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Inspector Banks #10

In a Dry Season

peter robinson

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When a drought drains the local Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering a long-drowned small village and the skeleton of a murder victim from the 1940s, Detective Alan Banks and Detective Sergeant Annie Cabot must investigate the decades-old crime and unmask an evil secret from the past.

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1999
Series
Inspector Banks
Literary awards
barry award, macavity award, anthony award, grand prix de littérature policière, hammett prize, edgar award, ola evergreen award, 
Places
yorkshire england, harkside yorkshire england, hobbs end yorkshire england, london england, 

This edition

Format
480 pages, Paperback
Published
July 3, 2000 by AVON Books
ISBN
9780380794775
ASIN
0380794772
Language
English
Characters More characters
  • Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks

    Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks

    Banks is one of the important additions to detective crime novels of the late 20th century. Hes a diminutive police officer who has relocated from London to the Yorkshire village of Eastvale. Perceptive, and a good study of human nature. Married wit...

  • Annie Cabbot

    Annie Cabbot

    a detective sergeant in Harkside when she first appears in In a Dry Season...

  • Sandra Banks

    Sandra Banks

    Alan Banks willowy blonde wife; she runs the gallery at the Eastvale Community Centre.more...

  • Sergeant Jim Hatchley

    Sergeant Jim Hatchley

    Alan Banks lazy, out-of-shape sergeant; hes also loutish and sexist. Surprisingly, he and Banks generally get along.more...

  • Dr. Jenny Fuller

    Dr. Jenny Fuller

    A Professor of Psychology at nearby York University; pretty, intelligent and red-headed, she sorely tempts Alan Banks to stray....

  • Superintendent Gristhorpe

    Superintendent Gristhorpe

    Alan Banks boss. A supportive Yorkshireman.more...

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for peter robinson

peter robinson

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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Peter Robinson was born in Yorkshire. After getting his BA Honours Degree in English Literature at the University of Leeds, he came to Canada and took his MA in English and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor, with Joyce Carol Oates as his tutor, then a PhD in English at York University. He has taught at a number of Toronto community colleges and universities and served as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Windsor, 1992-93.

Series:
* Inspector Banks

Awards:
* Winner of the 1992 Ellis Award for Best Novel.
* Winner of the 1997 Ellis Award for Best Novel.
* Winner of the 2000 Anthony Award for Best Novel.
* Winner of the 2000 Barry Award for Best Novel.
* Winner of the 2001 Ellis Award for Best Novel.

Readers also enjoyed

Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
38(38%)
4 stars
32(32%)
3 stars
30(30%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
cynzx
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Another mystery for DCI Alan Banks to deal with.
Having problems with his private and professional life Banks is given a job out of the way. A body has been found in the bed of a dried out reservoir in Thornfield. The crime took place forty years ago so is a tricky one to solve but Banks won’t give in until he has some answers.
A great read from Peter Robinson.
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Recess247
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Such a good series! In this one, set as usual in northern England, a skeleton found in an abandoned town which had been under a reservoir until the dry season came, is determined to have been a murder victim from around 1945. The present-day story alternates with the wartime story of those involved. Very, very good.
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JuGuL4ToR
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Here's another strong mystery from Peter Robinson. Inspector Alan Banks inherits a cold case that involves a murder committed some 75 years ago in a small village that has been flooded to construct a new reservoir. The author has written an excellent police procedural, but the real charm of this book is the intricate detail of small-town life in England during World War II.
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tarunann
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Definitely the best Banks book I have read. This one is constructed with brilliance and holds the tension of past and present beautifully.
AND...only 1.99 on Amazon right now.
Here Banks loses wife Sandra to some other dude, connects with son long enough to hear and enjoy his band, connected with Annie for the first time as co-worker and more, and experienced other changes in his life as a single man after 20 years of marriage.
The dual storyline takes us back to WWII where we meet the life and times of a murder victim recently unearthed. The investigation required is challenging and successful even though no recognition is granted by evil Riddle.
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ashuulinksu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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A skeleton, the victim of a violent murder 50 years past, is discovered in a ghost town. Banks, more for personal reasons (his marriage is falling apart) than for anything else, sets out to solve the crime. But who is the victim? Why was she murdered? After fifty years these questions are not easily answered. As Banks unravels this mystery, a second mystery, a story told by an unidentified witness, takes us back to the time of the murder - Britain during WWII. It is this dual perspective that makes In a Dry Season, so wonderfully complex. With utter mastery Robinson paints an evocative portrait of wartime Britain, and before long you find yourself immersed in the spirit of the times - the coupons, the rationing, the black outs. But what truly distinguishes this book from Robinson's other mysteries is the thoroughness with which he develops the humanity of the murder victim. You become so attached to her that when she is inevitably murdered, you feel her loss.
I loved this book and want to read more Inspector Banks books!!
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kay_robin
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I went into a mystery book store and asked for recommendations. I was handed several books and I purchased two; The Chill by Ross Macdonald and this book. I read The Chill first, so needless to say I had high hopes. Then I read this book. It was terrible! I can't believe I read the whole thing. It took forever to read because I had to take time out to roll my eyes every other paragraph. Cliche, trite, predictable, boring. This book is why the mystery genre is considered as trashy as the romance novel. I want to look up the full reviews that are quoted on the back cover because clearly they have been hacked to pieces to make the book sound interesting. "Richly layered..." I say "richly layered" piles of crap. Robinson has "richly layered" pieces of other books he read because he doesn't have a single original idea. Boy oh boy do I WISH this book was "richly layered" because I wouldn't have fallen asleep so many times while reading it.
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Helsic
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I read Peter Robinson's first Alan Banks novel, GALLOWS VIEW, and thought "Eh, not bad." At some point in many series, however, comes a book that kicks things up a notch. I get the feeling this was such a book for this series.

Banks, who's gotten onto his superior's naughty list, gets shuffled off to investigate a murder that apparently happened in the 1940's. The murder would have gone completely undetected had the reservoir that drowned the tiny village of Hobb's End not run dry and exposed the ruins of the past.

There are multiple flashbacks to the war years that can get a little confusing. Frankly, a little judicious typesetting could have gone a long way towards ameliorating some of this. But the glimpses into the daily life of wartime Britain are fascinating and detailed enough to seem authentic without being obtrusive. The book is well plotted and the prose is quite good (also without being obtrusive).

Definitely recommended.
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Chrotine
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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A long drought has uncovered the remains of a village that was inundated by a reservoir, and a young boy exploring the ruins discovers the bones of a woman. This is where Banks meets Annie, who has been posted to a small country station. Their investigation alternates with excerpts from the memoir of a woman who knew the victim but has chosen not to come forward, so identification is a large part of the book. Interesting depiction of the relationships between American GI's and the locals during and after WWII.
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