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.
— ◊ —
— ◊ —
Friend
of the Devil
An
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
— ◊ —
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
Have you read Friend of the Devil? How would you rate it?
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
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
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
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.
