The Price of LoveInspector Banks novels

Banks is somewhat low-key, possessed of an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and a tendency to be unlucky in love. He is also, to the criminal mind, a quite lethal adversary. Robinson's sharp characterizations of not only Banks but also of his supporting cast combine with intriguing plots to make this series a revered one among mystery aficionados. The 12 shorter works that comprise THE PRICE OF LOVE do not all concern Banks, but exhibit the same high quality of craft as do their better known (and longer) cousins. THE PRICE OF LOVE is wisely and delightfully bookended by two Inspector Banks novellas. "Going Back" opens the volume; it had never been published in the United States before, though portions of it appear in CLOSE TO HOME. The story deals with Banks's somewhat reluctant return home for a family reunion occasioned by his parents' golden wedding anniversary. Robinson does not begin with pyrotechnics; instead, he pulls off the neat trick of perfectly capturing the tediousness of coming back to a small town and the awkwardness of an adult child around aged parents with whom contact is infrequent and irregular. Even so, Robinson somehow manages to quietly ratchet up the suspense in increments. "Like a Virgin," the novella that closes the collection, was written especially for THE PRICE OF LOVE. Banks revisits the horrific event that resulted in his transplant from London to Eastvale. While suspenseful, it is the cerebral aspects of "Like a Virgin" that ultimately make the story what it is. -- By Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter