Book Review: Dead Right by Peter Robinson

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Dead Right is the Ninth edition in the Inspector Banks series by Peter Robinson. If I had the whole collection of the series, I would be the happiest man, because having read this one only; I feel I have missed out on most of the action. 

Peter Robinson holds you by the hand as he takes you through the ‘copper’ world. From the basic duties that police officers do to the delicate, painstaking investigative work that they find themselves entangled in. It’s like being part of a James Bond movie, but not as an active character. Just a peripheral eye that is fortunate to witness all the action, without disrupting or meddling with the work in any way.

DCI Banks has to be the best character in all this. Despite his not-so-good relationship with Chief Constable Jimmy Riddle, he has a dedicated team behind him; who have his trust and rely on his skills to solve criminal offences in Yorkshire.

Set in the backdrop of modern-day Britain; where crime seems to be on the rise, drug dealers taking over the ‘streets’ and tension between different racial groups reaching an alarming point. In between investigations and a souring relationship with his wife Sandra, through Inspector Banks’ eyes we get to examine other struggles that the town of Yorkshire faces. From urban underground lawbreaking and drugs, to a more subtle contrast of city life and that of the country side.

The novel begins with the death of Jason Fox, who looks like he is just a victim of a fight, or argument that got out of hand, or a mugging; in which his assailant(s) kicked him to a pulp; left dead with a cracked skull and blood-soaked clothes. 

It is only as the novel unfolds that the police realise it’s not an ordinary act. As the investigation gets underway it seems easy to point out the culprits to be Pakistani lads who had an altercation with Jason the night of his death, but it turns out the case won’t just go to rest like that. 

DCI Banks, Susan Gay and Sergeant Jim Hatchley realise Jason’s killing Is linked to a lot of people, and many fundamentals that bring in a neo-Nazi, white-power organisation he belonged to, his business partner Mark Wood who lies that he killed him and the leader of the Albion League Neville Motcombe, who had also become restless because of Jason’s growing popularity in the league and its members, and wanted to get rid of him. The web is vast, but tightly knit together, which means Banks has to explore all possible angles so as to get to the truth.

Peter Robinson uses his characters effectively. He employs a varied characterisation technique; from static characters like Jimmy Riddle, who is as bad as it gets in terms of being a pain in the neck with his subordinate, to round characters like DCI Banks, who doesn’t change much in terms of his work and colleagues, but at some point manages to show Chief Constable Riddle his tough side by knocking him to the ground with a blow to the face.

Fast-paced and colourful, with beautiful use of descriptive writing as Peter Robinson paints a picture of the beauty of the city and countryside in Yorkshire, exotic tourist destinations in Amsterdam  and the struggle that ordinary families in the community face. He further touches on underlying factors that usually push people to the point of desperation, especially in poor communities. 

Mark Wood is in it for the money, because he wants to take care of his wife and child. Neville Motcombe, on the other hand, only wants profit and is driven by greed to strengthen his grip in the drug underworld and the Albion League, but pursues all this under false pretence that he is trying to destroy the black community through drowning them in drugs. That is what the League wanted, anyway, to clean the country of black people, and let white-power reign once more. 

A must-read indeed, but definitely a must have if you are looking forward to having the whole collection of the Inspector series.

Happy Reading....