Peter Robinson, who emigrated to Canada in 1974, is best known for his novels featuring Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks of the Eastvale Criminal Investigation Department, Yorkshire. 

Robinson's Chief Inspector Banks series is built around the character of Alan Banks and the quiet, methodical, and ruminative way in which he sets about solving crimes in the Yorkshire Dales with the assistance of his investigative team. Banks is relatively new to the Dales, having recently transferred from London in search of (ironically, given the number of murders that fall his way) a quieter professional life. He is married to an independent woman who challenges rather than acquiesces to him. A consummate family man, Banks runs miniature trains for relaxation, relishes his Sunday beef with Yorkshire pudding, and mourns his children's adolescent trajectory away from hearth and home. He enjoys a good working partnership with his superior, Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe, a gritty Yorkshireman who struggles to replicate the ancient technology of dry stone wall-building on his Dales farm. In employing cool logic, honed instinct, and sheer doggedness in pursuing his inquiries, and in avoiding violence for the most part, Inspector Banks is very much the classic police investigator—which is not surprising, given Robinson's acknowledgment of writers like Simenon, Maigret, and Christie as early influences upon his work.

Yet Banks is distinctive in the robust psychological contours that Robinson affords him. A working-class lad who had failed his "eleven plus" exams and barely escaped being shoehorned into a manual trade of little interest to him, Banks is acutely aware of his good luck but also of his lack of formal education. He hungers for knowledge and culture. He loves classical music, especially opera, and crams his home and his mind with the detritus of things he wishes he knew more about—from Dickens and winemaking to bird eggs and local geology. He has an instinct for ferreting out white-collar and class-motivated crime as a result of what Robinson calls a "working-class chip on the shoulder" and exploits what is second nature to him, that sense of cautious distrust that characterizes the perpetual outsider. Marilyn Rose's article continues here.

GALLOWS VIEW: Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks has recently moved to the Yorkshire Dales from London to escape the stress of the metropolis. But he soon finds that life in the country is not quite as idyllic as he had imagined. A peeping Tom is frightening the women of Eastvale. Two glue-sniffing thugs are breaking into homes. An old woman may or may not have been murdered. In addition, Banks has to deal with his attraction to a young psychologist Jenny Fuller. As the tension mounts, both Jenny and Banks's wife are drawn deeper into events. And Banks realizes that his cases are weaving closer and closer together. R11/12

A DEDICATED MAN: Near the village of Helmthorpe, Swainsdale, the body of a well-liked local historian is found half-buried under a drystone wall. Harry Steadman has been brutally murdered. But who want to kill such a thoughtful, dedicated man? Chief Inspector Banks is called in to investigate and soon discovers that disturbing secrets lie behind the apparently bucolic facade. It is clear that young Sally Lumb, locked in her lover's arms on the night of the murder, knows more than she is letting on. And her knowledge could lead to danger. R12/12

A NECESSARY END: In the usually peaceful town of Eastvale, a simmering tension has now reached breaking point. An anti-nuclear demonstration has ended in violence, leaving one policeman stabbed to death. Fired by professional outrage, Superintendent 'Dirty Dick' Burgess descends with vengeful fury on the inhabitants of 'Maggie's Farm', an isolated house high on the daleside. Inspector Banks is uneasy about Burgess's handling of the investigation. But he has been warned off the case. Soon Banks realises that the only way he can salvage his career is by beating Burgess to the killer. O-R12/12

THE HANGING VALLEY: A faceless corpse is discovered in a tranquil, hidden valley below the village of Swainshead. And when Chief Inspector Alan Banks arrives, he finds that no-one is willing to talk. Banks's frustration only grows when the identity of the body is revealed. For it seems that his latest case may be connected with an unsolved murder in the same area five years ago. Among the silent suspects are the Collier brothers, the wealthiest and most powerful family in Swainsdale. When they start use their influence to slow down the investigation, Inspector Alan Banks finds himself in a race against time. O-R01/13

PAST REASON HATED: It should have been a cosy scene:log fire, sheepskin rug, Vivaldi on the stereo, Christmas lights and tree. But appearances can be deceptive. For Caroline Hartley, lying quietly on the couch, has been brutally murdered. Inspector Alan Banks is called to the grim scene. And he soon has more suspects than he ever imagined. As he delves into her past, he realises that for Caroline, secrecy was a way of life, and her death is no different. His ensuing investigation is full of hidden passions and desperate violence. R01/13

WEDNESDAY'S CHILD: For Chief Inspector Banks and Superintendent Gristhorpe the abduction of a young girl brings back dreadful memories of the Moors Murders.  When two social workers, investigating reports of child abuse, appear at Brenda Scupham's door, her fear of authority leads her to comply meekly with their requests. Even when they say that they must take her seven-year-old daughter Gemma away for tests... It is only when they fail to return Gemma the following day that Brenda realises something has gone terribly wrong. Particularly worrying is the calculated manner of the abduction, and the fact that one of the 'social workers' was a woman. For Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks ritual Satanic abuse is a dreadful possibility. At the same time, Banks is investigating a particularly grisly murder at the site of an abandoned mine. Gradually, the leads in the two cases converge, guiding Banks to one of the most truly terrifying villains he will ever meet. R01/13

ANNA SAID (18pp): DCI Alan Banks investigates a love triangle that is dismantled with a very contemporary and highly appropriate weapon that has historical precedents. O-R05/13

DRY BONES THAT DREAM aka FINAL ACCOUNT:It was 2.47am when Chief Inspector Alan Banks arrived at the barn and saw the body of Keith Rothwell for the first time. Only hours earlier two masked men had walked the mild-mannered accountant out of his farmhouse and clinically blasted him with a shotgun. Clearly this is a professional hit – but Keith was hardly the sort of person to make deadly enemies. Or was he? For the police investigation soon raises more questions than answers. And who, exactly, is Robert Calvert? The more Banks scratches the surface, the more he wonders what lies beneath the veneer of the apparently happy Rothwell family. And when his old sparring partner Detective Superintendent Richard Burgess arrives from Scotland Yard, the case takes yet another unexpected twist. R02/13 (TV-2.3/4, 2012)

SUMMER RAIN (21pp): DCI Alan Banks attempts to solve the mystery of a young Californian man who claims to have been murdered in Yorkshire in a previous lifetime.  O-R05/13

NO CURE FOR LOVE [Non-DCI Banks]: A British actress transplanted to Hollywood, Sarah Broughton plays cool, efficient homicide detective Anita O'Rourke in the hit network series Good Cop, Bad Cop. She seems to have it all - a beach house in Pacific Palisades, all the peace and privacy she needs to forget her troubled past, then she starts receiving disturbing letters from someone who signs himself only as "M". Soon, she is plunged into a nightmare of twisted, obsessive love that threatens her sanity, her life and the lives of her friends. Detectives Arvo Hughes and Maria Hernandez from the LAPD Threat Management Unit must explore the lost years of Sarah's life in order to save her. But Sarah's memories of the long roller-coaster ride of drugs, sex and rock and roll are vague and blurred. When "M's" obsession escalates to murder, the two detectives find themselves in a race against time to save Sarah's life.

INNOCENT GRAVES: One foggy night, Deborah Harrison is found lying in the churchyard behind St Mary's, Eastvale. She has been strangled with the strap of her own school satchel. But Deborah was no typical sixteen-year-old. Her father was a powerful financier who moved in the highest echelons of industry, defence and classified information. And Deborah, it seemed, enjoyed keeping secrets of her own. With his colleague DC Susan Gay, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks moves among the many suspects, guilty of crimes large and small. And as he does so, plenty of sordid secrets and some deadly lies begin to emerge. R02/13 (TV-2.5/6, 2012)

DEAD RIGHT aka BLOOD AT THE ROOT: The broken body of Jason Fox has been found in a dirty alleyway. At first it looks like a typical after-hours pub fight gone wrong. But Inspector Alan Banks soon realizes that the truth is rarely so straightforward. Jason was a member of the Albion League, a white power organization. And there are many people who might have wished him dead: the Pakistani youths he had insulted in the pub that evening; the shady friends of his business partner; or someone within the Albion League itself. And just as Banks begins to get a grip on the case, an unexpected discovery forces him to reconsider everything he believes. R02/13

IN A DRY SEASON: During a blistering summer, drought has depleted the precious resources of Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering the remains of a small village called Hobb's End - hidden from view for over forty years. For a curious young boy this resurfaced hamlet has become a magical playground...until he unearths a human skeleton. Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks, unpopular with his superiors for having challenged the system once too often, is given the impossible task of identifying the victim - a woman who lived in a place that no longer exists, whose former residents are scattered to the winds. R02/13

COLD IS THE GRAVE: Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks's relationship with Chief Constable Riddle has always been strained. So Banks is more than a little surprised when Riddle summons him late one night and begs for his help. For Riddle, Banks new case is terrifyingly close to home. Six months ago his sixteen-year-old daughter ran away to London, where she has fallen into a turbulent world of drugs and pornography. With his reputation threatened, Riddle wants Banks to use his unorthodox methods to find her without fuss. But before he knows it, Banks is investigating a murder. R03/13 (TV-1.5/6, 2011)

BAD BOY: Banks isn't back, and that's the problem. If DCI Alan Banks had been in his office when his old neighbour came calling, perhaps it would have turned out differently. Perhaps an innocent man would still be alive. And perhaps Banks's daughter wouldn't be on the run with a wanted man. But Banks is on holiday, blissfully unaware of the terrible chain of events set in motion by the discovery of a loaded gun in a young woman's bedroom, and his daughter's involvement with the ultimate bad boy. O-R05/13

CARELESS LOVE: A young student has apparently committed suicide. Her body is found in an abandoned car on a country road. She didn’t own a car. She didn’t even drive. How did she get there? Meanwhile a man is found dead in a gully up on the wild moorland. He is expensively dressed and carrying no identification. Post-mortem findings indicate he died from injuries sustained during a fall. But what was he doing up there and why are there no signs of a car in the vicinity? As the inconsistencies multiply, Annie’s father’s new partner, Zelda, comes up with a shocking piece of information that alerts Banks and Annie to the return of an old enemy in a new guise.  This is someone who will stop at nothing, not even murder, to get what he wants. Suddenly the stakes are raised and the hunt is on. O-R08/18

MANY RIVERS TO CROSS: A skinny young boy is found dead, his body carelessly stuffed into wheelie bin. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called to investigate. Who is the boy, and where did he come from? Was he discarded as rubbish, or left as a warning to someone? He looks Middle Eastern, but no one on the East Side Estate has seen him before. As the local press seize upon an illegal immigrant angle, and the national media the story of another stabbing, the police are called to investigate a less newsworthy death: a middle-aged heroin addict found dead of an overdose in another estate scheduled for redevelopment. Banks finds the threads of each case seem to be connected to the other, and to the dark side of organised crime in Eastvale. Does another thread link to his friend Zelda, who is facing her own dark side? The truth may be more complex - or much simpler - than it seems. O-R11/19

NOT DARK YET: The gruesome double murder at an Eastvale property developer's luxury home should be an open and shut case for Superintendent Banks and his team of detectives. There's a clear link to the notoriously vicious Albanian mafia, men who left the country suspiciously soon after the death. Then they find a cache of spy-cam videos hidden in the house - and Annie and Gerry's investigation pivots to the rape of a young girl that could cast the murders in an entirely different light.Banks's friend Zelda, increasingly uncertain of her future in Britain's hostile environment, thinks she will be safer in Moldova hunting the men who abducted, raped and enslaved her than she is Yorkshire or London. Her search takes her back to the orphanage where it all began - but by stirring up the murky waters of the past, Zelda is putting herself in greater danger than any she's seen before. And as the threat escalates, so does the danger for Banks and those who love Zelda. O.
Note from your host: I gave up on Page 68 as I found it impossible to follow. This should have been flagged as a sequel to MANY RIVERS TO CROSS which I didn't particularly enjoy and I certainly had no interest in revisiting its Albanian mafia storyline. 05/21.

STANDING IN THE SHADOWS: Late November, 1980. English student Nick Hartley returns from a lecture to find his house full of police. He soon discovers that his ex-girlfriend has been found murdered in a nearby park, and her new boyfriend is missing. Nick quickly realises he is a suspect as he has no convincing alibi, but Nick has his own suspicions. Meanwhile, in late November 2019, an archaeological dig near Scotch Corner unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more recent than the Roman remains she is looking for. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in, and the investigation into the find begins. O-Kindle - R11/23