A Tribute To Peter Robinson
To introduce his final Inspector Banks book
Last year the crime writing world lost one of its very finest: Peter Robinson, author of the bestselling Inspector Banks series. In this special online event, three leading crime writers – Michael Connelly, Louise Penny and Ian Rankin – will pay tribute to Peter’s life and body of work, which spanned over three decades.
The event is now live to view, free of charge, to mark the publication day of the twenty-eighth and final book in the Banks series, Standing in the Shadows.
Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire and moved to Canada as a young man, later dividing his time between Toronto and Richmond. As well as his much-loved Inspector Banks series, which were set in the Yorkshire Dales, Peter also wrote two collections of short stories and three standalone novels, the most recent of which is the Number One bestseller Before the Poison. His critically acclaimed crime novels have won numerous awards in Britain, the US, Canada and Europe, and are published in translation all over the world. His books were also made into the major ITV drama series DCI Banks. Peter was always a firm favourite at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, appearing at the very first Festival twenty years ago. He died in October 2022 after a short illness.
Michael Connelly is the author of thirty-eight novels, including the number one New York Times bestsellers Dark Sacred Night, Two Kinds of Truth, and The Late Show. His books, which include the Harry Bosch series and the Lincoln Lawyer series, have sold more than eighty million copies worldwide. Connelly is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels. He is the executive producer of Bosch, starring Titus Welliver, and the creator and host of the podcast Murder Book.
Louise Penny is the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Gamache series, including Still Life, which won the CWA John Creasey Dagger in 2006. Recipient of virtually every existing award for crime fiction, Louise was also granted the Order of Canada in 2014 and received an honorary doctorate of literature from Carleton University and the Ordre Nationale du Québec in 2017. She lives in a small village south of Montreal.
Ian Rankin is the multi-million copy worldwide bestseller of over thirty novels and creator of John Rebus. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and have been adapted for radio, the stage and the screen. He is the recipient of honorary degrees from universities across the UK, is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature, and received a Knighthood in 2022 for his services to literature and charity work.
The event is chaired by Alison Flood, thriller reviewer for the Observer, Comment and Culture Editor at the New Scientist, and former Books Reporter at the Guardian. She is the chair of the judging panel for the crime and thriller category at the British Book Awards.
A little more about the book…
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 archeological 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…
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