DCI Banks 22 Abattoir Blues (aka In the Dark Places)

One of the world's greatest suspense writers returns with this gripping, powerful new novel featuring Inspector Alan Banks, hailed by Michael Connelly as "a man for all seasons." Life. Death. Good. Evil. Innocence. Guilt. All can be found IN THE DARK PLACES. It's a double mystery: two young men have vanished, and the investigation leads to two troubling clues in two different locations. As Inspector Banks and his team scramble for answers, the inquiry takes an even darker turn when a truck careens off an icy road in a freak hailstorm. In the wreckage, rescuers find the driver, who was killed on impact, as well as another corpse . . . that of someone who was dead well before the crash. Snow falls. The body count rises. And Banks, perceptive and curious as ever, feels himself being drawn deeper into a web of crime . . . and at its center something--or someone--dark and dangerous lying in wait. Vibrating with tension, ingeniously plotted, and filled with soul and poignancy, In the Dark Places is a remarkable achievement from this masterful talent. For readers of Michael Connelly, Louise Penny, and Tess Gerritsen, this is a novel to be read with white knuckles and a fast-beating heart Published in the United Kingdom and Canada as Abattoir Blues Louise Penny calls In the Dark Places "brilliant." Tess Gerritsen says it's "thrilling." And Michael Connelly describes Peter Robinson as "amazing." One of the world's greatest suspense writers returns with this sensational new novel featuring Inspector Alan Banks, hailed by Michael Connelly as "a man for all seasons." It's a double mystery: Two young men have vanished, and the investigation leads to two troubling clues in two different locations. As Banks and his team scramble for answers, the inquiry takes an even darker turn when a truck careens off an icy road in a freak hailstorm. In the wreckage, rescuers find the driver, who was killed on impact, as well as another body—a body that was dead well before the crash. Snow falls. The body count rises. And Banks, perceptive and curious as ever, feels himself being drawn deeper into a web of crime, and at its center something—or someone—dark and dangerous lying in wait. Vibrating with tension, ingeniously plotted, and filled with soul and poignancy, In the Dark Places is a remarkable achievement from this masterful talent. The story begins with a stolen tractor, hardly a job for DCI Banks and his Homicide and Major Crimes team, but the new police commissioner has put rural crime high on her agenda. At the same time, an apparent crime scene is discovered in an old hangar at an abandoned World War II airfield. In addition, two local lads are missing. One of them lives in a caravan, which is burned to the ground one night, and the other's girlfriend receives an unwelcome visit from someone impersonating a police officer. Just as Banks and his team are getting a grip on all these incidents, a motor accident in a freak hailstorm turns up a gruesome discovery that spins the investigation into high gear. Soon it seems that not even the investigators themselves are safe during the race against time that follows.