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A review by gautamgopalk
Standing in the Shadows by Peter Robinson
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Peter Robinson is a British-born Canadian crime writer, famous for the crime novel series featuring fictional inspector Alan Banks. This book, Standing in the Shadows, is the last of the series and was published posthumously in 2023. It is a police procedural novel which constantly shifts back and forth between two story lines set in two different timelines of 1980 and 2019, that are interspersed in the narratives set in Leeds and the fictional town of Eastvale respectively. This could be enjoyed as a standalone book as the author does a nice job of introducing the main characters, and spends some time developing the support characters.
The writing is gripping and the constant mystery in the reader's mind will be the question of how the murder in 1980 links to the investigation in 2019 by Alan Banks. The uncovering of information to the reader as the plot progresses is incredibly well done and worth admiring. The middle section of the book is slow with too many references to old music that doesn't serve any purpose besides being tiresome. The reader will have a tough time caring for any of the characters and some of the support characters simply and abruptly vanish from the story which seems sloppy. The ending of the book is shoddily done with too many loopholes which could be disappointing, given the promising nature of the presentation in this novel.
The writing is gripping and the constant mystery in the reader's mind will be the question of how the murder in 1980 links to the investigation in 2019 by Alan Banks. The uncovering of information to the reader as the plot progresses is incredibly well done and worth admiring. The middle section of the book is slow with too many references to old music that doesn't serve any purpose besides being tiresome. The reader will have a tough time caring for any of the characters and some of the support characters simply and abruptly vanish from the story which seems sloppy. The ending of the book is shoddily done with too many loopholes which could be disappointing, given the promising nature of the presentation in this novel.