When the Music’s Over by Peter Robinson

You’ll probably not find a bigger Peter Robinson fan than me so this review may be a tad biased. If that doesn’t bother you, then read on.

Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks series never fails to please and When the Music’s Over is no exception. Like most (all?) books in the series, it tackles both a current case and a cold or older case. In this particular instance, Robinson also tackles the ethnic hatred that currently seems to be running rampant throughout our ‘civilized’ world.

Mimsy (Mimosa) Moffat, wearing nothing but her birthday suit,  was thrown out of the van that barely stopped into a roadside ditch. She was able to gather herself up and begin limping toward help. When another van appears, Mimsy thinks it’s her savior. Little did she know.

Fifty years after the fact, noted poet Linda Palmer accuses famous entertainer Danny Caxton of rape.This comes on the heels of several other prominent and newsworthy cases of ‘historical abuse’ that have been litigated. (Does Bill Cosby ring a bell?) Of course Caxton denies it, saying that he had enough girls who voluntarily bedded down with him that he didn’t need to rape anyone, especially an under-age girl. Over the decades, his conceit hasn’t abated.

While Detectives Annie Cabbot and Gerry Masterson investigate the former case, Banks and Winsome Jackman investigate the latter. Along the way, Cabbot et al encounter the tension between the Pakistanis who have emigrated to their locale and the local ‘indigenous’ inhabitants who hate the Pakis, as they are called. Banks and Cabbot have their hands full, clues to neither case abounding. As you know, however, these two detectives and their crackerjack teams will solve the case.

After having read my first Inspector Banks mystery, my vision of DCI Banks was not at all like the actor portraying him, Stephen Tompkinson. (I pictured him short and stocky.) However, after years of watching the BBC program (according to IMDB there is a 2016 series–hopefully it will air soon), he has become the epitome of Banks as has Andrea Lowe come to personalize Annie Cabbot. So, of course, I had to include their photos. (SPOILER: For those of you hoping to see these two get together like I do, it doesn’t happen in When the Music’s Over.)

The DCI Banks series has the perfect set of characters, plots, action, romance, etc. It would be an unsolvable mystery how any mystery fan could  have not read any of these books.

 

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Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner

OK, I’ll start out by saying I really liked Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner. Although I don’t remember it, I did read Catch Me a few years ago and liked it. But while I gave that 3 stars, Crash & Burn I’ll give 5 stars to. Lisa Gardner really knows how to tell a story and build suspense. It certainly does have some major twists and turns.

The call came in to Sergeant Wyatt Foster at 5 AM. A single car accident. An Audi plowed off the road and took a nose dive. Single occupant. At the scene, it is learned that the driver’s name is Nicole Frank. In a daze, she says she must find six year old Vero. A thorough search of the area reveals no one. The search dog can only find the scent of one person. It totally baffles Wyatt and his partner Kevin, the Brain.

The investigation of the events leading up to the accident raise more questions than answers. That’s all I’m going to tell you about the plot.

Crash & Burn is action packed. While the writing is good, it does not have the literary style of say, Thomas H. Cook. It is not chock full of descriptions of the landscape and what everyone is wearing. However, Gardner weaves a great story and that is what makes you want to keep reading. Readers will immediately take to the characters. They’ll get caught up in their lives. They’ll want to unravel the mystery.

If you’re anything like me, you won’t want to put Crash & Burn down.

 

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