The popular Inspector Banks series follows Chief Inspector Alan Banks of the Criminal Investigation Department in Britain. The modern day crime fiction series expertly mixes gritty police procedurals with twisty suspense.

Peter Robinson further hooks readers with his fabulous writing, great characters, and crackling plots, which have them quickly adding him to their “must read every book” author list.

Highly intelligent, empathetic, and with a love of his family, poetry, music and food, Inspector Banks is a character that readers fall in love with and watch as he goes from a man in his 30s at the beginning of the series to a man in his 60s by the end.

The Inspector Banks series is best enjoyed when read in order because the characters naturally age and develop throughout the series. But readers can pick up any book and enjoy it as a standalone mystery, with the exception of the trilogy within the series, which begins with Careless Love (Book 25), continues with Many Rivers to Cross (Book 26), and ends with Not Dark Yet (Book 27). Standing in the Shadows (Book 28) is the final book in the series. There are also several Inspector Banks short stories included in Summer Rain, Not Safe After Dark and Other Stories, The Price of Love and Other Stories.

Please note that a number of the Inspector Banks books are published with alternate titles in the UK, Canada, and the United States. Asked why this was done Robinson wryly answered, “I don’t know.” It’s in the hands of the publishers, he explained.

The books with different titles according to country are as follows: Final Account (Book 7) is titled Dry Bones that Dream in the UK. Dead Right (Book 9) goes by Blood at the Root in the USA. The Summer that Never Was (Book 13) is called Close to Home in the USA, and Abattoir Blues (Book 22) is published as In the Dark Places in the USA.