I agree with a number of people that this is a great series and that this book is where the series steps over to be a serious contender in the great mystery series genre. I have enjoyed the books up to now, but they did not really prepare me for the complexity of this novel. Robinson's Chief Inspector Banks is a wonderful creation. This is a book that blends the past and the present and Robinson does this seamlessly. We flit back and forth from present-day England to England during the Second World War. The book is definitely more than an exciting murder mystery. It is an exploration of human behaviour and it is very provocatively written. Banks is currently suffering a bit both in his career and in his personal life, so when a skeleton is discovered buried under a reservoir that has dried up due to drought, he knows that this case will be one that will reshape his career and hopefully add some meaning to his life as he has been trying to get used to be separated from his wife of 20 years. Even he doesn't anticipate where pursuit of the solution of this case will take him. For anyone who loves to read intelligently written British police procedural mysteries, do not miss Peter Robinson.

I enjoyed this thoughtful, many layered mystery, and the passages evoking life in a bygone era were particularly interesting. I usually find that this kind of split point of view doesn't work for me, but this was an exception. I enjoyed both the modern day investigation, including Banks' adaption to single life, and the view of events leading up to the murder. I do, however, question describing it as suspenseful, as it was not particularly suspenseful. Complex, intriguing, fascinating even, but not really suspenseful.

It seems like Peter Robinson has rebooted this series after the last installment, when Alan Banks lost it and punched his superior (even though Jimmy more than deserved it!). Alan's marriage seems to be over for good, he's chained to his desk, and he's moved into his own little cottage and is trying to fix it up.

A skeleton is discovered, quite by accident, in Hob's End, an abandoned village that has emerged from a dried-up reservoir. Investigation reveals that foul play was involved.

Enter Detective Sergeant Annie Cabot, a smart, health-conscious investigator who has also been banished to a dull posting after some trouble in her past. She and Alan take to each other right away, both personally and professionally, as they work the case.

Meanwhile, a popular mystery writer in her seventies tells the story of her life in Hob's End during the Second World War, and the vivacious young woman named Gloria who entered her life, shook everything up, and ultimately came to a tragic end.

More depth than the previous books in the series, and I can see why this installment won an award.

I've never read any of this series, but will certainly look for others. It is very difficult to run two plots effectively in one book, but I've read a couple lately where it has been done quite effectively, this being one of them. For an entire lake to dry up for lack of water the north of England would really have to have an unusual year and I haven't looked at meteorological records to see if it was as dry as all that. In any event the dryness has bared the remains of a small village which was abandoned in order for a dam to be built to store water to serve Leeds. The two plots follow the events during WWII during which marriages happen but the village shrinks and the modern events around the discovery of a skeleton buried in the outbuilding of one of the village houses. I found the characters very realistic and the events quite plausible, well, fairly plausible, but DI Banks is a mess and if he spends as much time as it appears worrying about his love life he most certainly will end up buried in a dead end country posting. I don't believe in his boss, or rather I wish it weren't possible for someone like that to be promoted to his level, but perhaps he's just been Peter Principled (if people remember that phrase). I can't quite locate the various spots in relation to each other, either, but I don't know if that is because I don't have the geography of the Dales clear in my mind.
I notice that this is yet another area where the people resent tourists and complain all the while using them as a means to make a living. I grew up in such an area so I understand, but making visitors aware of the locals' dislike doesn't help.

Great mystery! The books have way more detail than the TV show, and are totally worth checking out. Completely captivating. I find both Banks and Annie fascinating and I love getting to know them. I will definitely be reading more books in this series.

Alan Banks has found himself ostracised by Chief Constable "Jimmy" Riddle and has not been given any substantial case since their bust up. Then a skeleton is found by a boy exploring the old site of Hobs End which was flooded in 1952 to form a reservoir and uncovered in drought conditions. The investigation teams him with DS Annie Cabott, herself with a difficult past. The investigation leads to the village during the second war and the women left behind and the American soldiers and airmen stationed nearby. By steady police work the detectives home in on a killer. Lots of issues surrounding Banks' family dynamics. Then there is the surprising arrival back in town of his friend the psychologist. Then the narration of the diary of a local girl made good as she reminisces on the events of the war.

Good story but rather a complex ending that some will find disappointing. 3 stars possibly more.

My favorite in this series so far. I loved it.

With In a Dry Season, Peter Robinson creates a mostly suspenseful tale in which the much beleaguered DCI, Allan Banks and the freethinking DS Annie Cabbot grapple with a decades old murder, love, their own pasts and family ties. However, brevity is the soul of suspense as well as wit, and this books is not blessed with anything akin to brevity. While I found all facets of book, including the detectives' personal lives,intriguing there were many times when sections could have been neatly pared to achieve greater impact. Too often I found myself skipping bits tended to the overly ponderous. If this had not been the case I would have rated it more highly. Some ethical issues will make it excellent fodder for the book club

I was devastated to hear about Peter Robinson's passing. I plan to re-read this book again. It was the first of his novels that I read years ago, unaware that it was the tenth in a series. And it's still my favorite.

I love his wit, his precise writing style, and his detailed character depictions. He always crafts a fascinating story with an unpredictable turn of events.

This book was particularly interesting to me as it bounced back and forth between current times and WWII.

Highly recommend.

This book was particularly fascinating from my own point of view. When a body is discovered during a dry summer in a town that was emptied and made part of a reservoir, Banks is told to get out there and investigate. It's supposed to be a punishment. Since I haven't been reading them in order, I don't know what he did, but it really doesn't matter anyway. The body turns out to be that of a woman who was a "Land Girl," one of many young women who left English cities during WWII to work on farms where the son(s) had been called up for duty. Gloria is both beautiful and full of personality and before long falls in love with a young man in the village. They marry shortly after he is told that he is being called up for duty. He came back a ruined man, and it was assumed that she had run away because she couldn't face having to take care of him for the rest of her life. However, as is typical of Peter Robinson, there is far more than meets the eye. The reader gets the benefit of the memories of Gloria's sister-in-law as well, so we know what went on. Not long ago, I saw a series on Netflix called Land Girls, so this book was't even more interesting. This is definitely one of Robinson's best IMO.

A previously abandoned village is exposed when the water levels in a reservoir run dry and with it expose a body. This gives Robinson the excuse to write a cold case for Banks to ponder over with his new sidekick, Annie Cabbot.
I got the feeling Robinson liked writing the second world war scenes and it comes across in the narrative. Perhaps the nearest thing to Cosy Crime Banks will come across.
After reading the book again I realised the author had a lot more scenes between Banks and Gabbot and was building a relationship.
The epilogue was a little too convenient in tying up loose ends much more so thank in other books in the Banks' series.

I'm reading the series in order and have now reached this episode. And so far (just over a third through) it is the best of the series. I like the split time periods and how each of the storylines, current and past, move each other along. The style of writing differs greatly too between the two periods. I'm still a little frustrated by the way Banks's love for classical music is thrust down our throat at almost every opportunity as it has been through-out the series and the obsessive descriptions of the characters down to the last mole on their face (or in Annie's case her body). But these are minors points and I feel the series is suddenly becoming a contender. I felt some of the early books were a low on characterisations and tongue in cheek (that's not quite the right terminology but I can't put my finger on what they were) and they seemed to compare to the Frost books (peeping Toms, schoolgirls, abductions). They were good and I enjoyed them but they were never as satisfying as say a Rebus, Harry Bosch or Bernie Gunther. This book has developed Banks's character and "stepped up" and he now seems to have his sidekick in place in Annie.