780684192666)
A Dedicated Man
Scribner (Hardcover), July 1991
ISBN-10: 0-684-19265-9 (0684192659)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-19265-9 (9780684192659)
A Necessary End
Scribner (Hardcover), March 1992
ISBN-10: 0-684-19385-X (068419385X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-19385-4 (9780684193854)
The Hanging
Valley
Scribner (Hardcover), December 1992
ISBN-10: 0-684-19393-0 (0684193930)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-19393-9 (9780684193939)
Past Reason Hated
Scribner (Hardcover), August 1993
ISBN-10: 0-684-19529-1 (0684195291)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-19529-2 (9780684195292)
Wednesday's Child
Scribner (Hardcover), April 1994
ISBN-10: 0-684-19644-1 (0684196441)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-19644-2 (9780684196442)
Final Account
(UK title: Dry Bones That Dream)
Berkley Prime Crime (Hardcover), September 1995
ISBN-10: 0-425-14935-8 (0425149358)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-14935-5 (9780425149355)
Innocent Graves
Berkley Prime Crime (Hardcover), August 1996
ISBN-10: 0-425-15315-0 (0425153150)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-15315-4 (9780425153154)
Blood at the
Root (UK title: Dead Right)
Avon Books (Hardcover), December 1997
ISBN-10: 0-380-97580-7 (0380975807)
ISBN-13: 978-0-380-97580-8 (9780380975808)
In a Dry Season
Avon Books (Hardcover), April 1999
ISBN-10: 0-380-97581-5 (0380975815)
ISBN-13: 978-0-380-97581-5 (9780380975815)
Cold is the Grave
Avon Books (Hardcover), October 2000
ISBN-10: 0-380-97808-3 (0380978083)
ISBN-13: 978-0-380-97808-3 (9780380978083)
Aftermath
Avon Books (Hardcover), October 2001
ISBN-10: 0-380-97832-6 (0380978326)
ISBN-13: 978-0-380-97832-8 (9780380978328)
Close to Home
(UK title: The Summer that Never Was)
William Morrow (Hardcover), February 2003
ISBN-10: 0-06-019878-8 (0060198788)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-019878-7 (9780060198787)
Playing with Fire
William Morrow (Hardcover), February 2004
ISBN-10: 0-06-019877-X (006019877X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-019877-0 (9780060198770)
Strange Affair
William Morrow (Hardcover), February 2005
ISBN-10: 0-06-054433-3 (0060544333)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-054433-1 (9780060544331)
Piece of My Heart
William Morrow (Hardcover), June 2006
ISBN-10: 0-06-054435-X (006054435X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-054435-5 (9780060544355)
Friend of the
Devil
William Morrow (Hardcover), March 2008
ISBN-10: 0-06-054437-6 (0060544376)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-054437-9 (9780060544379)
Omnimystery keywords for Friend of the Devil
...
Location(s) referenced: England.