A Necessary End by Peter Robinson
| A Necessary End by Peter Robinson | |
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| Category: Crime | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: The third book in the Inspector Banks series provides a well-thought-out plot and good characterisation. Definitely recommended. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 384 | Date: October 2002 |
| Publisher: Pan | |
| ISBN: 978-0330491631 | |
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Eastvale isn't usually known for its violent demonstrations but an anti-nuclear protest leaves one policeman stabbed to death and several injured. Superintendent Burgess is brought in from the Met to head up the investigation, and it's not for nothing that he's known as 'Dirty Dick'. He saw terrorists around every corner even back in the eighties and his methods were, er, brisk and to the point. They weren't entirely to Chief Inspector Banks' liking but he was put in a difficult situation when he came to believe that the death of the policeman was personally rather than politically motivated.
This is the third novel in the long-running Inspector Banks series situated in the fictional town of Eastvale in North Yorkshire. I've read later books as well as the first in the series. There might be some benefit to reading them in chronological order but they all stand well on their own feet with no obvious plot spoilers. I've a preference for the earlier books in the series, when Banks seems to be at his best. This book was first published in 1989 and, despite the obvious differences which mobile phones and the curtailing of smoking have made, still seems remarkably fresh. It's decidedly better than some of the early Rebus books by Ian Rankin.
These days we tend to think of quite specific problems when we hear the word 'terrorism'. Then, of course, we thought about the troubles in Northern Ireland or the aftermath of the 1984/5 miners' strike. It's strange to think that the effects might not change, even if the cause is different.
It's a book to read for the enjoyment of a well-constructed plot and well-drawn characters rather than just for completeness. There's a real feel too for this beautiful part of North Yorkshire. Eastvale itself might be fictional but if you know Yorkshire you'll quickly recognise some of the surrounding countryside.
For more Yorkshire-based crime we can recommend the work of Stuart Pawson and Robert Barnard.
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