Having already shown, in 1999's In a Dry Season, that he can plumb historical homicide for gripping modern drama, Peter Robinson goes further in Close to Home, telling parallel stories about teenage boys lost in a grownup world, decades apart. The first is Graham Marshall, a childhood pal of Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks, who vanished mysteriously in 1965, the supposed victim of a pedophile. Hearing that Graham's bones have finally been unearthed, Banks quits his vacation in Greece and heads to his hometown of Petersborough, England, hoping to assist the investigation--and, perhaps, assuage his guilt over his friend’s fate. Meanwhile, Banks's colleague and ex-lover, Annie Cabbot, is busy probing the recent disappearance of 15-year-old Luke Armitage, the sensitive, brainy son of a rock star who committed suicide during Luke's infancy. After Cabbot catches hell for interrupting what may or may not have been a legitimate ransom payment for Luke's return, she seeks Banks's advice, drawing these two plot lines neatly together.

As this intense and intricately crafted puzzler develops, blending fiction with a bit of fact (the Kray brothers, who ran a criminal ring in London's East End during the mid-20th century, play off-camera roles here), Robinson explores Banks's troubled relationship with his parents, especially his working-class father, who "had never approved of his choice of career." He also raises doubts about a famed copper who’d originally tackled the Marshall case, involves Banks romantically with a damaged detective whose investigative diligence threatens her safety, and shows Cabbot as someone better and stronger than merely Banks's protégé. Working with themes of lost youth and the dark secrets hidden in small towns, Robinson delivers in this 13th Banks novel a police procedural of remarkable human depth. --J. Kingston Pierce


From Publishers Weekly
In this 12th novel to feature Det. Chief Insp. Alan Banks, the brooding Yorkshire policeman is called back to England from holiday when someone discovers the remains of his old childhood friend Graham Marshall, who disappeared from their hometown in 1965. It's a journey back to Banks's own past and the provincial town of Peterborough, where he assists Michelle Hart, a local detective, on the case. He's also advising his colleague (and former lover) Annie Cabbot as she investigates the more recent disappearance of another teenager: Luke Armitage, the introverted, intellectual son of a British rock star who committed suicide when Luke was a baby. Like P.D. James, Robinson works on a large, intricately detailed canvas (sometimes too detailed-even the minor figures get at least a thumbnail sketch). The plot is richly complex, with lots of forensic science, a fair bit of English criminal history (the Kray brothers, legendary '60s-era London East End gangsters, make an appearance) and some internecine police department feuds. There's a fair amount of action and lots of suspense; someone doesn't want Hart or Banks to pursue the decades-old case, and Cabbot has her hands full with a plethora of unsavory suspects in the Armitage case. Along the way, Robinson probes more abstract ideas: the illusory nature of nostalgia; the dark, secret lives of small towns; middle age; and the oft-lamented challenges of going home again. This satisfying and subtle police procedural has a little bit of everything.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Robinson's 13th novel is a story of parallel crimes-the disappearance of two 15-year-old boys-that are separated by some 35 years. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is drawn into both investigations, one because the missing boy, Graham Marshall, whose body turns up at a building site, was a childhood friend; the other because Inspector Annie Cabbot, a friend and former lover, needs his help. As Robinson shifts imperceptibly from one crime to the other, Banks, too, moves back and forth in time. Tormented by guilt after all these years over Graham's disappearance, he searches through childhood diaries for clues and returns to his parents' home, where he confronts his father, still hostile about his becoming a policeman. As he and Cabbot delve into the second crime, he embarks on an affair with the inspector investigating Graham's death. Though Robinson is his usual brilliant self, one wonders why the women Banks is attracted to all seem to have been wounded in some awful way. This quibble aside, Robinson again shows himself to be as astute a writer as P.D. James as he examines the myriad faces of guilt.Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Inspector Alan Banks is sloughing off the stress of the job on a Greek island when he learns that a friend who disappeared when they were both 14 has been found--buried near their childhood home in Cambridgeshire. Burdened by a clue he never revealed, Banks returns to offer his assistance and finds himself working the case unofficially with--and falling for--Inspector Michelle Hart. Meanwhile, in Banks' adult home of Yorkshire, a 15-year-old has gone missing under mysterious circumstances, and Banks commutes to work that as well, with colleague and former lover Annie Cabbot. Searching for clues, Banks explores the teenage mind and travels into his own past. Robinson is as adept at illuminating interior life (especially the wounded psyches of his crime fighters) as he is in constructing believably odd crime scenarios. But though we're anxious to learn how the two cases are connected--or if they even are--this suspense novel builds slowly and the climax is somewhat mild. Banks fans, however, will enjoy watching the grizzled veteran get to know his younger self. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Otto Penzler
Robinson, actually seems to grow in front of our eyes, delivering books of greater complexity each time.


New York Times Book Review
Praise for Aftermath A devilishly good plotter...[Robinson's] characterizations are so subtle that even the psychological profiler is stumped.


Nevada Barr
Stunningly complex and intricately plotted...entertained me with every twist.


New York Times
Refreshingly down to earth.


Orlando Sentinel
Suspenseful and engrossing.


Washington Post
This one is entertaining and sophisticated, crime writing of a high order.


Publishers Weekly
Lots of suspense...richly complex...satisfying and subtle.


Seattle Times
So readable....


National Post
Highly readable... [Robinson is] one of those first-class storytellers.


Library Journal
Robinson again shows himself to be as astute a writer as P.D. James.


Book Description

There are human bones buried in an open field, the remains of a lost teenaged boy whose disappearance devastated a community more than thirty-five years ago ... and scarred a guilt-ridden friend forever.

A long-hidden horror has been unearthed, dragging a tormented policeman back into a past he could never truly forget no matter how desperately he tried. A heinous crime that occurred too close to home still has its grip on Chief Inspector Alan Banks -- and it's leading him into a dark place where evil still dwells. Because the secrets that doomed young Graham Marshall back in 1965 remain alive and lethal -- and disturbing them could cost Banks much more than he ever imagined.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"A pair of unconscionable deaths separated by miles and years threatens to bring to light shocking revelations that could destroy careers, reputations, cherished myths, and fragile lives. And the terrible truths that lie buried in a mire of betrayal and deception could prove equally devastating to the living and the memory of the dead." "1965. Winston Churchill's funeral. Carnaby Street. The Moors murders. The first U.S. space walk. Help! Mods and rockers. Emma Peel and The Avengers. It was a time of possibility, of hope for the future, the fulcrum point of the sixties. Alan Banks was a teenager on the precipice of manhood with little on his mind but girls and music. Until the day his best friend, Graham, vanished." "For more than thirty-five years, Banks has not forgiven himself for having possibly caused the disappearance and presumed death of Graham that summer. Now a detective chief inspector in Yorkshire, he is consumed by a job that threatens to send him over the edge with its conflicting demands, its proximity to violent death and all that is worst in people. Banks is at an emotional crossroads when, shockingly, brittle bones are unearthed in his childhood town. Identified as Graham's remains, the imagined skeleton in the detective's closet is now all too real. Plummeted back into a past he thought he'd overcome, tormented by guilt over his failure to prevent his best friend's murder so many years ago, Banks is drawn into an investigation that hits dangerously close to home." To Bank's horror, history seemingly repeats itself when a troubled young man, the privileged son of a deceased music legend, goes missing and is presumed dead. Working between the two cases, Banks must draw on all his instincts, his experience, and his memories to find the truth - and lay two innocents to rest.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In this 12th novel to feature Det. Chief Insp. Alan Banks, the brooding Yorkshire policeman is called back to England from holiday when someone discovers the remains of his old childhood friend Graham Marshall, who disappeared from their hometown in 1965. It's a journey back to Banks's own past and the provincial town of Peterborough, where he assists Michelle Hart, a local detective, on the case. He's also advising his colleague (and former lover) Annie Cabbot as she investigates the more recent disappearance of another teenager: Luke Armitage, the introverted, intellectual son of a British rock star who committed suicide when Luke was a baby. Like P.D. James, Robinson works on a large, intricately detailed canvas (sometimes too detailed-even the minor figures get at least a thumbnail sketch). The plot is richly complex, with lots of forensic science, a fair bit of English criminal history (the Kray brothers, legendary '60s-era London East End gangsters, make an appearance) and some internecine police department feuds. There's a fair amount of action and lots of suspense; someone doesn't want Hart or Banks to pursue the decades-old case, and Cabbot has her hands full with a plethora of unsavory suspects in the Armitage case. Along the way, Robinson probes more abstract ideas: the illusory nature of nostalgia; the dark, secret lives of small towns; middle age; and the oft-lamented challenges of going home again. This satisfying and subtle police procedural has a little bit of everything. Agent, Dominick Abel. (Feb.) Forecast: Robinson's long-running series is gathering readers and recognition. This latest addition will be helped by an 11-city tour. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Robinson's 13th novel is a story of parallel crimes-the disappearance of two 15-year-old boys-that are separated by some 35 years. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is drawn into both investigations, one because the missing boy, Graham Marshall, whose body turns up at a building site, was a childhood friend; the other because Inspector Annie Cabbot, a friend and former lover, needs his help. As Robinson shifts imperceptibly from one crime to the other, Banks, too, moves back and forth in time. Tormented by guilt after all these years over Graham's disappearance, he searches through childhood diaries for clues and returns to his parents' home, where he confronts his father, still hostile about his becoming a policeman. As he and Cabbot delve into the second crime, he embarks on an affair with the inspector investigating Graham's death. Though Robinson is his usual brilliant self, one wonders why the women Banks is attracted to all seem to have been wounded in some awful way. This quibble aside, Robinson again shows himself to be as astute a writer as P.D. James as he examines the myriad faces of guilt.-Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal" Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

The New York Times

In light of the slam-bang subtleties of most throwaway thrillers...there is an attractive depth and naturalness about Peter Robinson's "Close to Home." ...refreshingly down-to-earth.... Like Dennis Lehane's "Mystic River," which it resembles in ambition and in pointed contrasts between past and present.... Janet Maslin

Kirkus Reviews