PETER ROBINSON, página 2 de 4

Englischen Kriminalromanen wird oft unterstellt, sie seien "cozy", sie würden ein Übermaß an -- unrealistischer -- Behaglichkeit ausstrahlen. Auf Peter Robinsons Romane um Inspector Alan Banks trifft dies auf keinen Fall zu. Banks ist ein Mann, der von Selbstzweifeln und Entscheidungsschwächen geplagt wird, Eigenschaften, die gerade einem Polizisten das Leben nicht unbedingt erleichtern. Und hinter der Fassade der auf den ersten Blick idyllischen Landschaft Yorkshires lauert nicht nur das alltägliche Verbrechen, sondern auch manch entsetzliches Geheimnis, das Banks' Weltsicht nur bestätigt. In Wenn die Dunkelheit fällt soll Alan Banks in einem Fall ermitteln, der anfangs bereits aufgeklärt zu sein scheint: Bei einer Routineangelegenheit waren zwei seiner Kollegen auf ein Haus gestoßen, in dessen Keller sie die Leichen mehrerer entsetzlich misshandelter junger Frauen fanden. Aber ist der Lehrer Terry Payne, der mit seiner Frau Lucy dort wohnt, wirklich der Täter? Und wie ist Lucy, ein offensichtliches Opfer häuslicher Gewalt, selbst in den Fall verwickelt? Neben der Haupthandlung sind es vor allem die privaten Verwicklungen von Inspector Banks, die diesen Roman ausmachen. Seine von ihm getrennt lebende Frau Sandra erwartet ein Kind und möchte sich endlich scheiden lassen. Sein Verhältnis mit der attraktiven Annie Cabbot scheint ebenfalls unter einem dunklen Stern zu stehen, Cabbot ermittelt gegen eine seiner Kolleginnen, der unangemessene Gewaltanwendung vorgeworfen wird. Dieses stete Ineinandergreifen von Berufs- und Privatleben ist es, was Robinsons Bücher so eminent lesbar macht. Krimis mit einer spannenden Story gibt es viele. Protagonisten, mit denen Leser stets aufs Neue mitfiebern, sind dagegen eher die Ausnahme. --Felix Darwin

When he receives a mysterious and disturbing telephone call from his brother Roy, Banks heads off to London to search him out. Meanwhile, DI Annie Cabbot is called to a murder scene. A young woman has been found dead in her car...with Banks's name and address written on a slip of paper in the back pocket of her jeans...

"If you haven't caught up with Peter Robinson already, now is the time to start." - "Independent on Sunday." Former London policeman Alan Banks relocated to Yorkshire seeking some small measure of peace. Unfortunately, depravity and violence are not unique to large cities. His new home, the quaint little village of Eastdale, seems to have more than its fair share of malefactors. In this collection of Inspector Banks's first three cases in Yorkshire, CWA Dagger in the Library and Edgar, award-winning author Peter Robinson introduces a detective as brilliant as he is complex. These intricately plotted, gritty novels of suspense lay the foundation for a remarkably acclaimed detective series. "The Banks novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong." - Stephen King.

Eastvale, paisible petite ville du Yorkshire, au cadre idyllique. C'est là que vient d'être muté l'inspecteur Banks, qui a quitté sans regret Londres et son cortège de violences. Mais, sous ce décor de carte postale, se cache une réalité beaucoup plus sombre, beaucoup plus dangereuse, incarnée par un voyeur qui espionne les femmes la nuit dans leur chambre. Le pervers ne choisit pas ses victimes au hasard : celles-ci semblent toutes avoir un point commun. La tension monte d'un cran dans la cité lorsqu'une vieille dame est retrouvée sauvagement assassinée. Les deux affaires sont-elles liées ? Et que penser de ces deux adolescents, petits délinquants passés du vol aux agressions ? Banks va devoir faire preuve de perspicacité pour débusquer la vérité, au-delà des apparences.

A skeleton has been unearthed. Soon the body is identified, and the horrific discovery hits the headlines ...Fourteen-year-old Graham Marshall went missing during his paper round in 1965. The police found no trace of him. His disappearance left his family shattered, and his best friend, Alan Banks, full of guilt ...That friend has now become Chief Inspector Alan Banks, and he is determined to bring justice for Graham. But he soon realises that in this case, the boundary between victim and perpetrator, between law-guardian and law-breaker, is becoming more and more blurred ...'Move over Ian Rankin - there's a new gunslinger in town looking to take over your role as top British police procedural author'. - "Independent on Sunday".

Each year tens of thousands of America's best, brightest, and most ambitious consider going to business school. The enticement is the chance to earn an impressive credential, the highly touted MBA degree. To be crass, they all want to make money. And if they don't flunk out, go crazy, or otherwise crash, some of them may even get their heart's desire. As his thirtieth birthday loomed and his friends began to acquire such grown-up possessions as homes and European cars, Peter Robinson, then a presidential speechwriter, decided the time had come to embark on a different, and more lucrative, career path. To this end, he applied and was accepted into Stanford business school's prestigious MBA program. What he quickly discovered was that business school was a more confusing and overwhelming experience than he had expected. During his first year at Stanford, Robinson began keeping the journal of day-to-day impressions and experiences that evolved into this book, the writing of which he began to see as "a simple act of decency, like going back to the last calm bend in the river and nailing up a sign that reads 'Waterfall Ahead!'" Unlike any previous book or glossy catalogue, it dares to answer, honestly and insightfully, the paramount question of every prospective student, the only question that matters: What is business school really like? In Snapshots from Hell, we follow Robinson from his first harrowing days at "math camp" through his valiant, sometimes triumphant, sometimes futile attempts to navigate his way through a dizzying phalanx of core courses. We experience the horror of a "cold call," the frenzy of exam week, the challenges of learning the language of a strange new world, and the pitfalls and triumphs of the interview process. We see what business school does to Robinson's up-and-down, long-distance romance. We are also introduced to a remarkable cast of characters, ranging from Robinson's fellow "poets," students who lack a business background, to "joc

'If you haven't caught up with Peter Robinson already, now is the time to start.' - "Independent Sunday". One foggy night, Deborah Harrison is found lying in the churchy