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Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks has appeared in 18 novels to date; the 19th, Bad Boy, will be released later this month. In Aftermath, the 12th in the series and published in 2001, a serial killer in a small Yorkshire town is discovered to have bodies in the cellar. How much does his wife, Lucy, know? She is found inthe front-hall bleeding from a head wound when the police show up. Maggie, who has fled Canada from an abusive husband, is an illustrator of children's books, lives across the street and has been watching the drama unfold. It was she who called the police reporting a domestic abuse.
Part thriller, part police procedural, and definitely a number of mysteries to solve, Aftermath is compelling from the opening pages (or page turns ...). It not for the feint of heart; some of what goes on is gruesome ... but then a serial killer is at the heart of the story, right? This is about as far from a "cozy" mystery as you can get -- and it's cozy that I tend to gravitate toward.
Robinson is highly celebrated among readers, authors and those who bestow awards like the Arthur Ellis Best Novel from the Canadian Crime Writers Association. A long, very worthwhile, read. But, keep the lights up or you might have a fright when you unexpectedly hear footfalls on the stairs ....
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