Strange Affair. Peter Robinson. Pan Books (2005)

This is a very enjoyable police procedural. Detective Chief inspector Alan Banks is still recovering for an attempt made on his life and the burning down of his house. He gets a call for help from his brother, a man he has had very little contact with or in common with. When Banks travels to London to meet his brother, he has vanished and Banks has a strong suspicion of foul play. Detective Annie Cabbot has a case of a woman murdered in her car on a deserted road, she has a hand written note in her pocket giving DCI Banks' address and directions. The two cases converge nicely and the investigation has some very nasty surprises for Banks. The reveals are cunningly staged, the action is clear and direct and the plot at the root of the story is solid and effectively unpleasant.
DCI Banks is a rather unsympathetic character, a competent and effective police officer he is hard to warm to. The story puts him in an interesting position, he is investigating his own family and confronting his own feelings about his brother, whom he essentially disapproves of. He is given a nicely drawn problem of how to respond to the possible criminal activities of his brother, which has his greater loyalty family of the job.
The rest of the cast are well drawn and the investigation is very well structured. The cast share the spotlight and this gives the story range and diversity. DI Cabbot is given a greater emotional range than Banks and some significant baggage. It gives her depth as well as degree of defensiveness that keeps the reader as well as the other cast members at bay. Overall the cast are notable for their energy and sharp corners rather than being engaging. A smart and thoughtful plot and an excellent cast make for a gripping, if slightly cold, story, well worth reading.

Friend of the Devil. Peter Robinson. Hodder (2008)

This is an enjoyable crime story marred by an display of unpleasant sexual politics that adds nothing to the story or to the cast members involved. A central female character is punished mightily for having a one night stand with a significantly younger man, a central male character gets to spend a night with a stunningly beautiful, confident, clever and much younger woman and enjoy it without significant emotional consequences. The contrast between the treatment of the two could not be starker and given the space that is devoted to the trouble that follows Annie Cabbot after she wakes up in a stranger's bed is impossible to ignore. It is in fact absurdly intrusive and contrasts so intensely with the silken treatment of Alan Bank's slide into sexual comfort that it has to be deliberate. Away from that the story is a very well constructed narrative about two murders. One is the rape and murder of a teenage girl in an tangle of little streets called the Maze. Peter Robinson manages to create a sufficient context to explain the use of sexual assault as a plot point, it is integral to the actions of the cast rather than a gratuitous grace note. The investigation is nicely set up and executed, there is a solid logic to developments and the conclusion is satisfying and credible.

The second murder is that of a woman in a wheelchair, she had been left at a cliff top with her throat cut. It turns out that she was not who she appeared to be, she had been a significant character in a previous investigation conducted by Alan Banks. This investigation takes a enjoyably unexpected turn and the conclusion is nicely developed. The cast are vigorous and well developed, the police are not very sympathetic, they are very credible. First rate crime writing, shame about the detours into stupidity.