If you haven’t been reading Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks series, you should have been, but I wouldn’t worry. Robinson was one of those brilliant authors whose prolific output didn’t require readers to have religiously read every book. Of course, there is a loose chronology to account for time and for Banks’s extensive career, but there is no real demand to dive in, book by book, in order. If this is the one Inspector Banks book you decide to read, you really won’t be disappointed.

Robinson had one of those rare gifts as a writer of crafting characters and plot with such aplomb. I’m writing about this author in the past tense because he died suddenly, late in 2022. His death is a huge loss to the crime-writing community and to book lovers across the world. Unless Robinson has an unfinished manuscript somewhere, Standing in the Shadows is his swansong, and an unintended valedictory tale for the highly intelligent and cultured Inspector Banks.

Far from the stereotype of an unhealthy, boorish detective, Banks is considerate, empathetic and communicative. His investigative approach is thorough, but not plodding. This novel revolves around the unsolved murder of a university student and the discovery of a skeleton at the site of a proposed new shopping complex. While in one storyline the investigation winds down, in the other it progresses and intensifies. Painful memories are revisited, yet the mystery of the skeleton’s true identity throws open the investigation to wider scrutiny – and not just of the suspects, but the police force at large.

Like the vast majority of Robinson’s books, the even pace, well-balanced plot, and exceptional characterisation make for a thoroughly satisfying reading session!