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Fiction. Literature. Mystery. A picturesque Yorkshire village is dressed in its finest for the upcoming Noel. But one of its residents will not be celebrating this holiday. Chief Inspector Alan Banks knows that secrecy can sometimes prove fatal-and secrets were the driving force behind Caroline Hartley's life...and death. She was a beautiful enigma, brutally stabbed in her own home three days prior to Christmas. Leaving her past behind for a forbidden love affair, she mystified more than a few. And now she is dead, clothed only in her unshared mysteries and her blood. In this season of giving and forgiving, Banks is eager to absolve the innocent of their sins. But that must wait until the many facets of a perplexing puzzle are exposed and the dark circle of his investigation finally closes...and when a killer makes the next move.… (more)
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Have you ever read a series where you can picture
This novel is sets us up in Yorkshire just before Christmas. Caroline Hartley is found dead in her home, naked on the sofa, her throat cut by a cake knife. Gruesome scene to come upon and the main suspect is of course, the person who finds the victim. In this case it’s Caroline’s lesbian lover, Veronica Sheldon and Veronica’s ex-husband. Seems the ex was at the scene delivering a Vivaldi recording to Caroline earlier in the evening. (Now, wouldn’t your ex partner be upset if you left him/her for another?)
We have a new character introduced here, Inspector Susan Gay. She assists in the investigation. In addition to Veronica and her ex, other suspects include the cast and crew of Caroline’ theater group and her disgruntled brother who evidently had sole charge of caring for their sick father. This is a good mystery, watching Banks and newcomer Susan Gay work with multiple suspects and scenarios, methodically eliminating the growing mysteries with each character.
Banks makes his usual stops for pints and pub meals while sorting this out, blasting and enjoying his music in his old Cortina. One of Peter Robinson’s best, so far, in the series. I look forward to following Chief Inspector banks on more cases.
Lamb is one thing I enjoy and associate with English pub meals. Let’s share a meal of grilled lamb chops, vegetables and an earthy Zinfandel to celebrate this book.
A murder has been committed on a young and attractive aspiring actress who was not what she seemed on the surface. Inspector Banks is confronted
Yet another book in this series which is entertaining, easy to read and attention holding.
Robinson does also manage to tackle issues but, without proselytising. This book was written in 1991 when a lot of us (notice that whilst I do not want to take the rap alone, I cannot deny my culpability!) held decidedly dubious views upon homosexuality. It would have been easy to fill the story with self-righteous characters who spouted anti-gay lines but that is not the author's way. He presents us with a middle-class lesbian set up, which is shattered by a murder; I will not spoil the denouement, but as the reason becomes apparent, the waste of life screams at the reader. Had I found thisbook at the time, I am sure that my acceptance of the rights of homosexual and lesbian couples would have been at least less tardy.
I do not wish to push the morality tale argument too far because, in truth, this is simply a cracking crime thriller which gives the reader a couple of hours of pleasure; and who can wish for more from this type of novel? I enjoy reading the DCI Banks series so much, that I have to ration myself,or I would sit and read one after another until the series were complete and, rather like a naughty child (or me!), after too many sweeties, the result may be to spoil the delight.
Just before Christmas, Caroline Hartley is found dead by in her house by her lover, Veronica Sheldon. Lying naked on the sofa, with her throat slashed open
One of the suspects is Veronica’s ex-husband, a known composer. Betrayed by the discovery that his ex-wife prefers women to men, and known to have visited the scene of crime the same evening to deliver the Vivaldi record as a gift to Veronica, police suspect this might have led to a spur-of-the-moment emotional murder. Other suspects are the cast and crew of a local amateur theatre group to which Caroline belonged, complete with their intrapersonal intrigues and dislikes. Finally, Caroline’s estranged brother, abandoned by her to take care on his own of their ageing and ill father, seems to bear a grudge big enough to have driven him to murder.
Banks is at his best in this confusing multi-suspect setting, trying to weed out the obvious, but innocent, suspects and lure out the less obvious, but guilty, ones. Over his customary pints at the local pub and during the short, music-filled drives in his beloved Cortina, Banks gradually figures out who the mystery woman, witnessed by neighbours to have visited Caroline’s place at the estimated time of murder, is. Another masterpiece plot by Peter Robinson.
Banks left the London crime scene behind a few years earlier hoping to be able to do his crime-solving at a much slower pace, but so far the citizens of Eastvale, the North Yorkshire town that became his new home, have not much cooperated. Instead, Eastvale and its surrounding suburbs have supplied Banks with a rather steady supply of murders to investigate. In Past Reason Hated, the murder victim is a young lesbian whose bloody corpse is found on her couch just three days before Christmas. Poignantly, the room is well-lit by a decorated Christmas tree, and an album of classical music is playing over and over on the stereo.
Caroline Hartley was a new member of a community theater group on the verge of opening a timely production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, so Banks and his team begin their murder investigation with an immediate abundance of suspects. But, starting with the fact that no one else in the group even suspected that Caroline was gay, Banks and his investigators will soon learn that the real Caroline Hartley hardly resembled the woman she presented herself to the world to be. Banks keeps pulling on threads, the number of suspects grows longer and longer, and Banks even finds himself following leads all the way to the strip clubs in London’s SoHo district and back before he identifies the murderer.
This is one of the more complicated plots of the early Inspector Banks novels, but ironically, it is also one that seems easier for the reader to solve than it is for Banks and his whole crew to figure out. It is a case of “one of these things is not like the others” that will give many readers a solid hunch about the murderer’s identity some 60% or so of the way through Past Reason Hated. And if those readers are like me, they will be disappointed in just how predictable this makes the book’s entire climax. This is one of those times I would have really preferred to be wrong because a surprise at the end would have been a whole lot more fun.
Bottom Line: Past Reason Hated is a well-written literary murder mystery that fails to completely satisfy the veteran mystery reader because it is a little too solvable. That does not mean that fans of the Inspector Banks series should skip this one, though – not at all - because it does add a few details to the Banks character, especially as it relates to the detective’s past, that fans are sure to appreciate.
This book is set just prior to Christmas (probably 1990 since it was first published in 1991). A snow storm hit the Yorkshire area on December 22, slowing traffic and making things a little difficult for attending holiday parties. Inspector Banks and most of the Eastvale CID were at a party for DS James Hatchley's wedding. Newly minted DC Susan Gay therefore is the only member of the detective squad around to take the call about a murder. She decides to go to the hall where the party is taking place to get some senior members (remember, before cell phones you couldn't just get someone on the telephone when they were needed). DI Banks goes to the house where the suspected murder has taken place with Gay and other members of the team. There is indeed a corpse, quite a grisly one, and it is quite obviously murder. Caroline Hartley had a number of stab wounds to her chest. She was found by her partner, Veronica Shildon, when she came home after doing some holiday shopping. The first think Banks noticed was a record that was playing. It was a recording of a piece by Vivaldi called Laudate pueri, which is a requiem for a dead child. Banks is sure this is a valuable clue. Neighbours saw a few people come to the door including a man whom Caroline admitted to the house, a woman who just stood on the doorstep before leaving and another woman who also entered the home. Banks has to try to track down these people, learn more about the victim, and find out who might have had a motive to kill her. It's a pretty tall order right before the holidays.
In this book Banks is still married to his wife. In fact he has a conversation with Veronica Shildon about her and their marriage. He said "I suppose my wife and I are still together because she has always been determined and independent. She'd hate to be a housewife worrying about meals and three-pence-off coupons in the papers. Some people might see that as a fault but I don't. It's what she is and I wouldn't want to turn her into some sort of chattel or slave. And she wouldn't want to depend on me to entertain her or keep her happy. Oh, we've had some dull patches and a few close shaves on both sides, but I think we do pretty well." So it makes me very curious to read more of these books to see why their marriage fell apart.