Without a doubt, the family and friends of fictional sleuths are two of the most endangered species on the planet. Crime novelists seem to have no qualms about sacrificing the people nearest and dearest to their protagonists, if doing so will advance plot development or bestow emotional depth upon their series stars. Peter Robinson continues this ruthless tradition in Strange Affair, his tension-packed 15th novel featuring headstrong British Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Still on the mend after the blazing finale of 2004's Playing with Fire, temporarily sworn off whiskey but back to smoking, Banks is interrupted in the midst of brooding over his life and failed relationships by a message from his estranged younger brother, Roy, who says he needs the DCI's help in "a matter of life and death." Concerned, especially since Roy boasts a history of dubious business dealings, Banks leaves Yorkshire for his sibling's home in London, only to find that residence unlocked, Roy's computer missing, and his cell phone left behind. After learning that Roy was last seen stepping into a car with an unidentified man, and receiving on Roy's mobile what appears to be a photo of his only brother slumped over in a chair, the cop fears that a kidnapping has occurred.

Meanwhile, back in Eastvale, Banks's colleague and ex-lover, Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot, probes the shooting death of Jennifer Clewes, a 27-year-old family planning center administrator from London who's been found in her car, with the address of Banks's once-ruined (and recently broken into) cottage tucked into her jeans pocket. As Annie seeks to identify Clewes's attacker and determine whether this crime fits a pattern of roadway assaults, she's anxious also to discover what connection Banks may have to the case. But the DCI is frustratingly nowhere to be found.

Like 2003's Close to Home, Strange Affair adds some welcome bricks to Banks's back story, this time forcing him to reappraise a brother whom he had long resented and distrusted. Simultaneously, Robinson's latest police procedural delivers artfully contrived, intersecting story lines charged with rumors of international arms dealing, hints of misdeeds at a women's clinic, secondary players so shady they might be invisible after sundown, and insights into just how far Banks's career has distanced him from folks less steeped in the ugly side of mankind. An immensely satisfying mystery, filled with professional risks and personal regrets, this is truly an Affair to remember. --J. Kingston Pierce

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In his last outing (Playing With Fire), Insp. Alan Banks nearly died when a serial killer set fire to his cottage in the Yorkshire village of Eastvale, and the melancholic detective remains understandably depressed as this superlative 15th novel in the series gets underway. Living in a rented flat, Banks is struggling to put his life back together when an urgent phone message from his younger brother, Roy—a successful, slightly shady London businessman—requests his help: "It could be a matter of life and death.... Maybe even mine." When he can't reach Roy by phone, Banks travels to London to see what's wrong and finds his brother's house unlocked and no hint about where he might have gone or why. On the night of Roy's phone call, a young woman is shot to death in her car just outside of Eastvale, and she has Banks's name and address in her pocket. Annie Cabbot, Banks's colleague on the force (and a former lover), is in charge of that case, and her investigation quickly intersects with Banks's unofficial sleuthing into his brother's inexplicable disappearance. The gripping story, which revolves around that most heinous of crimes, human trafficking, shows Robinson getting more adept at juggling complex plot lines while retaining his excellent skills at characterization. The result is deeply absorbing, and the nuances of Banks's character are increasingly compelling. Agent, Dominick Abel. (Feb. 15) Forecast: Robinson's reputation in the States (he is English and lives in Canada) continues to build. With the help of a big marketing campaign and an eight-city author tour, this could be a breakout novel for him. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Banks will ferret out the truth, no matter what rules he breaks. In this British police procedural, Robinson offers up a gritty plot with some introspective ruminations on self-identity and personal relationships. As Banks (“not your everyday quaffing plonk”) evaluates his relationship with his high-living, shady brother, he examines his own vulnerabilities-heightened, of course, by his nasty divorce and near-death experience in the aforementioned fire. Robinson fleshes out compelling characters, but also comments on important social issues, from international arms dealings to women’s rights. It’s a good read, especially for its unpredictable depravities. “Alan has long known that there is no shortage of monsters in this world,” writes the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “but Strange Affair reinforces that.”Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

From Booklist
Robinson is one of those multiawarded authors (the Edgar, the Anthony, the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere), who is absolutely reliable. This novel marks the fifteenth in the Inspector Alan Banks series, set in Yorkshire. Depressed over the loss of his cottage in a fire, Banks is galvanized into action by a pleading message from his estranged brother in London. When Banks travels to his wealthy brother's home, he finds it totally empty yet filled with disturbing clues as to the source of his brother's money. Banks' estranged lover and sidekick, Detective Annie Cabbot, is left to cope by herself with the investigation of the murder of a young woman on the motorway. When Cabbot finds a letter addressed to Banks on the victim, the reader knows that Robinson will tie the two investigations together in fiendishly clever ways. Another Robinson winner. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Fascinating....Robinson, with his usual deft touch and unblinking eye, brings the story to an unexpectedly gut-wrenching conclusion."

Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Superlative...Deeply absorbing...Gripping."

Winnipeg Sun
"The best Banks book in years."

Janet Maslin, New York Times
"First-rate … an addictive crime series … bet you can’t read just one."

Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
"Smart and shapely ... immaculately constructed."

Raleigh News & Observer
"A fast-moving story [with] some knockout scenery and an assemblage of delicately drawn characters."

Florida Sun-Sentinel
"Robinson shows he’s a master ... mixes a gritty plot with intense character studies....Consistently compelling."

Miami Herald
"If you haven’t read Robinson .... what on Earth is stopping you? .... A clever and entertaining thriller."

Baltimore Sun
"A damn fine crime novel...like a master class in crime fiction."

Tampa Tribune
"Flawless plotting and superbly drawn characters….[Robinson] is a master craftsman."

Book Description

On a warm summer night, an attractive woman hurtles north in a blue Peugeot with a hastily scrawled address in her pocket, while, back in London, a desperate man leaves an urgent late-night phone message on his brother's answering machine. By sunrise the next morning, the woman is found inside her car along an otherwise peaceful country lane, shot, execution-style, through the head.

Welcome to the idyllic Yorkshire Dales, where Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot arrives on the scene and discovers, to her surprise, a slip of paper in the dead woman's pocket that bears the name of her colleague and erstwhile lover, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Banks, meanwhile -- already haunted and withdrawn after nearly dying in the fire that destroyed his home -- has gone missing just when he's needed most, and has left plenty of questions behind.

As Annie struggles to determine whether or not Banks is safe -- and what role he may have played in the woman's murder -- Banks himself investigates the mysterious disappearance of his estranged brother, Roy, whose late-night call for help brings Banks back to London. Working from Roy's swank apartment, Banks makes the rounds to Roy's old haunts and slowly inhabits the life of his younger brother -- the black sheep of the family, who always seemed to sail a little too close to the wind. As the trail of clues about Roy's life and associations draws Banks into a dark circle of conspiracy and corruption, mobsters and murder, Banks suddenly realizes he's running out of time to save Roy, and by digging too deep, he may be exposing himself and his family to the same -- possibly deadly -- danger.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Edgar and Anthony Award-winning author Peter Robinson's fourth book is a gritty tale of brothers at odds and a story of unexpected connections. Alan and Roy Banks were never close. Alan was a normal teenager with a chaotic room and appalling taste in music. Roy was compulsively neat and kept a lock on his toy box. Alan went on to become Detective Chief Inspector Banks, with a solid, if not always shining, police career. And Roy, estranged from his brother, became a wealthy entrepreneur. Then Roy disappears, and Alan's search for him soon confirms his long-held suspicion that Roy has been operating on the shady side of the law.

When a murdered woman is found in possession of a piece of paper with Alan's name scrawled on it, Alan must dig deeper into his brother's shadow life. The discovery of the dead woman's connection to a doctor who treated prostitutes off the books as a "public service" gives credence to Alan's fears. Bit by bit, Alan's investigation reveals the sickening evidence of Roy's involvement in kidnapping and prostitution. But recently, something must have changed. The Roy he's unwillingly come to know wouldn't have given up his ill-gotten gains lightly or easily.

As Alan begins to wonder whether his brother finally got mixed up in a crime so terrible that even he had objected, it gradually becomes clear that Alan himself is in deep trouble. He's already learned enough to become a target for whoever had the ruthlessness and power to make his black-sheep brother disappear. Sue Stone

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"On a warm summer night, an attractive woman hurtles north in a blue Peugeot with a hastily scrawled address in her pocket, while, back in London, a desperate man leaves an urgent late-night phone message on his brother's answering machine. By sunrise the next morning, the woman is found inside her car along an otherwise peaceful country lane, shot, execution-style, through the head." "Welcome to the idyllic Yorkshire Dales, where Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot arrives on the scene and discovers, to her surprise, a slip of paper in the dead woman's pocket that bears the name of her colleague and erstwhile lover, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Banks, meanwhile - already haunted and withdrawn after nearly dying in the fire that destroyed his home - has gone missing just when he's needed most, and has left plenty of questions behind." As Annie struggles to determine whether or not Banks is safe - and what role he may have played in the woman's murder - Banks himself investigates the mysterious disappearance of his estranged brother, Roy, whose late-night call for help brings Banks back to London. Working from Roy's swank apartment, Banks makes the rounds to Roy's old haunts and slowly inhabits the life of his younger brother - the black sheep of the family, who always seemed to sail a little too close to the wind. As the trail of clues about Roy's life and associations draws Banks into a dark circle of conspiracy and corruption, mobsters and murder, Banks suddenly realizes he's running out of time to save Roy, and by digging too deep, he may be exposing himself and his family to the same - possibly deadly - danger.

FROM THE CRITICS

Patrick Anderson - The Washington Post

Banks admits that he had assumed that prostitutes were in the business by choice, but the Interpol man shows him that is often not the case. In exploring the issue of sexual slavery, Robinson joins other crime writers, and many journalists, in casting a light on dark corners of our society. John Lescroart's The Motive, reviewed here recently, took a hard look at another urgent issue, prosecutorial misconduct, as have numerous lawyers who have turned to fiction. It is heartening to see first-rate writers like Robinson and Lescroart becoming, in effect, muckrakers, for ours is a world with an inexhaustible supply of muck that needs raking.

Janet Maslin - The New York Times

"Definitely not your everyday quaffing plonk," Mr. Robinson writes descriptively in Strange Affair, abiding by two strict rules of this genre: mention snacks and beverages as often as possible, and don't stint on the colorful lingo. But the small stuff is deftly fused with an engrossing crime story, which also includes the murder of an unknown woman traveling along a highway. Mr. Robinson stocks the book with chapter-ending cliffhangers, among other good reasons to follow his well-crafted story. His finishing stroke of evil is a startling one, even by these books' standards of deviant behavior.

Publishers Weekly

In his last outing (Playing With Fire), Insp. Alan Banks nearly died when a serial killer set fire to his cottage in the Yorkshire village of Eastvale, and the melancholic detective remains understandably depressed as this superlative 15th novel in the series gets underway. Living in a rented flat, Banks is struggling to put his life back together when an urgent phone message from his younger brother, Roy-a successful, slightly shady London businessman-requests his help: "It could be a matter of life and death.... Maybe even mine." When he can't reach Roy by phone, Banks travels to London to see what's wrong and finds his brother's house unlocked and no hint about where he might have gone or why. On the night of Roy's phone call, a young woman is shot to death in her car just outside of Eastvale, and she has Banks's name and address in her pocket. Annie Cabbot, Banks's colleague on the force (and a former lover), is in charge of that case, and her investigation quickly intersects with Banks's unofficial sleuthing into his brother's inexplicable disappearance. The gripping story, which revolves around that most heinous of crimes, human trafficking, shows Robinson getting more adept at juggling complex plot lines while retaining his excellent skills at characterization. The result is deeply absorbing, and the nuances of Banks's character are increasingly compelling. Agent, Dominick Abel. (Feb. 15) Forecast: Robinson's reputation in the States (he is English and lives in Canada) continues to build. With the help of a big marketing campaign and an eight-city author tour, this could be a breakout novel for him. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is still recovering from a fire that almost took his life (in Playing With Fire) when his estranged brother Roy leaves a message on his machine pleading for his help. When he cannot reach Roy, Alan travels to London and finds his brother's house unlocked and Roy nowhere to be found. Meanwhile back in Eastvale, a woman has been found, shot to death execution-style. In her back pocket is Banks's address, leaving Detective Inspector Annie Cabot to try to figure out who the girl is and where Alan has disappeared to. When the two finally meet up in London, they must work through their personal differences before they can resolve the two crimes. After a break with a standalone novel (The First Cut), Robinson returns to a police procedural series that just keeps getting better. Recommended for all mystery collections. Robinson lives in Toronto. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 10/1/04.]-Deborah Shippy, Moline P.L., IL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews