Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks has recently moved to the Yorkshire Dales from London to escape the stress of the metropolis. But he soon finds that life in the country is not quite as idyllic as he had imagined. A peeping Tom is frightening the women of Eastvale. Two glue-sniffing thugs are breaking into homes. An old woman may or may not have been murdered. In addition, Banks has to deal with his attraction to a young psychologist Jenny Fuller....
When two boys vanish under mysterious circumstances, the local community is filled with unease. And when a caravan belonging to one of the youths is burned to the ground, and a bloodstain is discovered in a disused World War Two hangar nearby, things quickly become much more sinister. Assigned to the case, DCI Banks and his team are baffled by the mystery laid out before them. But when a motor accident throws up a gruesome discovery, the investigation...
Ex-college lecturer Gavin Miller is found dead; his distorted body strewn across a disused railway track near his home. There's no sign of a struggle, and no concrete evidence except for one distinguishing package: 5,000 of cash, tucked inside the man's pocket. But when DCI Banks delves into Miller's past, he uncovers a troubled existence tarnished by accusations of abuse and misconduct which throws up an array of puzzling questions. What really occurred...
A shocking mass murder occurs at a wedding in a small Dales church and a huge manhunt follows. Eventually, the shooter is run to ground and things take their inevitable course. But Banks is plagued with doubts as to exactly what happened outside the church that day, and why. Struggling with the death of his first serious girlfriend and the return of profiler Jenny Fuller into his life, Banks feels the need to dig deeper into the murders, and as he...
A shocking mass murder occurs at a wedding in a small Dales church and a huge manhunt follows. Eventually, the shooter is run to ground and things take their inevitable course. But Banks is plagued with doubts as to exactly what happened outside the church that day, and why. Struggling with the death of his first serious girlfriend and the return of profiler Jenny Fuller into his life, Banks feels the need to dig deeper into the murders, and as he...
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. Slowly and painfully the details of her attack reveal themselves.
The gruesome double murder at an Eastvale property developer's luxury home should be an open and shut case for Superintendent Banks and his team of detectives. There's a clear link to the notoriously vicious Albanian mafia, men who left the country suspiciously soon after the death. Then they find a cache of spy-cam videos hidden in the house - and Annie and Gerry's investigation pivots to the rape of a young girl that could cast the murders in an...
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks has reached a turning point. With his wife now living with another man in London and his career in the doldrums thanks to Chief Constable Riddle, it is time to ring the changes. Perhaps a move to the National Crime Squad? Perhaps a second chance with Sandra? But then late one night he is summoned to Riddle's house - and his plans take a surprising new turn. For the Chief Constable's 16-year-old daughter Emily has...
In the early hours of the morning a man reports a fire on two old canal boats. A firefighter notices accelerant has been used but by the time Banks arrives only the wreckage remains. A body has been found on each vessel and all the evidence points to a deliberate arson attack.
When Juliet Doyle discovers a gun in her daughter's bedroom, she turns to old friend DCI Alan Banks for advice. But Banks is taking a much-needed holiday, and it's left to DI Annie Cabbot to deal with the removal of the firearm. No one can foresee the operation's disastrous consequences, or that the Doyles will not be the only family affected.
A faceless corpse is discovered in a tranquil, hidden valley below the village of Swainshead. Inspector Banks is sent to investigate but he finds that no-one is willing to talk.
A skinny young boy is found dead - his body carelessly stuffed into wheelie bin. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called to investigate. Who is the boy, and where did he come from? Was he discarded as rubbish, or left as a warning to someone? He looks Middle Eastern, but no one on the East Side Estate has seen him before. As the local press seize upon an illegal immigrant angle, and the national media the story of another stabbing,...
A young local student has apparently committed suicide. Her body is found in an abandoned car on a lonely country road. She didn't own a car. Didn't even drive. How did she get there? Where did she die? Who moved her, and why? Meanwhile a man in his sixties is found dead in a gully up on the wild moorland. He is wearing an expensive suit and carrying no identification. Post-mortem findings indicate he died from injuries sustained during the fall....
A successful Hollywood composer, Chris always promised his wife they would return to the Yorkshire Dales. Now, after his wife's death, Chris rents a house in the Dales so he can come to terms with his grief. But when he finds that the house was the scene of a murder in the 1950s, he finds himself distracted by the history of the property.
One foggy night, Deborah Harrison is found lying in the churchyard behind St Mary's, Eastvale. She has been strangled with the strap of her own school satchel. But Deborah was no typical 16-year-old. Her father was a powerful financier who moved in the highest echelons of industry, defence and classified information. And Deborah, it seemed, enjoyed keeping secrets of her own.
Fourteen-year-old Graham Marshall went missing in 1965 while on his paper round. His disappearance left his family shattered, and his best friend, Alan Banks, full of guilt. Decades on, a skeleton is unearthed and identified as Graham's, and Alan, now a police Chief Inspector, finds himself under suspicion.
Number 35 The Hill is a house in an ordinary street, owned by an apparently ordinary young couple. When constables Janet Taylor and Dennis Morrisey are sent to the house following a report of a disturbance, they stumble upon a truly horrific scene.
As a detective in the LAPD Threat Management Unit, Arvo Hughes has dealt with every kind of stalker there is - and in 1990s Hollywood, he's not short of work. But when it comes to TV star Sarah Broughton, who has been receiving unsettling anonymous letters, even Arvo cannot find a pattern in this stalker's behaviour. The letters seemed harmless enough, until the actress discovers a mutilated body in the sand right outside her Malibu home. Certain...
The 23rd mystery to feature DCI Banks, a series which has been adapted into the ITV series }DCI Banks{. Set in the Yorkshire Dales, it explores the topical crimes of a historical case of child abuse. 'The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are the best series on the market.' Stephen King