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All the Colours of Darkness | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter Robinson
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Category: Book
List Price: £16.99
Buy New: £8.04
You Save: £8.95 (53%)
New (18) Used (6) Collectible (2) from £7.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 128
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.5
ISBN: 034083692X
EAN: 9780340836927
ASIN: 034083692X
Publication Date: August 7, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: IN STOCK - BRAND NEW - IMMEDIATE DISPATCH
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| Customer Reviews:
Always good reading August 19, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have read all of Mr Robinson's books, in the Banks series,
and feel l can make a justified review of his latest work.
Having to say at the start, that l still think 1 day Cabbot
will go back with Banks into a relationship.
It's the strangest start to a book l have read, the murders
are solved so quick. But the reasons for why are the story
base line. My ignorance shows through when he starts
talking about Othello!!
If you were to ask me is it a good bank's story l would
say yes without doubt, like in any Bank's story there
always twists and turns.
I'm convinced that if Banks went into a desert, he would
find water, because in his questioning there isn't anything
he doesn't ask, and he always get answer, and most times a
small lead. This books shows off his interview technique's
so very well.
O well another year before another trip with DCI Banks.
 Not a High Point in the Series - But Still Pretty Good August 15, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is the eighteenth book in the Alan Banks series and while it's better than some ('Gallows View' for example) it's not up there with the very best (`In a Dry Season', `Wednesday's Child' etc). Peter Robinson NEVER repeats himself in these novels and after that many books that's quite something. And it proves he's still not tired of creating new storylines for his Detective Inspector.
Here, Banks becomes embroiled in the murky world of MI5 and MI6 when investigating an apparent murder followed by a suicide. The plot pits Banks against Secret Service operatives - but this didn't ring true for me. Alan Banks is a rural detective and would be out of his depth against such `big boys'. However, recurring series character `Dirty' Dick Burgess makes his inevitable, and welcome, appearance when Banks elicits his help in finding out some intelligence information.
'All the Colours of Darkness' cleverly uses a major plot element from `Othello' (I won't spoil it for you by mentioning which!). This is acknowledged both in the book's title - a line fragment from the play - and the fact that a local am dram group rehearse and later perform the play in the book. It's while watching the performance that Banks gets a handle on the case.
Banks finds problems with his love life when his actions bring grief to his ladyfriend. There's also a simmering undercurrent in the relationship between Banks and his DI Annie Cabbot - who sticks her neck out for him big time.
One thing I did find annoying was the constant naming of every piece of music Banks - or other characters - listen to. On his website Peter actually has a `Playlist' of music mentioned in the book. I find this a bit pretentious to be honest. We know Banks is intelligent and don't need to have the fact that he listens to Shostakovich, or choral music rammed down our throat to back this up. This is not a film, where a piece of music can greatly enhance a scene.
Unlike a previous reviewer (most of whose review I actually agree with) I have no problems with Banks's son being in a band called `The Blue Lamps'. Named after a venerable British film, I think it does sound contemporary and is in the tradition of other bands who took their names from the movies: e.g. Fine Young Cannibals, They Might Be Giants, All About Eve to name but three. And do look out for the typo on page 87 (first printing - don't know if it's in later reprints) where the word `fist' is used instead of `first' - taken in the context of which it is used it's fairly amusing.
Peter sets up the book quite nicely but slightly botches the ending in my view, and it finished up as a bit of a shaggy dog story. Banks is a bit more willful than normal, pursuing a line in a case he (and Annie Cabbot) have been repeatedly told to back away from. He also acts out of character when making a sexist comment to an attractive lady. This makes him a sort of non-PC PC (yes I know he's actually a DCI, but the line wouldn't work!)
Altogether I was a little dissatisfied, but it is full of Robinson's trademark crystal clear writing. This provides for a silky smooth read with not a single jarring sentence. In all fairness there aren't many real twists. However, the characters do come alive off the page.
The consistently excellent standard of Peter's writing has led Stephen King to comment `The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are, simply put, the best series on the market'. Very high praise from such a great author. Mr. Robinson is indeed a fantastic writer with some outstanding novels to his credit. I've read them all and honestly believe this isn't one of them. However it's still an enjoyable read - I just expected something a little better. However, don't let my bit of griping put you off - go read it for yourself!
 Complex and Brilliant August 11, 2008
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
The story starts as a murder suicide case and explodes into something much bigger and gripping. But Peter Robinson never forgets to bring great depth to his characters. Banks is consistently more and more interesting as are his relationships with co-workers and the women in his life. A must for those who love and know the Banks series, as well as for those who want to read a sophisticated thriller.
Middling Banks August 3, 2008
11 out of 24 found this review helpful
The latest instalment in the Inspector Banks series is a little disappointing. The plot is cliched, reliant on tired conspiracy theories about the extent the secret services interfere in our mundane lives, and an ending that is presumably meant to be enigmatic is both inconclusive and unbelievable. The musical product placements become both tedious and pretentious as Banks takes every opportunity at home or in the car to select music to suit his mood, and if they are meant to imply that the author has his finger on the pulse then in other areas he seems out of touch. To have comprehensive school teachers describe themselves as teaching "physics", and "arithmetic and algebra" rather than "science" and "maths" indicate that Mr Robinson did more of his research in Canada than he did in Richmond. Banks' son's rock group is "The Blue Lamps": with a name like that they would surely be playing in Conservative Clubs and retirement homes to an audience old enough to remember "Dixon of Dock Green", rather than clued-up rock fans at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.
He does leave us with one rather incestuous puzzle: one of his characters interviews a crime writer who smells, swears all the time and `pontificates about literary fiction'. To which of his crime-writing colleagues can the author be referring?
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