The 18th DCI Banks novel, All the Colours of Darkness is an enjoyable gripping read but fans of the series may feel this isn’t Robinson’s finest. Starting with what looks like the suicide of the set designer for a local production of Othello the plot draws parallels with the play and indeed it’s whilst watching the performance that Banks realises how to solve the mystery. But it also leads him deep into the murky (and not here entirely credible) world of MI5 and MI6 who will seemingly stop at nothing to cover certain things up. An interesting foray into spy thriller for Robinson’s police procedural but ultimately the extra complications this adds don’t lead to as satisfying a read as usual.
All the Colours of Darkness The 18th DCI Banks Mystery Synopsis
A beautiful June day in the Yorkshire Dales, and a group of children are spending the last of their half-term freedom swimming in the river near Hindswell Woods. But the idyll is shattered by their discovery of a man's body, hanging from a tree. DI Annie Cabott soon discovers he is Mark Hardcastle, the well-liked and successful set designer for the Eastvale Theatre's current production of Othello. Everything points to suicide, and Annie is mystified. Why would such a man want to take his own life? Then Annie's investigation leads to another shattering discovery, and DCI Alan Banks is called back from the idyllic weekend he had planned with his new girlfriend. Banks soon finds himself plunged into a shadow-world where nothing is what it seems, where secrets and deceit are the norm, and where murder is seen as the solution to a problem. The deeper he digs the more he discovers that the monster he has awakened will extend its deadly reach to his friends and family. Nobody is safe.
Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and now divides his time between Richmond and Canada. There are twenty-two books in the bestselling DCI Banks series – the critically acclaimed crime novels have won numerous awards in Britain, the United States, Canada and Europe, and are published in translation all over the world.
Peter Robinson's DCI Banks is now a major ITV1 drama by Left Bank productions. Stephen Tompkinson (Wild at Heart, Ballykissangel) plays Inspector Banks, and Andrea Lowe (The Bill, Murphy's Law) plays DI Annie Cabbot. Peter's recent standalone novel BEFORE THE POISON won the IMBA's 2013 Dilys Award as well as the 2012 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel by the Crime Writers of Canada. This was Peter's sixth Arthur Ellis award.
