Peter Robinson Books in Order (Inspector Banks, Caedmon’s Song)
All of Peter Robinson’s Books in Order!
Who is Peter Robinson?
Born in March 17, 1950 in Yorkshire, Peter Robinson obtained his BA Honours Degree in English Literature at the University of Leeds, and emigrated in Canada to pursue his studies. He 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.
His first novel, Gallows View, was published in 1987 and introduced Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks to the readers. The book was short-listed for the John Creasey Award in the UK and the Crime Writers of Canada best first novel award. T
hose first nominations are the first ones of multiple others and Robinson has since received the Arthur Ellis Award a few times — the first in 1990 for the short story Innocence — and other awards. Peter Robinson’s books have been translated and published in more than 20 countries, including China, France, Japan, Russia, Portugal, Spain, Norway.
The writer lives in Toronto, Canada, with his wife, but also has a cottage in Richmond, Yorkshire.
How to read Peter Robinson’s Books in Order?
The Inspector Banks series
Set in the fictional English town of Eastvale in the Yorkshire Dales, the series follows Alan Banks, a former member of the London Metropolitan Police, who left the capital for a quieter life. Instead, he found that murder is everywhere and those small-town communities are full of secrets-sometimes deadly ones.
Several novels have been adapted for television, under the series title DCI Banks with Stephen Tompkinson in the lead role. The series aired from 2010 to 2016 on the british channel ITV.
For more details, go to Inspector Banks reading order.
- Gallows View (1987)
- A Dedicated Man (1988)
- A Necessary End (1989)
- The Hanging Valley (1989)
- Past Reason Hated (1991)
- Wednesday’s Child – (1992)
- Dry Bones That Dream (1994) (published in the United States as Final Account)
- Innocent Graves (1996)
- Dead Right (1997) (published in the United States as Blood at the Root)
- In A Dry Season (1999)
- Cold is the Grave (2000)
- Aftermath (2001)
- The Summer that Never Was (2003) (published in the United States as Close to Home)
- Playing with Fire (2004)
- Strange Affair (2005)
- Piece of My Heart (2006)
- Friend of the Devil (2007)
- All The Colours Of Darkness (2008)
- Bad Boy (2010)
- Watching the Dark (2012)
- Children of the Revolution (2013)
- Abattoir Blues (2014) (published in the United States as In the Dark Places)
- When the Music’s Over (2016)
- Sleeping in the Ground (2017)
- Careless Love (2018)
- Many Rivers to Cross (2019)
- Not Dark Yet (2021)
- Standing in the Shadows (2023)
Short story collections by Peter Robinson
These collections of short stories by Peter Robinson collect stories previously published in crime anthologies and magazines, with a few original stories.
- Not Safe After Dark (1998) – The latest edition of this short story collection includes twenty stories, with three of them (Summer Rain, Anna Said, The Good Partner) starring Inspector Banks, as well as the novella Going Back, taking place between the books The Summer that Never Was and Playing with Fire.
- The Price of Love (2009) – Another short story collection including an Inspector Banks novella and three Inspector Banks short stories (The Eastvale Ladies’ Poker Circle, Blue Christmas, The Cherub Affair and Like a Virgin)
Associated novel
Caedmon’s Song is the first novel by Robinson that does not feature Banks and can be considered a stand-alone. It still has a connection to Banks, as the book is related to Friend of the Devil, which is also related to Aftermath.
- Caedmon’s Song (1990) – On a balmy June night, Kirsten, a young university student, strolls home through a silent moonlit park. Suddenly her tranquil mood is shattered as she is viciously attacked. When she awakes in hospital, she has no recollection of that brutal night. But then, slowly and painfully, details reveal themselves – dreams of two figures, one white and one black, hovering over her; wisps of a strange and haunting song; the unfamiliar texture of a rough and deadly hand . . . In another part of England, Martha Browne arrives in Whitby, posing as an author doing research for a book. But her research is of a particularly macabre variety. Who is she hunting with such deadly determination? And why?
Other Stand-alone novels
- No Cure for Love (1995) – Sarah Broughton has come a long way. She’s the star of a hit cop show on TV. She lives in a beautiful California beach house. And-most importantly-she’s put her dark past behind her… as well as her old name, Sally Bolton. No need for anyone to know about that. When Sarah begins receiving letters mysteriously signed with the letter “M,” she thinks they’re from a harmless admirer… until her real name appears in the third letter. And then she finds that name inscribed in the sand near her home – next to a body. The message is clear: Someone is watching Sarah’s every move. Someone so obsessed with her that he won’t stop at just one murder in order to prove his love. Panicked, Sarah turns to Detective Arvo Hughes of the LAPD, a man who specializes in hunting down the most dangerous stalkers. But nothing in Hughes’ experience has prepared him for the mastermind he’s up against. For the killer, there’s no cure for love. And for Sarah and Hughes, there’s no way out.
- Before The Poison (2011) – Quietly reeling from the death of his beloved wife, Chris Lowndes decides to return to the Yorkshire Dales after twenty-five successful years spent in Hollywood composing film scores. He purchases Kilnsgate House, a charming old mansion deep in the country, but something about the place disturbs him. His unease intensifies when he learns Kilnsgate was once the scene of a sensational murder. More than fifty years earlier, prominent doctor Ernest Arthur Fox was poisoned there, allegedly by his beautiful and much younger wife, Grace, who was subsequently tried, condemned, and hanged for the crime. His curiosity piqued, Chris decides to investigate, and the more he discovers, the more convinced he becomes of Grace’s innocence. Despite warnings to leave it be, his quest for the truth is soon leading him through dark shadows of the past . . . and into a strange web of secrets that lie perilously close to the present.
If you like Peter Robinson, you may also want to see our Ann Cleeves reading order, or our guide to Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.
